Read Psalm 29
On Tuesdays I meet with a group of friends, study the Psalms, and pray with one another. It is one of my favorite moments of the week as we open the Bible, grab our concordances, cross-references, and study guides and discuss verse by verse the truth of God's Word. It is truly alive and so powerful for those who will receive it. Tonight we delved into Psalm 29 for rich dialogue on the mind-blowing power of the voice of the Lord. It was awe inspiring. As I drove home, I thought of what a privilege it was to have heard that voice through the pages of the Bible and the humbling promise that His sheep know His voice and respond.
Then I realized that all the things that His voice does on the earth as outlined in this text, His voice also does in the human heart when we submit ourselves to hearing, receiving, and obeying His Word, His Voice. Take note of all the verses in this passage that talk about God's voice and let's break them down.
Verse 3
The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord over many waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox.
The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth and strips the forest bare, and in His temple all cry, "Glory!"
What is your current routine for hearing the voice of the Lord? I encourage you to find a few minutes every day to open the pages of the Bible in a version or translation you can understand and listen for His voice and give yourself to His Word. It is living and active and will inspire your worship.
Then I realized that all the things that His voice does on the earth as outlined in this text, His voice also does in the human heart when we submit ourselves to hearing, receiving, and obeying His Word, His Voice. Take note of all the verses in this passage that talk about God's voice and let's break them down.
Verse 3
The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord over many waters.
- The voice of the Lord over the waters seems imply His work in creation when the earth was without form and void and darkness moved over the face of the deep and then the voice of the Lord spoke into being all the glory and fullness of creation over the next 6 days.
- Therefore, the Word of God does a work of creation in us through His Word - creating something out of the void and the emptiness of our hearts, speaking into existence what we could not create on our own. I think of the passage where David prayed that God would create in him a clean heart.
- More than that though it speaks to our fears. The Jewish people had an almost mystical fear of the seas and the waters. This passage is declaring God's reign over the waters and thus His power over what they feared.
- Therefore, the Word of God in our lives give us confidence that what we fear the most is not greater than God. God is over all things. Even if the worst we can imagine comes to be, we can trust that He is in control. Psalm 27 says, "the Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? the Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?" God is greater than our fears.
The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
- Sometimes I forget just how great and mighty and glorious God is. Maybe I'm alone in that. I begin to think that "if it is to be, it is up to me." But God's voice, His Word, reminds us that He not only has the power to decimate our problems, He also has the authority. Everything is under His majestic reign and therefore subject to His infinite power. We need His voice to remind us.
The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox.
- The cedars of Lebanon were known for their high quality. They were grown in the high mountains where oxygen is thin producing wood that is dense and without knots and incredibly strong. That's why it was desired for high-end construction - palaces and temples.
- Sirion was a mountain near Lebanon. The people of Sirion were known as the harvesters of the cedars of Lebanon.
- The voice of Lord breaks our self-sustained strength - the strength in us that doesn't need the help and strength of God, the mule-y side of ourselves that will figure things out for ourselves, fix ourselves, do for ourselves.
- The voice of the Lord destroys the palaces and temples we've built out of our own strength. God wants to be the only God on the only throne of our hearts, and His voice will tear down His competition.
- His voice also moves mountains. We are encouraged that faith only as big as a mustard seed can move mountains - God can also make them skip and dance.
The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
- This is a reference to lightning. The literal word is that He hews and cuts with fire. Fire in scripture is usually in reference to judgment.
- The voice of the Lord is exact in judgement. He will not throw out a blanket statement of failure and wrong. (That's shame.) He will be specific about a moment, an act, a thought, a word. (That's conviction.) It is exact and it is by fiery, and it does not consume what is good and right and healthy. By cutting with an exact fire, He deals with our sin one at a time in His time and in His way by His voice through His Word.
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
- Kadesh is the first place Israel came to when they escaped Egypt. It was an encampment in their wanderings in the wilderness. From here, they sent the twelve spies into Canaan.
- The word shakes is also interpreted as "danced" as well as "writhes as in childbirth".
- The voice of the Lord is working in your wilderness. It will make you uncomfortable (which is an understatement if referring to childbirth). Just outside your greatest captivity is your greatest transformation - in a wilderness writhing with the pangs and pains of creating a new way of life. He doesn't rescue us from painful transformation - He's present. And more than present, He's orchestrating. He's makes us writhe in hopeful misery. His voice will make you uncomfortable, but with a hopeful promise of lifechange IF we will submit to His voice. We will be changed when God's voice shakes our wilderness.
The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth and strips the forest bare, and in His temple all cry, "Glory!"
- The deer is fruitful, and the forest is harvested. As it is said in the book of Job, He gives and takes away - blessed be the name of the Lord. In plenty and and want, we can only respond to the voice of the Lord with worship.
What is your current routine for hearing the voice of the Lord? I encourage you to find a few minutes every day to open the pages of the Bible in a version or translation you can understand and listen for His voice and give yourself to His Word. It is living and active and will inspire your worship.