Psalm 29
How do we envision God and what impact does that have on us? Our experiences both enable and limit our imagination. Consider the authors of the three major prophetic books. Isaiah saw, ‘the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne.’ He cried, ‘Woe is me!’ He knew he was too unclean to speak the word of God until a Seraphim put a burning coal to his lips taking away his guilt. Isaiah chp6 Jeremiah experienced God’s hand touching his mouth so he could speak and then God gave him a sequence of visions concerning his judgements. Jeremiah chp1 Out of a storm Exekiel saw four spectacular living creatures, ‘Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel.’ Above them a figure like a man of awesome appearance revealing the glory of the Lord, and Exekiel fell down. Exekiel chp1 Each by understanding the greatness of God, his holiness and power was equipped to boldly speak the word of God.
David was raised to praise God’s glory, power and holiness through the experience of an awesome storm that swept in from the Mediterranean into northern Canaan (now Lebanon) and south to the Desert of Kadesh, sweeping over Jerusalem. If this is God’s creation, how much more powerful is the Creator? Grasping the awesomeness of God draws one into worshipping his holiness. v3 There are times when envisioning the greatness and holiness of God can lead one into simply repeating his name. Eighteen times David repeats the name of the Lord (Yahweh) in this short psalm and seven times he refers to the power of the voice of the Lord. This is a psalm to be read aloud declaring the glory of the Lord. ‘And in his temple all cry, Glory’ v9
From this psalm we are to take confidence that, ‘The Lord is enthroned forever. The Lord gives strength to his people. The Lord blesses his people with peace.’ vv 10,11
In the words of the Anglican liturgy, ‘Go forth and serve the Lord.’
Ascribe to the Lord