Psalm 29 – The Majestic and Powerful Voice of Yahweh

1. Read: Psalm 29

2. About the Text:

1) Have you ever sat outside and watched a thunderstorm roll through?

2) Did it fill you with awe and wonder?

3) In this Psalm, David expresses awe and wonder at a passing thunderstorm.

4) He attributes the sounds and activity of a thunderstorm to the voice/sound of God.

5) He sees the thunderstorm as a call to worship a powerful, majestic, and kingly God.

3. Some facts about thunderstorms.

1) An average thunderstorm contains the energy equivalent to a 20-kiloton nuclear bomb.

2) A single lightning bolt has up to a billion volts, enough to power 850,000 homes daily.

3) Lightening produces heat that is hotter than the sun.

4) Is it any wonder David chose a thunderstorm to reflect on God’s power?

4. Ref. to S, T, P, O, and A.

1. Who are the mighty?

1) Possibly government officials of high office (Psalm 82:1-4).

2) Possibly warriors (Job 41:25).

3) Some suggest that these are angelic beings.

4) “For who in the heavens can be compared to the LORD? ??Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened to the LORD? ??God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, ??And to be held in reverence by all those around Him” (Psalm 89:6-7).

2. What are they to do?

1) Give glory and strength to the Lord.

2) They must recognize that One is stronger and mightier than they.

3) No one is so strong that he cannot worship God.

4) “At the end of the twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. The king spoke, saying, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” ?While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice fell from heaven: “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you! And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen; and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.” ?That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws” (Daniel 4:29-33).

3. Why do we worship?

1) Glory is due to the Lord’s name, Yahweh.

2) The Lord God Almighty is worthy of worship.

a. “I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised” (Psalm 18:3).

b. “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created” (Revelation 4:11).

3) Worship must be in the beauty of holiness.

a. Some translations say “holy attire.”

4) God doesn’t want our leftovers.

1. What does Majesty mean? – Impressive stateliness, beauty, dignity, or authority. Greatness.

2. Over the waters – “O LORD God of hosts, Who is mighty like You, O LORD? Your faithfulness also surrounds You. You rule the raging of the sea; When its waves rise, You still them” (Psalm 89:8-9).

3. Powerful – “Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways, ??And how small a whisper we hear of Him! ??But the thunder of His power who can understand?” (Job 26:14). -Elihu.

4. Full of Majesty – Greatness.

5. Breaks the Cedars – Has reference to lightning striking tall cedar trees.

6. Divides the Flames of Fire – Has reference to the lightning itself.

7. Shakes the Wilderness – Refers to the vibrations associated with thunder.

8. Makes the Deer Give Birth and Strips the Forests Bare – Animal fear.

9. “Glory!”

1) Hebrew word “KaBoD” – weighty, heavy, honor, splendor, reverence.

2) The “temple” here is God’s palace in heaven.

3) The one’s speaking “glory” in the temple are the angelic beings.

4) “The sight of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel” (Exodus 24:17).

5) “Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, The power and the glory, The victory and the majesty; For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, And You are exalted as head over all” (1 Chronicles 29:11).

10. The powerful voice of God.

1) “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, ??And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. ??He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; ??He lays up the deep in storehouses. ?Let all the earth fear the LORD; ??Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. ??For He spoke, and it was done; ??He commanded, and it stood fast” (Psalm 33:6-9).

2) “Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light” (Genesis 1:3).

3) “Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm” (Mark 4:39).

1. He was King over the Flood.

1) The thunderstorm reminds us of Noah’s Flood.

2) God asserted His Kingship over the earth.

a. “And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you” (Genesis 6:17-18).

b. “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights” (Genesis 7:11-12).

3) God made a promise after the flood.

4) And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh” (Genesis 9:12-15).

2. He is King forever – “The LORD reigns, He is clothed with majesty; ??The LORD is clothed, ??He has girded Himself with strength. ??Surely the world is established, so that it cannot be moved.??Your throne is established from of old; ??You are from everlasting” (Psalm 93:1-2).

3. He gives strength to His people – “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” (Ephesians 6:10).

4. He blesses His people with peace – “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).

1. The voice of Yahweh in the thunderstorm . . .

1) Calls the Mighty to Worship

2) Speaks in a Seven-Fold Voice

3) Proclaims Yahweh’s Kingship

2. Invitation