Psalm 29

A Psalm of David

⁰¹          Acknowledge the Lord,

O mighty ones.

Ascribe to the Lord,

glory and strength.

⁰²             Give to the Lord,

 the glory due His Name;

Worship the Lord in the majesty of His holiness.

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Worship the Lord

For the Lord’s Day:  the 10^th of July 2005

Introduction:  We have all experienced the natural forces of storms in one manner or another.  Just this week, it seems that the hurricane season began early in the Gulf of Mexico, and many have prepared as best they are able for the strength of wind and waves.  On one occasion, when I was driving, I could see the edge of a storm ahead of me and as I entered into it, the construction barrels along the side of the highway began to blow and several of the barrels passed me in the passing lane!  I turned off at the very next exit to get clear of the storm tossed barrels.  By that time, the rain was coming down by the barrelful!  My little car was being tossed from side to side by the force of wind and rain!  Another time when I saw in the distance four and then eight dancing funnel clouds being formed as a larger tornado blew itself out and dissipated its strength.  I saw that happen from about six miles away and I have no desire to experience these things any closer than I already have. 

 

To the ancients, winds and storms were more terrifying events than they are today.  After all, all we have to do today is listen to the media or log on to a weather site and get first hand information about when and where the storm is going to strike!

 

Our psalm before us today speaks awesome things about such storms.  In these storms the psalmist sees the hand and presence of our God and King.  Great things and glorious things have been spoken about our God and our King and this summary psalm details the ancient perspective of the revealed Glory in the weathering processes of nature.  As Spurgeon allows, our psalm may be conveniently divided into three sections.  The first two verses are a call to adoration.  In verses three to nine is the tempest traced, and the attributes of God are magnified.  The last two verses give us assurance that God is all powerful and that He strengthens and blesses His people.

 

Now, the particular circumstances of the writing of this psalm have been long lost.  However, we may note that this is one of the Nature Psalms as the theme here relates to a tremendous thunderstorm.  Certainly, from time to time, we can appreciate the images contained in these verses.  And yet, in our modern sophistication we know that the thunderous noise that comes with lightning is scientifically explainable.  In our smug scientific knowledge we tend to loose the wonder and awe of primitive man when it comes to comprehending the unknown and often misunderstood activities of our natural world.  What we need to learn from our passage today is this:  However we look into the eye of the storm, there is the power of God displayed!  It makes little difference whether we understand that storm mythically or scientifically, God, seen through the eyes of His creation is indeed awesome.

 

As we consider this storm psalm, there are two factors we need to keep in mind.  First, our writer - like all the Hebrews of his time, were close to the land and knew how their dependence was linked to the weather and soil.  C.S. Lewis notes on these nature psalms that the Hebrews, like our Amish friends in Logan County took a special delight in talking about the weather.  He hints that there is almost a vegetable enjoyment in the liquid refreshment brought down in buckets and barrels from the storm clouds!

 

Second, our writer, contrary to all but a few of the pagan writers of antiquity, senses that there is a distinct separation of God and nature.  God rules, nature obeys.  David has a keen sense of creation here that was shared only by the Greek Philosopher Plato.  Most of the ancient myths of paganism do not comprehend the idea of creation in the Hebrew and Christian sense at all.  Now there is a consequence to this idea of creation.  A specific creation of nature by God empties Nature herself of divinity.  Whereas the pagans worshipped nature, the Hebrew and Christian world view sees nature only as a manifestation of the divine hand at work.  We in a narrow sense, not shared by the evolutionists, the environmentalists and so on, see nature as the reflected Glory of our God!  Let us keep this idea in mind as we peruse the verses of this particular psalm this morning.

 

Development:  Our Psalm begins with a threefold ascription to the power and might of the most Holy Being in the universe.  We should also note that there are aspects of this psalm that transcend the time and place being described poetically by David the king.  Verses one and two in our psalm encourage us to “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His Name”. 

 

Since, the word “ascribe” is no longer common in the English language, I have twice used words that better relate the implications of its meaning:  “acknowledge” and “give”.  The three fold deposition thereby allows us to frame the meaning clearly and succinctly.

 

In verse one; we see that the “mighty ones” are called to acknowledge the person and place of the Most High God of heaven and earth.  These “mighty ones” are translated differently by several commentators.  And the words are supposed to include the various spirits, deities and angels common to the acknowledgement of mankind down through the ages.  Calvin will have none of these Jewish superstitions – which the ancient commentators chose to explain the difficulty of the phrase here in the Hebrew of verse one.

 

Calvin limits the call to adoration and acknowledgement to the great men of his and every time.  “It was no doubt David’s design to lead all men to worship and reverence God, but as it is more difficult to reduce great men, who excel in rank,” he expressly addresses them.  Since we have a certain plurality in this call to worship, let us conclude that all those with sufficient strength to stand alone and above the common crowd are the ones who are invited to see in our God and King: a personage worthy of worship.

