Psalm 29

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Good evening. I am glad that we can be here together tonight. Let us begin by reading the Psalm together. Tonight we will be reading Psalms 29

Psalm 29 NIV

A psalm of David. 1 Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor 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 forever. 11 The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace.

The Theophany

Psalm 29 is an interesting one because it is a powerful piece of poetry. It speaks of the power of the thunderstorm and seeing God in it. Psalm 29 is refereed to as a Theophany about Yahweh.

A Theophany now that sounds like a fancy word. A Theophany is a visible appearance of God to humans. In this example it is God being visible through the power of the Thunderstorm.

The Thunderstorm

When we read this Psalm does it invoke memories of a great thunderstorm. Take a moment and think about what was one of the great storms you have ever been in?

What are some of the things you remember most about the storm?

How did you feel in that storm?

I wiil share with you a story about my experience in a storm.

I was in college at the time. I was working on Table Rock lake at a camp grounds for the summer. This camp was a lot of fun becuase one of the big features of it was spending time on the lake. We would take kids out tubing, water skiing, rope swings, and Cliff jumping into the lake.

I was the driver for the cliff jumping boat. I spent several days a week driving a pontoon boat out to a part of the lake where there was a cliff that you could jump off of into the lake. It was a fun experience. I remember the first time i did it. It was an intense jump. Depending on the water level the height would change but on average it was easily 30 to 40 food jump.

One week we were out on the lake and i was sitting there enjoying the nice sunny day and i noticed something in the distance. I noticed the dark clouds coming down the lake toward where we were sitting. It was one of those moments you look at the sky and you say oh man this isn’t good.

I started yelling at the kids and adults on the cliff telling them to jump or come back down. They looked at me in confusion and I simply pointed toward the clouds. They saw why i was wanting them to get back into the boat and they started jumping. IT took us a few minutes but everyone got back into the boat and we were on our way.

Now the problem i knew i was facing was that to get back to our dock i was going to end up going directly into the incoming storm. I got the boat up to my top speed as fast as I could as i was going parrallel to the storm. I knew that i needed to get as far as i could before the storm hit because it wasn’t going to be fun going directly into the storm. As soon as we took the bend to get back to the dock we turn and move right into it. I had to slow down because rain doesnt feel good on your face at 35mph.

I also had to slow down because the wind had picked up. The waves were knocking us about and it was a moment of intense driving. You could hear the thunder rolling and the rain and wind were strong. slowly we made it i could see the dock. It took me a solid 5 min to park the boat because trying to get a big pontoon boat into a large boat dock with the waves the way they were was very difficult.

That storm is one i never will forget. It was a scary storm to be in.

I think about that storm and i think about this passage and it makes me think about how different the storm would have looked from the saftey of a home or on land. It was scary because we were on the water.

It is after storms like this though that i have a new respect for the power of storms.

Power of the Storm

The power of storms is amazing. As hard as it is to hear sometimes we have reason to see storms as truly awesome to behold. For many these storms create fear and bring up bad memories. So why would we use them to describe the LORD if they bring up negative memories.

Power of the Lord

Psalms like this are a reminder for me of the power of God. We so often speak of God’s love and grace that we forget that God is still a God of power and majesty.

The idea that God can both create and destroy is a difficult one for us. This is not to attribute the calamities of the world to God. WE can’t forget that we are living in a fallen and broken world thanks to sin. However, God’s power is such that he can control the winds and the waves.

One line particular that speaks to his power is in v. 5

Psalm 29:5 NIV

5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

Now when we hear the word Cedar many of us will get the wrong image in our head. See most Cedar trees that we know of in the United states are true Cedar trees. They are trees that are similar but belong to a different tree family. However, many true cedars are very large trees that grow in rocky and mountainous areas. On average most varieties will range from 40 to 60 feet in height.

Yet, the passage speaks about the Cedars of Lebanon. Cedars of Lebanon are the larges variety of cedar tree.

They have been known to grow up to 130 ft tall and can range in diameter of 6 to 8 feet.

A good comparison for us in the United States would be our redwoods. These huge trees were highly valued and sought out. In fact The lumber from these trees was used in the building of the temple.

IT helps us picture the power and majesty of God when we imagine the idea of these cedars being broken to pieces. No only does that passage speak to it but Lebenon and Sirion are references to mountains. Leaping and skipping about. THe Lord makes mountains skip.

This Psalm reminds us the true power of who God is. The creator of all the universe and it is trying to do it in human terms and thinking that we can understand and it still fall short of truly capturing it.

Awe of God

The beauty of these passages is it reminds us how much we need to be in awe of God and his authority in our lives. When we seek him for healing, or help in our lives, we sometimes doubt because how or why would he help me. Yet, we can be reminded and be confident that he is able to help. Nothing is outside of his ability.

God sits in control. He knows and can work any and all situations to his glory.

Psalm 29:10 NIV

10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as King forever.

This picture of the Lord sitting over the water is a reference to the creation. The Waters are a symbol in Hebrew writings for the chaos. this verse reminds us that he sits enthroned over the water and even the chaos is in his control and under his authority.

It brings us to peace and comfort knowing that no matter what is happening and no matter what is going on in life that he is over it all. Even when things are difficult and the storm is raging around us we can be at peace because God is in control. His power is greater than the storm. This is what we celebrate tonight. This is what we praise God for tonight. Knowing the peace and blessing he provides even in the midst of the storm.