The LORD sits enthroned over the flood;
The LORD is enthroned as King forever.
The LORD gives strength to His people;
The LORD blesses His people with peace.
Psalm 29:10-11
In the first stanza of this psalm (verses 1-2) David appeals to the angels in heaven to join in a chorus of praise to God.
It is somewhat unusual to see a psalm requesting the "mighty ones" (angels) to praise the LORD, since that is what they do all the time anyway.
Perhaps David was realizing his (our) own inadequacy and was challenging everything in God's creation to join together to exalt the majesty of the LORD God Almighty!
Or maybe something else is motivating David...
I think of him having a heart so full of joyful praise that he can't contain it.
Like that song we love to sing:
And when the love spills over
and music fills the night
And when you can't contain your joy inside
Then dance for Jesus! dance for Jesus!
Dance for Jesus and live!
David's heart spilled over with joy and praise and he shouts to all around him -- let's all praise God!
Asking the angels to join him was a spontaneous act responding to the goodness and majesty of God!
In the second stanza (verses 3-9) we see a horrific storm approaching and trace its path as it makes its relentless way from the sea to the desert, so powerful it destroys great forests and seems to make the mountains tremble.
This storm is full of sound and fury and signifies the power of God over nature.
And where are the people?
Safely in the temple praising God!
So the angels are in heaven glorifying God and the human creatures are in God's temple praising Him....
Reminding us that God's creatures will respond to Him in praise, no matter where they are!
And where is God?
The Third Stanza
Verses 10-11
This brings us to the third and final stanza - verses 10-11.
The storm has passed, but God remains as the enthroned King of the universe.
The earth and its people were shaken, but the LORD was in control, as always.
And this is how the psalm ends.
What remains after the storm is God Himself, reigning sovereign, as He always has and always will.
The psalm does not say the people were frightened - they were in the temple worshipping.
Maybe they were exhilarated by the display.
And they felt the strength and peace of God.
There is an interesting note about verse 10:
God sits enthroned over the flood...
the LORD is enthroned as King forever...
A storm of this magnitude would produce heavy rain
and there would be flooding.
But it would be localized floods, from Mount Hermon to the desert, from the highlands to the lowlands....in the Holy Land...
The Hebrew word in Psalm 29:10 for flood is only used one other place in Scripture, and that is in Genesis 6-9 when we read the account of the great flood of Noah.
All Jews would know that portion of Scripture well.
In English we would translate the word deluge, or The Flood here in verse 10.
According to James Montgomery Boice, there is another fact to consider: the Hebrew word sits is actually sat (past tense).
So we should properly read the verse:
God sat enthroned over The Flood of Noah, continues to be enthroned, and will be enthroned forever.
So God was in control then, He is in control now, and He will be in control in the future.
He is in control of all storms - from the storm of Noah to the storms in our lives.
He saved His people then; He saves us now; and He will save us in the future!
Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him ye creatures here below
Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost!
AMEN! and AMEN!
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