Our world is filled with many natural storms and phenomena, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, hail, and thunderstorms with lightning, wind, and downpours of rain. Despite all of our scientific advancements today, we still cannot control any of these events, perhaps only being able to give some advance warnings of their coming. Many people find these types of storms frightening. This has been the case for ages, as in the past, with less understanding of storms, people were even more afraid. David was no stranger to strong and powerful storms, especially during the years he roamed the wilderness being chased by King Saul, and during his youth as he was shepherd to his father’s flocks. Our psalm for today, Psalm 29, was written by David as he recalled the powerful storms of his past, and Who it was that brought these storms to pass.
In most pagan religions their false gods were given “control” over natural events such as lightning, earthquakes, rainstorms, etc. Whenever these storms occurred, the fearful people would pray and make sacrifices to appease these angry gods, as they thought these false gods had conjured up these storms or occurrences. Many of the Hebrew people, after they entered the Promised Land, were tempted into following these pagan gods, and made sacrifices to them. King David wrote this psalm, not only to extol the power and majesty of the one true God, Yahweh, but also to explain that He, and He alone, had power over the powers of nature.
The Lord, Yahweh, is the sole Creator and supreme Sovereign over all forces of nature. He is God over everything. In the introduction (vs. 1-2) David tells of how He is supreme over all heavenly beings. The “mighty ones” he refers to here are angelic beings. The main portion of the psalm (vs. 3-9) tells of how Yahweh is supreme over all forces of nature. And the conclusion (vs. 10-11) speaks of how He is supreme over all of humanity. Yahweh is the only true God in comparison with any of the false pagan gods of the neighboring nations.
Throughout this psalm David speaks of hearing the “voice” of the Lord in the forces of nature. His voice is frequently associated with thunder. The sound of rolling thunder during a storm is quite majestic, and if the lightning strike is nearby, the thunder can be almost deafening. The same with a storm at sea, where the waves crash against the shore, or the sound of the great waterfalls. God, alone, controls these.
Have you ever seen lightning strike a tree, breaking off large limbs, or even splitting the tree in two? David must have observed this in his lifetime, as he describes this in verse 5. The noise of this, along with the immediately following crash of thunder was quite impressive to him, and he ascribes this to the voice of the Lord, as well. The cedars of Lebanon have been famous for milleniums. They are very grand and impressive, growing to be over 120’ tall, and 30’ in circumference. These cedars are represented on the flag of Lebanon, and are protected as a national symbol. A voice which breaks cedars is very powerful. Only the voice of God can do this.
In addition to natural storms, there are other types of storms that we go through in our life. These can be just as turbulent and scary. As David concluded this psalm, he told how when we truly trust God with our problems, He will bless us with His peace (vs. 11). Heavenly peace is a state of tranquility and quiet in the midst of turmoil and the storms raging around us. It is more than just getting our bills paid, which is a relief. Or when we achieve our goals, which is gratification. Trusting in God alone can bring us true peace (Isaiah 26:3; John 14:27).
God will continue to show the world His power. Paul spoke of how great God’s power is in Ephesians 1:18-23. The same power that raised Christ from the dead is available to help us in our needs. The power that controls creation, and raises the dead, is there to help us when we pray. God controls all of nature, yet He loves each one of us enough to send Jesus to die for our sins and bring us salvation.
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