The Voice Of The Lord

Psalm 29

One thing that I enjoy doing throughout the year is watching storms, particularly strong, powerful thunderstorms.  I enjoy watching the lightning from the protection of my little front porch, along with the wind and huge storm clouds.  Psalm 29, written by King David, speaks of how storms and other major acts of nature show the majesty and power of God.  Storms and other major cataclysms are often loud.  Throughout this psalm David says that this is the voice of the Lord.  He recognizes that this is all the power of the one true God, Yahweh.

Strong storms and other cataclysms can often scare people.  David sees them as another opportunity to praise God (vs. 1 - 2).  He knew that God was in control of everything, including the weather.  These weren’t just random acts of nature, nor the play-toys of spiteful and vengeful false gods.  David, in the main body of this psalm, describes God’s power in several different events in nature.

The first one David describes in verses 3 and 4 is a storm at sea.  All of the storms I’ve been in and observed have all been on land, but I can readily see how a strong storm at sea can be a very scary experience.  Even well-seasoned fishermen, like the disciples, became very fearful in some strong storms on the Sea of Galilee.  When lightning strikes nearby, the thunderclap can be so loud as to make you jump!  God’s voice has often been associated with thunder.   Here are several verses where Scripture says that the sound of thunder was associated with the voice of God:  I Samuel 7:10; Job 37:4-5; Psalm 18:13; and Isaiah 30:30-31.

In verses 5 and 6, David describes a storm in a forest.  He particularly talks of one in a forest of cedars, which were plentiful in Lebanon during his time.  The cedars of Lebanon are quite well known.  In ancient times Lebanon traded their cedar wood with many nations.  King David used cedar for his palace, and later his son, King Solomon, used their cedar for the Temple he built.  The cedars of Lebanon during that time could grow to be 120’ tall and 30’ in circumference.  A Voice that would break them would be very powerful, indeed.  During a storm, lightning will sometimes strike a tree.  When that happens, not only is there a great boom of thunder, but often the tree will be split.  David describes that in verse 5.  He then very picturesquely and poetically describes these cedars.  They grow upon the mountains of Lebanon, and from a distance they could look like cattle skipping across those mountains.

The next storm that David describes is one in a desert (vs. 7 - 8).  Pictures of storms in a desert are often filled with lightning.  The wilderness of Kadesh was in the far south of the nation of Israel.  From the mountains of Lebanon in the far northern borders of the kingdom, to Kadesh in the farthest southern border, the voice and power of God is displayed.

In verse 9, David changes from describing God’s power in storms to God’s power in the birth of a deer, something delicate and gentle.  God is in the storms of nature, and He is also there when the animals give birth.  In the final verses (vs. 10-11), David says how God is Lord and King over His people.  He has been Lord of the earth since the Flood of Noah (and before), and is Lord now and forever.

What can we learn from this psalm?  Yahweh is the Lord.  He is the Creator of all, and He is Sovereign over all of creation and natural events, such as the most powerful of storms anywhere on earth.  He is supreme over heavenly beings (vs. 1-2), and He is supreme over the forces of nature (vs. 3-9).  Yahweh is supreme over humanity, as well (vs. 10-11).   Yahweh is the supreme and only true God in comparison over the false gods of other nations.  Our God will continue to reveal His power in and through nature.