(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 skip 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 makes the forest bare,
And in his temple all cry "Glory!"
In the first stanza of Psalm 29 (verses 1-2) David appeals to the heavenly angels (the 'mighty ones') to proclaim God's glory! He is yearning for all God's creatures - Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts -- to join us as we praise our LORD!
Worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness (verse 2) -- which would be right where the angels are eternally -- in God's actual presence -- witnessing first hand His Holiness!
We, too, should always praise God right where we are!
Second Stanza - Verses 3-9
The second stanza (verses 3-9) describes a great storm.
When we read the words we can't help but be reminded of great storms we have experienced -- the thunder and lightning and whirling winds. Hurricanes and tornadoes.
It is not hard to imagine early Christians and later believers huddled in their dwellings, whether it be humble cottages or great walled castles, reading this hymn aloud to their children to calm their fears during the fury of a storm.
Our Puritan forefathers continued this tradition.
It appears the storm David is describing gathers its power out over the Mediterranean Sea - "over the mighty waters" could refer to that; but we don't know for certain.
Where the storm begins to gather its strength is not the main point of the section -- the emphasis is on the Voice of the LORD.
Though David is describing the majesty of God as revealed in the storm, he is chiefly concerned with the power of God's voice, not in the thunder itself.
The thunder is a poetic image for the infinite power of God's voice.
God's Voice
We first think of the power of God's voice in creation -- He spoke and as a result of His Voice, the earth and the universe and all they contain were created (Genesis 1).
And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light....'let there be an expanse between the waters'...and it was so...'let the land produce vegetation' and it was so.....
And we read about that voice again in Revelation 21:3:
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will live with them and be their God.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
The specific phrase the voice of the LORD occurs seven times in this stanza of Psalm 29: once in verse 3, twice in verse 4, and then again in verses 5, 7, 8 and 9.
The Path of the Storm
In verses 5-8 the storm moves inland and strikes Lebanon and moves downward, twisting and uprooting the great cedars and oaks, with flashing lightning, stripping the forests bare throughout the area and then shaking the desert.
(Sirion is an Old Testament name for Mount Hermon,
the highest peak in Syria.)
The storm is so fierce it even seems to make the mountains tremble.
Notice in verse 7 the flashing of the lightning, quite accurately, is linked to the thunder of God's voice.
The southern desert of Kadesh is where the Hebrews spent much of their wilderness journey, led by Moses, after escaping from Egypt.
So the storm has moved from the Sea, over to the lands north of Israel, and then through Israel, and down to the wilderness.
And where are the people?
Verse 9 tells us that they are in the temple praising God!
Is David still talking about "the mighty ones" -- the angels he calls on (Verse 1) to join him in praising God?
Maybe. But since he doesn't refer to them by a special title as he did in verse 1, likely he means God's people here on earth.
This is a beautiful picture - in the midst of the storm the angels are in heaven praising God and God's people on earth are gathered in His temple down here praising Him!
Another striking picture is to imagine God's people, for three thousand years, finding comfort in the majesty and power of the God revealed in these verses!
Praise God from whom all blessing flow!
Praise Him all creatures here below!
Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts!
Praise Father, Son and holy Ghost!
No comments:
Post a Comment