 

In newspaper terminology, the first phrase establishes “who” is to be interested and the second strophe tells us “what” the hearer ought to do.  The third phrase tells us “why” this is attention is desirable and finally, the purpose of David’s invocation is clearly established – in order that the Lord God of heaven and earth may receive the worship of every living person, both small and great.

 

In verse two the testimony of God's glory turns to a call to worship.  And notice something important there.  We are to worship in the splendor of his holiness.  Now all of my commentators either ignore this phrase or get this wrong.  But in the sense of this psalm I would think that David means us to heed the threefold call to focus on God alone in the realization that we must stand in awe before the awesome throne of our God.  Our need to develop this childlike awe is conveyed in the following verses through the image of the storm.

 

Application:  But, before we delve into the heart of the storm next week – let us first establish the purpose of David’s invitation, so that we are mindful of just who is to be revealed in the poetic storm imagery that follows.  The Person revealed here is not some imaginary “nature god” so common in the nations around Israel.  No indeed, David is inviting everyone to consider the awesome God of heaven and earth as He may be revealed in the natural wonders of the earth which He created.

 

Our first step is to understand the three fold implications of the Olde English term:  “Ascribe.”  In the first line, I have attempted to draw out the invitation to simply acknowledge the fact that there is a God.  ”Acknowledge the Lord, O mighty ones”.  This, after all is the first step in coming into the faith once given to the people of God.  And this is a step that the worldly are fighting tooth and nail.  This is why the liberals with their religion of humanism, so decry the simple faith of our president and everyone who might agree with him.  “In God we trust,” and “One nation under God” are fighting words to those who would like to remove any knowledge and every reference of the Holy from the public domain.

 

A second step is to then assume, on the basis of biblical revelation that the God who exists is not only all powerful, benevolent, merciful and long suffering; but also absolute in His attributes of character.  The fourth question of our catechism summarizes the teaching of scripture:  “God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.”

 

Both David and the fathers of both Testament Churches lived in less jaded times.  The Old Covenant elders had only to contend with imaginary deities published through the myths of neighboring tribes and nations.  The New Covenant elders witnessed the triumph of the Triune God over those fictitious characters.  And only in modern times has the church been confronted with a crowd of detractors who believe in nothing.

 

Just as the liberal media would blame every civilized impulse of our national agenda today for all the wickedness rampant in the world, so too would they refuse to reach a justified assumption that the God of creation is one glorious and strong in all respects.  “Ascribe to the Lord, glory and strength,” David invites his generation even as we must invite our own.  “Glory and strength,” are not human qualities, in spite of the presumption of power to which the priests of humanism assume to themselves.

 

We are not to bow our knees before lesser beings, whether they are deities or men!   Here is the third step in David’s invitation to worship: ”Give to the Lord, the glory due His Name.”  While, this third phrase builds on the assumptions of the previous, still the moral and theological implications are staggering.  Think of it this way.  Francis Schaeffer, a Reformed theologian for the second half of the last century made two definitive statements about the Lord God.  “He is there, and He is not silent!”  For all of those who have heard His still small voice in and through the revelation of the Holy Spirit – the apparent sound of His voice proves the first declaration, that “He is there.”  Logically then, if He is there, then as founder, manager and ruler of the whole universe – he has, by every right:  therefore, a certain deference on our part towards Him is a reasonable expectation.

 

In our day and age, ninety-some per cent of our population will admit that God exists – but we well know that He does not need their acknowledgement to make that existence certain.  Further, a major portion of that larger percentage will on the basis of the Judeao-Christian heritage understand Him to be supreme in His position of authority.  However, only about twenty-five to forty per cent of the population will subscribe to the idea that His exalted position is worthy of worship and respect.

 

This is the final position to which David would call his generation:  “Worship the Lord in the majesty of His holiness.”  And yet, even as David knew, and as we too must acknowledge, the greater majority of mankind would worship anything else rather than the Creator God.  That the majority of this world’s population could come to that position is unlikely.  After all, as Calvin observes, the worship of the One God alone, “cannot come to pass until the world be reclaimed from all foolish inventions and services forged in the brains of men.”

 

May we, today give honor and thanks and praise to the Holy God who may be known not only through the storm, but also in the quiet instruction of the Holy Spirit.  Remember, that the God who is – is not silent and it is specifically He who calls us to worship Himself alone!  And may we worship Him today “in the majesty of His holiness.”  Amen.

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PREACHING RESOURCES

Calvin, John:  Commentary on Book of Psalms.

Delitzsch, F:  Commentary on the Old Testament – Psalms.

Lewis, C.S.  Reflections on the Psalms.

MacLaren, Alexander.  The Expositor's Bible:  The Psalms.

Spurgeon, C.H:  Treasury of David.

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