Written by Abby Caymol | May 16, 2025

Have you ever dug a well only to find it empty? Water may be present, but not in the amount you expected. In Psalm 29, King David emphasizes that the voice of the Lord is the ultimate attention grabber amid the chaos of life. One particularly striking verse is verse 3 in the Amplified (AMP) version, which states:

“The voice of the Lord is upon the waters;  

The God of glory thunders;  

The Lord is over many waters.”

This Psalm, written 400 years before the New Testament, connects deeply to what Jesus said in John 7:38. God the Father has already depicted water as a representation of Himself and Jesus, as prophesied in scripture.

“Whoever believes in me, as scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”  

— John 7:38 (NIV)

Consider our hearts as wells, with the water representing our spirits. God created wells and poured the same water into each. He has given us a well-filled life with His Spirit, for which we are responsible for caring. The question arises: How do we care for the water God has given us?

God designed our hearts and filled them with His Spirit so we could hear and listen to His voice. However, the water can become tainted and dry due to our sins, making it challenging to find refreshing water in our deepest wells. This is why Jeremiah 17:9 (AMP) tells us, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is extremely sick; who can understand it fully and know its secret motives?”

But do not lose hope. There is help and a solution to restore this water to its pure, untainted state, and that solution is Jesus. He is the only one who can see the actual condition of our hearts. As the scripture implies, only Jesus understands our hearts completely.

“The voice of the Lord is upon the waters.” The Holy Spirit has existed since the beginning, but when we construct our man-made wells, we lose the ability to hear and listen to God’s voice. We often build idols that take the place of Jesus on the throne of our hearts. We focus on things that do not honor God or things that may seem pleasing but have become the center of our hearts instead of Him.

We have become selfish, vain, and greedy regarding the things God created for this world. We often worship man-made possessions, relationships, and people instead of honoring God, the trustworthy source of all these gifts. The sin that began in the Garden of Eden has consumed humanity countless times. In the book “Winning the War on Worry,” author Louie Giglio (2022) writes, “Adam and Eve did the one thing the Creator warned them not to do. When they held the fruit in their hands, they wanted to control their fate” (p. 20).

God’s plan for His creation is to flow like clear water from a river, symbolizing hearts led by the Holy Spirit rather than worldly standards.

“The God of Glory Thunders.” Thunder represents God’s mighty power. His majestic voice is strong enough to enact great things we cannot comprehend. In Job 37, Elihu speaks of God’s authority over the storm. Let’s look at what the verses say in the Amplified version:

(Verse 1 & 2)

“Indeed, at His thundering, my heart trembles and leaps out of its place. Listen carefully to the thunder of His voice and the rumbling of His mouth!”

These verses indicate the might of the Lord’s voice, which every creation fears; this is merely His voice, not even a demonstration of His power. No one but an omnipotent God, whose eyes are everywhere, can have such authority over good and evil.

(Verse 3)

“He lets it loose under the whole heaven, and His lightning to the ends of the earth.”

The Lord exercises complete authority in the heavenly realm and on earth. His glory cannot be concealed; everyone will witness His sovereignty.

(Verse 13)

“Whether [it be] for correction or for His earth [generally] or for [His] mercy and lovingkindness, He causes it to happen.”

We understand that the Lord grants us grace for correction and blessing, yet the world has a voice that contradicts God’s. This worldly voice causes many to become distant from God, manipulating people’s destinies by closing their eyes to the truth.

“The Lord is over many waters.” Notice the “s” in “many waters.” God is the source of living water; many experience flowing rivers through our relationship with Jesus Christ. Hebrews 1:3a (NIV) states, “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power.” All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus, who assures us that whoever believes in Him will never thirst, as the Bible clearly expresses.

If we allow God to navigate our lives by surrendering completely to Him, our wells will never run dry. Clearwater, like the river, will flow from within us. The thirst we feel is not the thirst of this world; it is a yearning for more of Jesus with each moment and less of ourselves. We deny our desires because we trust God to control our hearts’ longings. For those who know Him well, His voice resonates like thunder, causing us to tremble not in fear but in perfect love.

We have one God and Father of all, who is over all, through all, and in all (Ephesians 4:6).