Praise

I couldn't find a good modern song for the last Psalm, but it is something I want to try and do as we go through the Psalms, share with you modern worship music written based on the Psalm we are going through. This one is Psalm 29 by the Psalms project

Man the power of a storm, I have always liked a good storm. There is something about seeing the lightening and hearing the thunder that I like to watch. I am not sure why But I am the guy that will drive into a big storm just to see and experience it. I remember driving from the farm to Saskatoon one day to pick up my cousin from the STC bus depot. She was going to stay at the farm for a while

We are moving to a praise Psalm, but it is a different type of Praise. In this Psalm, David Portray’s God as worthy of praise because He is the victorious King of Kings. We focus on God who is worthy of our praise because He rules over us. We hear of Praising God with arms lifted high, which I know Baptists have a hard time doing, but that is okay. We hear of God being a brother and a friend and worship Him that way. But a part of Praising God that we are going to go through today is that we also praise God in awe and fear because of who He is and what He has done for us.

HBI - As we praise God we should be overwhelmed by the powerful presence of our great King.

1-2 - Praise God

Have we become so comfortable with our salvation that we forget about the God that we serve? do we get so focused on the idea of God being a brother and a friend that we forget that we are to be overwhelmed by the glory and power of God. Have we forgot that God is not just our savior but He is also the powerful creator God who hates sin and evil.

3 times we see in the first section to Ascribe to the Lord the glory and strength due to His name.

Psalm 29:1 CSB

1 Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

I am sure all of you love when I get into word meaning stuff, but I like to do it and I hope it adds meaning to what we are going through in the scriptures. So Here we go again. Ascribe to the Lord.

This reflects a liturgical practice of calling people to worship. There is something to be said about a liturgical style of worship. If focused in the right direction, there is nothing wrong with it. Think of it as saying to all people near by, come, now is the time to present your sacrifices to the Lord. Come hear everyone, now is the time to get ready to worship the king of Kings.

think of it like the bell out at the camp. By the second day of camp, the kids know that when they hear the bell ringing that means to come gather at the chapel for there is something going on. The parents on the last day, not so much.

The word just means to cause someone to have something. it is in the sense that it soon becomes reflexive, it is second nature for us to begin to give something to someone else. because of who God is and what we are going to learn, our reflexive action is to do something.

Who is to ascribe to the Lord is the next question that we face. Heavenly Beings is the word that this translation uses. some translations use the term Mighty ones or sons of the mighty. Why does this matter.

People like to debate the meaning of things and argue about what they might mean. This is one of those cases that we cant really agree on the meaning. It is an interesting fact but not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. But it is fun to look into these things sometimes. The term can more literally be translated sons of gods.

The term is used elsewhere to refer to heavenly beings in the court of the Lord God who praise Him. In the near eastern worldview the universe was inhabited by heavenly divine beings and human beings. The realm of heavenly beings was arranged like a human royal court.

This is in a metaphorical sense, not giving credence to any other heavenly beings, that is not what this is saying at all. Those other Gods, all the beings in the universe, everyone that exists and even those we put our faith in that are not real, can not compare to the Creator God.

Yahweh is the only one that is due Glory, the only one that is strong and mighty. The purpose of this is that there is no one like God. Whether you agree with this interpretation of what this means, all people, the universe and everything in it need to praise God with the understanding with the cry, glory to your name, you are the strong and mighty one.

A God of such splendor and glory should not be taken lightly but we should be overwhelmed by the glory of the creator God. All the universe should be overwhelmed By God’s glory and if they are not yet, they will be one day.

Psalm 29:2 CSB

2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.

The Lord God is due glory. When you break a law, you are due to pay a fine or spend a day in court. When you take out a book you are due to return it on a certain day. There are just certain things that when you do something you are due to do something in response to that.

In the same general sense, because of who God is, greatest of all in the universe, for He created it He is due all glory in all that we do.

To worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness.

As we praise God, we need to remember that he is due glory and honor, for He is the creator God. This is the mindset we are to approach God. But not only that, the idea of splendor is that we are to approach God with the “clothing” fitting our status as children of God. Are we arrayed in a way fitting of people being called children of God. As we seek to be Holy, we approach God in a way, clothing ourselves with a life worthy of God, only then are we prepared to worship Him.

3-9 - Praise Him because of His power

We start out with the fact that the universe and all that is in it is to praise God clothed in a holy life with the glory due His name. We see a bit more of the why we are to worship Him. Next we see David reflect on the thunderstorm as a illustration of the majesty and power of God whom we come here to praise. We look at the power of the storm and how can we help but not get a little scared. storms can get pretty intense sometimes.

