We're in Perek Shira, in the song of lightning. It's a pasuk in tehilim
135 בְּרָקִים אוֹמְרִים.
בְּרָקִים לַמָּטָר עָשָׂה מוֹצֵא רוּחַ מֵאוֹצְרוֹתָיו: (תהילים קלה ז /God made lightning for the rain and He takes wind out from His house.
The Radak says the wonder of lightning is that lightning is fire, and yet it comes down together with water, and the water and the fire work together. The Noam Elimelech, in Parashat Tazria, says that rain comes, but we have thunder and lightning beforehand because the thunder and lightning instill fear in our hearts. Once we have the fear in our hearts, then we are able to merit the blessing of the rain that comes afterwards.
To give a little context to this pasuk, in Tehilim, David HaMelech says, כִּ֤י אֲנִ֣י יָ֭דַעְתִּי כִּֽי־גָד֣וֹל יְהֹוָ֑ה וַ֝אֲדֹנֵ֗ינוּ מִכׇּל־אֱלֹהִֽים׃ /I know God is great, our Master over other forces.
כֹּ֤ל אֲשֶׁר־חָפֵ֥ץ יְהֹוָ֗ה עָ֫שָׂ֥ה בַּשָּׁמַ֥יִם וּבָאָ֑רֶץ בַּ֝יַּמִּ֗ים וְכׇל־תְּהֹמֽוֹת
God does whatever He wants, in the heavens and on the earth, in the oceans, and in all the depths. What's the wonders? The rain thunder, lightning and wind.
מַעֲלֶ֣ה נְשִׂאִים֮ מִקְצֵ֢ה הָ֫אָ֥רֶץ בְּרָקִ֣ים לַמָּטָ֣ר עָשָׂ֑ה מֽוֹצֵא־ר֝֗וּחַ מֵאֽוֹצְרוֹתָֽיו׃
God brings the clouds from the one end of the earth, and He brings lightning. And then it says,
שֶׁ֭הִכָּה בְּכוֹרֵ֣י מִצְרָ֑יִם מֵ֝אָדָ֗ם עַד־בְּהֵמָֽה׃
He hit the firstborns of Mitzrayim from man to animal.
So, this is a wonder- David Hamelech is putting rain together with the wonders of Yitzyat Mitzrayim.
Rav Yechezkel Levenstein, in his sefer on Emunah, says that we see from here how we have to constantly work on annulling the falseness of the way we look at things. Even after we see thunder and lightning and nature, we have to go further; we have to go to Yitziat Mitzrayim. And we have to go on, that their that idols are made of gold and silver. They don't see, they can't hear.
We constantly have to work on reiterating our beliefs in the wonders of God.
To this day, scientists are still figuring out the wonders of lightning. Why do we need lightning? What causes it?
A thunder cloud consists of ice crystals and hail that bounce around and collide with each other, which leads the bottom of the cloud to have a negative charge, while the top of the cloud and the ground below both have a positive charge. The negative and positive charges build up so much that a huge spark of electricity, which is lightning, is released and it hits either other clouds nearby or something on the ground.
This is why we brought the clouds into the picture, because it's the clouds and the rain working together to create lightning.
The charge carried by a bolt of lightning is so intense; it has a temperature of 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit, five times hotter than the surface of the sun!
So why do we need lightning? As we said before, lightning is frightening and dangerous, and that instills fear into us. But it's also beneficial. Our atmosphere is comprised of nitrogen, and lightning has the power to break apart the nitrogen molecules, turning them into nitrates, which helps fertilize the soil for grass and crops to grow.
Additionally, nitrogen oxides react with oxygen to enhance the ozone atmosphere, which helps shield our planet from harmful UV rays from the sun. So lightning works to protect our planet. There are also all kinds of what they call greenhouse gases, which are not very good, such as methane. When lightning strikes, it causes other molecules to break apart look for a partner, and gets rid of these greenhouse gases.
Finally, 15% of oxygen is created by the chemical reactions that are caused by lightning when we have a storm.
This is all from the wonders of wonders that scientists are just trying to find out, beside the electricity that we have today that was inspired by lightning when Benjamin Franklin, in the 1700s, decided to fly a kite in a storm. That led to the invention of the lightning rod and the understanding of positive and negative charges. The connection between electricity and lightning was known, but not fully understood.
All these great inventions that we have are all inspired by Hashem. He puts the wisdom into our minds, but even electricity existed way before we harnessed it, in the form of lightning.
This is the song of lightning, and how it wonderfully impacts our universe.