Today we are looking at Psalm 29 and its message about the glory and strength of God. As we will see, the basic idea of this psalm is that there are many evidences of God’s glory and strength in his displays of power over his creation. And because of this all should rightly acknowledge God’s glory and strength.
You have a handout of an outline of Psalm 29.
Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength
“1Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 2Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.”
This is a call to worship, but a very specific one. It is calling “the heavenly beings” to praise God. It is directed at them.
Who are these? Literally it says the “sons of God.” This is a phrase that is used in the Old Testament to speak of the angels or they are even called “gods,” who are under Yahweh and do his bidding (Psalm 103:20; Job 1:6). They are sometimes referred to collectively as God’s “divine council” (Psalm 82; 89:5-7). Some of these sons of God are also those worshipped by the nations as gods (Deuteronomy 32:8) and are thus given glory beyond their measure.
So here we have a call for these heavenly beings to give proper worship to Yahweh, the one true God.
They are to “2Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name.” God’s glory and strength far surpass that of these heavenly beings, glorious as they may be. And they are to give God his due.
Also, they are to “worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.” God’s holiness refers to God’s utterly unique greatness. It refers to God as the one who is higher and better and more glorious than anything that he has created. And God in his holiness is “splendid” or “beautiful.” Have you ever thought of God as beautiful?
The Psalm goes on to spell out some of the ways in which God is so great.
But first we need to note that it does so by speaking of –
God’s coming in thunderstorms
As a kid I loved the thunderstorms that would roll through the south like clockwork in the Summer. I was in awe of such displays of power with the ground shaking thunder, the lightning, wind and rain.
As we have seen, when God rescued Israel from the Red Sea, God is portrayed as coming in a great storm. And we saw this recently reflected on in Habakkuk 3 which talks about this same event (Exodus 14; Psalm 77:16-20)
Yahweh is the great God who is above all – in the sky, as it were, who can display his glory in powerful storms. (Although not all storms are of God – Mark 4:35-39).
The phrase “the voice of the Lord” is used 7 times in this Psalm. And it is referring to the thunder, lightning and wind of a powerful storm. His majestic and powerful voice is heard in the sounds of a great thunderstorm.
Alright, with this background in mind –
Why should these heavenly beings glorify God?
1. Because of God’s power over the waters
“3The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over many waters. 4The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.” And then also in “10The Lord sits enthroned over the flood.”
Once again, the waters refer to the powers of evil, chaos and death. These verses portray God as in full control of the waters.
– God overcame the waters at the time of creation. He separated them into the waters above the above the sky, where the rain comes from and the waters below on the earth, in the seas – Genesis 1:7.
– And God overcame the waters again at the time of the flood, restraining them after he had used them, putting them back in the boundaries that he ordained, above in the sky and in the sea – Genesis 6.
Our Psalm pictures God as above the waters, like a thunderstorm would be over the Mediterranean sea. Such storms show that God is still in control of the waters. They are a display of his continued dominance and power over the deep. God is still in control of the chaos, and this chaotic world. God is still in control of the powers of evil and death.
And this is a power that the sons of God do not have. As Job 41:25 says of Leviathan, the sea serpent who is the personification of the waters, “When he raises himself up the gods are afraid.” So the heavenly beings must acknowledge Yahweh’s superiority over them.
Next, God should receive praise 2. Because of God’s power over all that is exalted on this earth.
“5The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.” And then also, “9The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare.”
I just finished cutting up some limbs that came down in our yard from a storm a few months ago. And still have a limb hanging from a storm several years ago that is too high for me to get. And we have all seen how a powerful storm can damage and destroy trees.
But the point is not just that God has this power, trees can represent that which is tall and lofty, what is strong and exalted in this world. Isaiah 2 talks about how God will come against all that is proud and lifted up, and they will be brought low before him. And Isaiah 2:13 specifically says that he is coming “against all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up; and against all the oaks of Bashan.”
All that is powerful and exalted in this world is as nothing before the power of God.
Finally, God should be glorified 3. Because of his power over all of Israel.
“6He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox. 7The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.” He lights up Lebanon. As the lightning and thunder come, Lebanon is like a young animal that runs and skips, here out of fear of the storm. And Mt. Sirion, also called Mt. Hermon, does the same.
“8The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.” The thunder, which as we know, can make the ground shake under our feet, shakes Kadesh and the surrounding wilderness.
When we look at the geography of this it is really talking about all of Israel.
- Mt. Hermon or Sirion is on the northern border of Israel and
- Kadesh is on the southern border.
So God’s power is over all of Israel, from its northernmost point and beyond, to its southernmost point and beyond.
And then we have in vs. 9-10 –
The response of the heavenly beings to God’s power
“9And in his temple all cry, ‘Glory!’ 10The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits enthroned as king forever.”
The temple here is most likely God’s heavenly temple, where these heavenly beings are.
In response to the glorious, powerful and majestic voice of the Lord in the storm, they cry out with their own voices, “Glory to God!” They recognize the Lord as the king he is, and that he reigns forever.
And then finally –
The Lord can give us strength and peace
“11May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace!”
This isn’t just an add on at the end. This is where we come into this Psalm.
This same God who has power over all things, is the one who takes care of his people. And so he can give us strength when we need it; when we are weak; when we are overwhelmed. The Lord can help us through.
This same God who has power over the chaotic waters, is the one who can give us peace in this chaotic world that we live in. We can have wholeness, settled calm and experience true life.
And so I encourage you to see these from God, who is the source of all our strength and peace and God’s people.
William Higgins
Christian teaching 
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