Psalm 97:4 –
His lightning flashes out across the world. The earth sees and trembles.
Lightning is something we tend to take for granted. It’s just something that happens and we rarely think about it. But since this verse talks about it, I am going to look at its wonder. First, what is lightning technically? A bolt of lightning is just a static electric discharge. But think about it, how many times have we rubbed our feet on the carpet and shocked our friends? Ever see that little blue arc? Well you just made “lightning” is a mini way.
Another way to look at the energy required is to look at a spark plug in a car. The “gap” is set and a “spark” jumps that gap and ignites a fuel/air mix. If the gaps too great the spark does not jump, no we are only talking much less than a 1/16 of an inch. This is not a big deal unless you have grabbed a plug lead while it was sparking and experienced a violent jerk and dead arm! Now imagine how much energy is required to jump a few hundred feet from the sky to the ground?
That’s hard to imagine even for a geek like me! Now why would God create an energy that could kill a person in an instant? Is it just to show his supreme power? Is there any reason for lightning? Well first we know the story of Ben Franklin and flying the kite! If it wasn’t for that awesome power, we may never have found electricity! Imagine life without a computer, a cell phone, a radio, a microwave or other electronic gizmo you may enjoy?
Now bet you didn’t know the benefits to lightning! I know I was wondering the same thing, but did you know it helps fertilize the land? A strike ionize the air and produces nitrogen oxide. Nitrogen is an essential fertilizer for plants and recent studies show more than 50% of the useable nitrogen in the air and soil comes from this reaction. How cool is that? If the Psalmist only knew what was going on other that a loud flash and a shaking from the thunder. Hopefully science has shown you God’s “design” in this “natural” phenomenon.