Weds 15th April - Psalm 29
Psalm 29
1 Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to his name;
worship the Lord in the splendour of his holiness.3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is majestic.
5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon leap like a calf,
Sirion like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the Lord strikes
with flashes of lightning.
8 The voice of the Lord shakes the desert;
the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the Lord twists the oaks
and strips the forests bare.
And in his temple all cry, ‘Glory!’10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord is enthroned as King for ever.
11 The Lord gives strength to his people;
the Lord blesses his people with peace.
- - -
Last week we thought about the God of Redemption as we focused on Psalm 22.
Now, in Psalm 29, we are reminded that He is also the God of Creation.
He alone is worthy of our praise and adoration.
THE GREATNESS OF THE LORD vs. 1-2
Notice some repetition:
ascribe (to give Him what He alone deserves) – 3 times
the Voice – 7 times
the LORD (Yahweh) -18 times
This Psalm is all about Him.
In these dark and difficult days, it’s good to be reminded that He is the Sovereign LORD and He is in control.
We join with the angelic hosts to honour His Name for His glory and His strength.
We worship Him ‘in the beauty of His holiness.’
In Psalm 27 David prayed that he might ‘gaze on the beauty of the LORD.’
We know, from Isaiah 53:2, that ‘He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him.’
His beauty is an inner beauty which we reflect as we become more like Him.
THE POWER OF THE LORD vs.3-9
The Voice of the LORD …
thunders
is powerful
is majestic
breaks the cedars
strikes like lightning
shakes the desert
twists oaks
We remember that the voice of God brought creation into being.
The Wycliffe Commentary says: ‘this is not God’s anger but His majestic power which makes the storm move. It begins out over the Mediterranean Sea with power and majesty. It then moves in over the mountains to the north of Palestine and over the wilderness to the south. The description of the effect upon the trees, mountains, wilderness and animals is followed by the chorus of ‘glory’.’
This chorus comes from the people of God. As the Psalm reaches its crescendo –
the LORD is on the throne
the LORD is King - so we give Him thanks because…
- He gives us strength
- He blesses us with peace
Let’s worship the LORD together even though we are isolated.
Let’s pray for each other that
The LORD will give us His strength
The LORD will bless us with His peace.
(R.P.)
Daily Readings
Thursday 16th April - Psalm 30
Friday 17th April - Psalm 31
Saturday 18th April - Psalm 32
Sunday 19th April - Psalm 33
Monday 20th April - Psalm 34
Tuesday 21st April - Psalm 35