Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Psalm 29

Today's scripture is Psalm 29. Go here to read it in your preferred version.

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.
The voice of the Lord is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the Lord is upon many 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; yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.
He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.
The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire.
The voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness; the Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.
The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.
10 The Lord sitteth upon the flood; yea, the Lord sitteth King for ever.
11 The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.


Verse 1 - We are to give God glory. Even if we are "mighty" - in strength or power, that is - God is so much higher than us. Any power we have on earth is because God has given it to us. Not that God needs us to give Him glory, but the recognition of what He has given us is a gift to Him.

Verse 2 - We should give God the glory due His name. I feel like one way we can do this is by being a living sacrifice.

Romans 12:1 - "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."

God should be our "beauty" and "holiness" we are worshiping. We should adore Him. We should worship Him alone and in a holy place. And we need to strive to be holy in all that we do, too.

Verse 3-4 - I love the power of God in creation! His voice is on the waters. It's in the sound of the waves... that peace you feel in the early morning hours at the beach... that part of the day where your muscles relax and you are just smiling for no reason. His voice also thunders though, showing His power. His voice is power! His voice is majestic.

Verses 5-9 - Here we see God's dominion over the earth. His voice breaks trees - even the strongest cedars. His voice may be in the wind which breaks through the strongest trees. His voice may be in earthquakes, which makes the trees skip. His voice can divide lightning upon the earth and scatter the fire as He wants to. The thunder of God's voice can shake the whole wilderness. We have certainly felt the earth shake during thunderstorms, so I can definitely visualize these words even without ever feeling a real earthquake. Calves may be terrified into giving birth early and animals may run to and from hiding places in the forest upon hearing this thunder. God is so powerful even in nature that everyone in His temple is talking about His glory.

Verse 10 - God sits as King forever. He sits upon the flood. He is in charge of the things and activities of nature. And as He sits, He judges. And yes, I believe at times He uses nature to remind us of His power.

Verse 11 - Thank God He will give us strength and peace! He will bless those of us who continue to have faith in Him.  

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