'God is sovereign,' says John Piper after Japan disaster

"The power of moving water is greater than most of us can imagine. Nothing stands before it," he said in a blog post Saturday.

Videos and images of the devastation caused by the earthquake that struck off the east coast of Japan and of the tsunami that followed on Friday have left the world in shock.

Tweets and comments have been posted in mass numbers, some calling for prayers and others saying the disaster is another sign of the end times.

For Piper, the catastrophic events have forced him to his knees in prayer.

"Father in heaven, you are the absolute Sovereign over the shaking of the earth, the rising of the sea, and the raging of the waves. We tremble at your power and bow before your unsearchable judgments and inscrutable ways," he said in a prayer for Japan.

"O God, we humble ourselves under your holy majesty and repent. In a moment – in the twinkling of an eye – we too could be swept away. We are not more deserving of firm ground than our fellowmen in Japan. We too are flesh.

"[I]n this dark hour we turn against our sins, not against you," he prayed.

Piper, Pastor for Preaching at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, further petitioned God for mercy and compassion.

"Grant us, your sinful creatures, to return to you, that you may have compassion. For surely you will abundantly pardon. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus, your beloved Son, will be saved."

He continued. "May every heart-breaking loss – millions upon millions of losses – be healed by the wounded hands of the risen Christ. You are not unacquainted with your creatures' pain.

"O let them not judge you with feeble sense, but trust you for your grace. And so behind this providence, soon find a smiling face."