In the United States, rainmaking was attempted by traveling showmen. It was practiced on the American frontier, but may have reached a peak during the Dust Bowl drought of the US west and midwest in the 1930s. The practice was depicted in the 1956 film The Rainmaker. Attempts to bring rain directly have waned with development of the science of meteorology, laws against fraud, and improved weather forecasting, with some exceptions such as cloud seeding and forms of prayer including rain dances, which are still practiced today. Prayers for rain is also a common cultural practice for Christians and Muslims. In some Christian areas, clerics of the Eastern Orthodox Church are believed to possess the power to arrest rain, bring hail to the farms of wayward souls, as well as to bring rain when the rainy season falls short.

Psalms 78

God’s Kindness to Rebellious Israel

A Contemplation of Asaph.

1Give ear, O my people, to my law;Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.2I will open my mouth in a parable;I will utter dark sayings of old,3Which we have heard and known,And our fathers have told us.4We will not hide them from their children,Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.5For He established a testimony in Jacob,And appointed a law in Israel,Which He commanded our fathers,That they should make them known to their children;6That the generation to come might know them,The children who would be born,That they may arise and declare them to their children...

Judg 4:8-9 (NKJV)

8 And Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!”9So she said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless there will be no glory for you in the journey you are taking, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.

Psalm 77

New King James Version

The Consoling Memory of God’s Redemptive Works

To the Chief Musician.

To Jeduthun.

A Psalm of Asaph.

1 I cried out to God with my voice—
To God with my voice;
And He gave ear to me.
2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord;
My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing;
My soul refused to be comforted.
3 I remembered God, and was troubled;
I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah

4 You hold my eyelids open;
I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5 I have considered the days of old,
The years of ancient times.
6 I call to remembrance my song in the night;
I meditate within my heart,
And my spirit makes diligent search.

7 Will the Lord cast off forever?
And will He be favorable no more?
8 Has His mercy ceased forever?
Has His promise failed forevermore?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies? Selah

10 And I said, “This is my anguish;
But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
11 I will remember the works of the Lord;
Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.
12 I will also meditate on all Your work,
And talk of Your deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary;
Who is so great a God as our God?
14 You are the God who does wonders;
You have declared Your strength among the peoples.
15 You have with Your arm redeemed Your people,
The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

16 The waters saw You, O God;
The waters saw You, they were afraid;
The depths also trembled.
17 The clouds poured out water;
The skies sent out a sound;
Your arrows also flashed about.
18 The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;
The lightnings lit up the world;
The earth trembled and shook.
19 Your way was in the sea,
Your path in the great waters,
And Your footsteps were not known.
20 You led Your people like a flock
By the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Psalm 76

New King James Version

The Majesty of God in Judgment

To the Chief Musician. On stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.

1 In Judah God is known;

His name is great in Israel.

2 In Salem also is His tabernacle,

And His dwelling place in Zion.

3 There He broke the arrows of the bow,

The shield and sword of battle. Selah

4 You are more glorious and excellent

Than the mountains of prey.

5 The stouthearted were plundered;

They have sunk into their sleep;

And none of the mighty men have found the use of their hands.

6 At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob,

Both the chariot and horse were cast into a dead sleep.

7 You, Yourself, are to be feared;

And who may stand in Your presence

When once You are angry?

8 You caused judgment to be heard from heaven;

The earth feared and was still,

9 When God arose to judgment,

To deliver all the oppressed of the earth. Selah

10 Surely the wrath of man shall praise You;

With the remainder of wrath You shall gird Yourself.

11 Make vows to the Lord your God, and pay them;

Let all who are around Him bring presents to Him who ought to be feared.

12 He shall cut off the spirit of princes;

He is awesome to the kings of the earth.

Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name.

Psalm 75

New King James Version

Thanksgiving for God’s Righteous Judgment

To the Chief Musician. Set to “Do Not Destroy.” A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.

1 We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks!

For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near.

2 “When I choose the proper time,

I will judge uprightly.

3 The earth and all its inhabitants are dissolved;

I set up its pillars firmly. Selah

4 “I said to the boastful, ‘Do not deal boastfully,’

And to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up the horn.

5 Do not lift up your horn on high;

Do not speak with a stiff neck.’ ”

6 For exaltation comes neither from the east

Nor from the west nor from the south.

7 But God is the Judge:

He puts down one,

And exalts another.

8 For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup,

And the wine is red;

It is fully mixed, and He pours it out;

Surely its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth

Drain and drink down.

9 But I will declare forever,

I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.

10 “All the horns of the wicked I will also cut off,

But the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.”