Psalms 29

Psalms 29THEME: The voice of the Lord in a thunderstormThe psalm before us is a nature psalm. It is not the first nature psalm, as we have already read Psalm 8: “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained,” which is a psalm to be read on a good clear night. Then we read Psalms 19, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork.” Then he likens the sun to a bridegroom coming out of his chamber. That is a daytime psalm. Now we come to a psalm that describes a storm. In this psalm is the gloom of the tempest, the clap of thunder, the flash of lightning, and terror on every side.

Several years ago a hurricane which they named Camille hit the Gulf Coast. She hurled her might on the other side of New Orleans, around Gulfport, Mississippi. Camille caused millions of dollars worth of damage. In an apartment in that area, several couples decided to have a hurricane party. It was a great beer bust, and I suppose they all got drunk. I understand that most of them were killed when the storm hit.

It is too bad to go into eternity like that. I wish they had read Psalms 29 instead. My friend, if you are frightened in a storm, rather than trying to get your courage from a bottle, I suggest you read this magnificent psalm. It has a message in the time of storm. The structure of this psalm is quite interesting. This is Hebrew poetry of the highest order. Ewald said of this psalm, “This psalm is elaborated with a symmetry of which no more perfect specimen exists in Hebrew.” Delitzsch called it “The Psalm of seven thunders.” Perowne said this about it: “This Psalm is a magnificent description of a thunderstorm. Its mighty march from north to south, the desolation and terror which it causes, the peal of thunder, the flash of lightning, even the gathering fury and lull of the elements, are vividly depicted.” So Psalms 29 is a song of Hebrew poetry describing a storm. Hebrew poetry is not attained by rhyming. When we think of poetry, we think of rhymes. We like the sentences to end in words that sound alike. Here is an example of one of our modern ditties: “I shoot the hippopotamus with bullets made of platinum. If I used lead ones, his hide were sure to flatten ’em!” That is not exactly Shakespeare, but it is our kind of poetry. Hebrew poetry is attained by what is known as parallelism, which is repeating a thought in a different way and generally amplifying and enlarging upon it. The psalm sweeps along with all the freedom and majesty of a storm. There is sort of a lilting triumph here, a glorious abandon, a courageous exultation. The first two verses are the prologue: “Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength. Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.” David lifts our thoughts to the very highest. Now, the epilogue is the last two verses: “The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever. The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.” The storm with all its fury lashed across the land, but Jehovah was still in control. And, my friend, in the storms of life He is still in control. Before we look at this psalm in detail, let me say a word about the subject (which is developed in vv. Psa_29:3-10). Seven times the voice of the Lord is mentioned: “The voice of the LORD is upon the waters …the voice of the LORD is powerful …the voice of the LORD is full of majesty …the voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars” and so on. Notice the setting of this psalm. David wrote it. He was an outdoorsman. He was not bottled up in an office. He was not held down to a throne. However, when this storm came, he was not outside; he was in Jerusalem, a city that was beautifully situated. David was in his cedar palace built on Mount Zion, the highest point. He could view the whole land. He could look to the northeast and see the clouds beginning to gather and watch as the storm was getting ready to break. I think most of us are acquainted with the geography of the Holy Land. If you are not, turn to the map in the back of your Bible that shows the location of Jerusalem. As you look at your map, you will see that the Mediterranean Sea is on your left to the west. Up north there are two ranges of mountains: the Lebanon and the Anti-Lebanon. There is Mount Carmel up there at Haifa and Mount Hermon, the Sea of Galilee on the east, the Valley of Esdraelon, the Jordan River and the Dead Sea. Then there is Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim in Samaria and the rugged terrain lying immediately north. Bethel, Ai, and Anathoth are just north of Jerusalem. In Jerusalem you look to the west and see Joppa, to the east you see Jericho, and to the south you see the wilderness of Judea, frightful and ominous.

David and Amos knew how to survive in that wildernessa bishop from San Francisco several years ago didn’t know; and he perished there. From David’s palace on Mount Zion, the highest point in the city of Jerusalem, he could look over this landscape.

Psalms 29:1

PROLOGUENotice that the psalm is addressed to the “mighty.” I agree with Bishop Horne that “the prophet addresses himself to the ‘mighty ones of the earth,’ exhorting them to ‘give’ God the glory and to submit themselves to the kingdom of the Messiah.”

Psalms 29:3

SUBJECTNow we come to the substance of the psalm. The thunderstorm sweeps over the entire land. We have three strophes, or stanzas, here. That is the beginning of the storm. Way up in the northwest there is distant thunder and lightning. The storm is gathering. The storm begins to move down toward Jerusalem and the voice of Jehovah is the thunder. In the palace David sees the gathering storm. He hears the wind begin to blow.