Psalm 29:3–4 CSB

3 The voice of the Lord is above the waters. The God of glory thunders— the Lord, above the vast water, 4 the voice of the Lord in power, the voice of the Lord in splendor.

The voice of God Thunders over the waters. Again a bit of background.

From my research it seems that the Israelite's where having troubles with looking to other Canaanite gods like Baal. Baal was thought to be the god of the thunderstorm responsible for bringing rain to the land. This seems to allude to stories of Baal to show the people that only the Lord God is powerful. Baal as storm god spoke with thunder but only God is due glory, only Yahweh speaks with Thunder.

The imagery throughout these next few verses describes a mighty storm that forms over the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, moves across the inland through the forested mountains of Lebanon in the north and rolls on the desert of Kadesh. Among the people that worshipped idols, this would be seen as a clear sign to Baal but the bible says only Yahweh can do this.

Yahweh rules over the mighty waters of the sea.

Psalm 29:5–6 CSB

5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, and Sirion, like a young wild ox.

The cedars of Lebanon where stout trees that people used for timber for construction. again, going back to the Baal myth, the cedars from Lebanon are the materials for his palace. Even these mighty trees twist and shatter the mighty cedars.

Growing up on the farm I used to love to watch the little calves when they where playing. They would jump around with their tails up in the air making funny noises. They would do the same thing when they where scared though. You could tell the difference when they where scared and playing though.

The mighty mountain ranges in Lebanon are likened to scared skipping calves. The Lord thunders and shakes the mountains. In the presence of our God they are shaken like small objects. Like a mighty storm that comes and breaks the trees and shakes the mountains, this is the God we praise.

Psalm 29:7–9 CSB

7 The voice of the Lord flashes flames of fire. 8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth and strips the woodlands bare. In his temple all cry, “Glory!”

Here comes the lightening. Lightening can do great damage, I have seen lightening start fires, cut out power, cause explosions. All things, including the animals in the wilderness, all people are overcome by the glory of the Lord God.

The shaking of the world at the thundering voice of the Lord God should add some perspective to our worship. The divine power of God can not be denied all need to tremble and worship God and the glory of Yahweh. Our proper response to the description of the glory of Our great God is to ascribe Him Glory and Honor.

10-11 - Praise God for He is King.

We conclude by returning to the scene of the heavenly court, the same place that we started.

Psalm 29:10–11 CSB

10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits enthroned, King forever. 11 The Lord gives his people strength; the Lord blesses his people with peace.

This is something that is good to remember through it all. While the storms may rage, the thunders roar and the mountains shake, the Lord sits enthroned over the flood that He is still in control. As great as His power is, He is still in control.

“In the face of the dreadful events and the fearful passing away which are a continual threat to all earthly things man’s faith finds comfort in God, the eternal King of heaven”

But in the midst of the raging storm, and the flood the idea that God is still in control comes with the other side of it that He gives us peace. God can and odes protect His people. There is peace and quiet in the midst of the storm for those that trust in God. This is all the cause for our praise and singing. Our God will give us peace if we take refuge in Him.

So What?

We have a dog who is 12 years old, she is still doing good for how old she is. I think she can sense when a storm is coming in. But as soon as she hears the first rumblings of thunder she has to go hide somewhere. usually in the basement or our bedroom. The power of the storm scares her.

Here we see that Yahweh is in charge of the storms, He shakes the earth and lights the sky with Lightening. In the midst of it all we are told we can rest in Him and find peace in Him. There are a few things that we can take from this.

We must praise God with the mindset of who He is and what He has done.

As we worship God, we understand that He is our father and our friend. But when was the last time you worshiped Him with this mindset, of being overwhelmed by the power and glory and majesty of who He is.

Time after time in the scriptures we see people that experienced God and His glory, just a glimpse of it and what they did is fall prostrate on the ground, Remember when Peter met Jesus after a failed night of fishing. Jesus told peter to go out again and try throwing the net out again on the other side. After the results of that catch Peter did not run to Jesus sand give Him a hug but fell prostrate on the ground acknowledging His sinfulness.

When was the last time you Praised God overwhelmed By who He is and what He has done?

Peace in the Storm

Through the storms our God is in control, He is enthroned on High and when we feel in danger of getting tossed around by the wind and the waves and life is out of control we are promised that there is peace and strength under God.

When we really see God for who He is and what He has done, when His power and Holiness is on display for us to see, There should be no other response to Him then an overwhelming sense of how far removed our lives are from His Holiness. How undeserving we are of His gracious Love. This is the mindset we need to praise God with.