The clouds become black and angry. They hide the sun and it is dark at midday. There is the low rumble of thunder and the flash of lightning which is streaked and forked. This is not a summer shower. This is not an ordinary storm. It is like the hurricane Camille I mentioned earlier.

The storm breaks on the Mediterranean Coast. The waves roll high and break with the sound of a cannon on the shore. The angry waves mount up, and then the storm strikes inland. You can see its mighty march from north to south. Jerusalem will not escape itit comes closer and closer. “The voice of the Lord is powerful.” You can now hear that thunder. It shakes everything. “The voice of the Lord is full of majesty"it is awe-inspiring.

Psalms 29:5

As the thunder rolls and rumbles, Lebanon is shaken. The trees are struck by lightning. Mighty Mount Hermon is shaken like a dog shakes a rabbit. As the storm draws nearer to Jerusalem, its approach is majestic and awe-inspiring. It rolls along with the rhythm of the thunder and lightning over the hills. Here it comes, as it begins to roll.

Psalms 29:6

The lightning is near Jerusalem now. It pops and crackles like heavy guns in a battle. The storm breaks with all its fury. In Jerusalem the streets are deserted. Shutters are slammed. A hush settles over the city. It is the hush before the sledgehammer blow comes. Only the barking of a dog in the Kidron Valley can be heard. Suddenly it comes. Rain descends in torrents. Savage winds hurl themselves against the walls of Jerusalem. A shutter breaks loose. It bangs and makes a tremendous noise. David has been through this before. He waits patiently and listens to the voice of Jehovah.

Psalms 29:8

Now David sees the storm passing over. It moves away, and the rains let up, and the winds die down. The storm is departing, and the people begin to open their shutters. The storm is departing from Jerusalem and advancing upon the wilderness of Judea to the south and west. Kadesh is down there. Soon the storm is spent in the wilderness of Sinai. The air is fresh, and David can hear the roar of water down in the Kidron Valley.

Psalms 29:9

The storm did accomplish some good. Animals were frightened, causing some that were carrying young to give birththere was no prolonged pain. It also caused some people to go to the temple who had not been there for a long time. They went to the temple to call upon God. The storm has died away and has disappeared in the south.

Psalms 29:10

EPILOGUEGod was in charge of this storm all of the time, just as He was in charge of the flood.

Psalms 29:11

The power of God in a storm is great, and it is He who gives strength during a storm. God can strengthen and enable us to go through the storms of life and know what peace is afterward. The storm with all of its fury may lash across the land, but Jehovah is still in control. In every storm of life He is in control, and He will bless His people with peace. As we have gone through the Psalms, I have called attention to the fact that the Great Tribulation lies ahead for Israel, but God will see His people through it. Armageddon is ahead for these people. The enemy will come from the north and will cover the land, but God is in the storm, and He is in control. What a message this is for Israel. This psalm has a message for us. We belong to a new creation. We do not belong to the old creation. We belong to the last Adam. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature [creation]: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2Co_5:17). That is the reason I do not keep the Sabbath dayit belongs to the old creation. You hear the question: “When was the Sabbath day changed?” It was never changed. We have been changed and are now joined to a living Christ. Our new day to worship is the first day of the week, the day of resurrection. Adam was given dominion over creation, but he lost it. Christ has recovered it, and the old creation furnishes us with a pattern, an illustration, and the message is here for us today. There are storms in the new creation, spiritual storms, storms that threaten to destroy us. If you are God’s child, you have been through storms, or you are in a storm even now. The last Adam, Jesus Christ, is master of storms. He went through storms with His own. Once when He and His disciples were in a boat, a storm came up on the Sea of Galilee. “And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?

And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?” (Mar_4:37-40). In this instance the Lord quieted the storm, but He does not always do that. Sometimes He just whispers to us, “We are going to make it to the harbor.” That is important. I can think of many people who are in the storm today. There is a little Eskimo mother way up yonder in Alaska. She listens to our Thru the Bible Radio program. She lost a son in Vietnam. She is snowed in in the winter, and she wrote to tell me that listening to the Word being taught is helping to carry her through this difficult time. She is in a storm, but God will see her through it. One of these days the storm is going to be over. I know of a family in Southern California which is going through a storm. A broker in San Francisco wrote and told me that he would have lost his mind if it was not for the fact that the Lord Jesus stood by him. I was in Flagstaff, Arizona, some time ago and, while I was there, a storm gathered. By the time I was ready to leave on the train (I thank the Lord I was not flying), oh! the thunder, lightning, and the rain were furious. But before I arrived at my destination, the storm passed, and the moon came out. It was so wonderful, so beautiful. Are you going through a storm? There are two things you should remember: the storm will end, and the Lord will see you through it.