Psalm 29

Joshua Giangreco

"Dwelling in the House of the LORD • Sermon • Submitted 6 years ago

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Intro:

These last few weeks you may not have noticed an ongoing theme through our studies in the Psalms since March.

A big thing we’re going to see in 9 is something we’ve seen in , , , and something that we will continue to see until we make it to .

It is: “dwelling in the house of the Lord”

The emphasis on the “house” or “dwelling” of Yahweh is noted where the psalmists hope to find protection and security.

For example, , where David concludes on his Host’s provision, when David speaks of who may stand in the presence of God in , David crying out for the intervention of God in 25:16-21, the expression of love for Yahweh’s dwelling place in 26:8, the psalmist’s earnest seeking to dwell in the house of Yahweh in 27:4–5, the lifting up of one’s hands toward Yahweh’s “holy place” in 28:2, the acknowledgement of all who are in the temple of Yahweh’s glorious kingship in 29:9, and finally the heading linking to the “dedication of the temple.”

This constellation of recurring themes in so many adjacent psalms can hardly be coincidence and must be explored as each psalm is considered.

Read Passage

The Voice of the Lord in the Storm.

A Psalm of David.

1 Ascribe to the Lord, O sons of the mighty,

Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to His name;

Worship the Lord in holy array.

3 The voice of the Lord is upon the waters;

The God of glory thunders,

The Lord is over cmany waters.

4 The voice of the Lord is powerful,

The voice of the Lord is majestic.

5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;

Yes, the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,

And Sirion like a young wild ox.

7 The voice of the Lord hews out flames of fire.

8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;

The Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

9 The voice of the Lord makes the deer to calve

And strips the forests bare;

And in His temple everything says, “Glory!”

10 The Lord sat as King at the flood;

Yes, the Lord sits as King forever.

11 The Lord will give strength to His people;

The Lord will bless His people with peace.

Personal observations:

The descriptions used here for God bear heavy similarity to the ones used towards the gods of the Canaanites.

Why?

Psalmist may be borrowing descriptive elements to announce the superiority of God over any other god.

Powerful descriptions of God’s power

The LORD is mentioned 18 times

The Book of Psalms Psalm 29: Ascribe to the Lord

The combination of these two literary features makes for a highly interesting poetic witness. It is ironic that the voice of the LORD is mentioned seven times, but unlike other psalms (cf. Psalms 50, 81, or 82), no words of God are quoted—God never actually speaks. Rather, humans are the only ones who speak, and they say only one word, glory. In Deut. 5:25 and 18:16, the phrase voice of the LORD refers to God’s revelation of the law, while in Mic. 6:9 and Isa. 66:6 it refers to announcements of God’s prophetic words. In Psalm 29, by contrast, the phrase is less about content than about an impression that is left—the impression of the Lord’s strength, might, and glory. The

Context:

It is often posited that is an Israelite hymn that was adapted from an older, Canaanite hymn to Baal—that this older hymn was “only slightly modified” for use by Yahweh worshippers.

Baal was thought to be the god of the thunderstorm, responsible for bringing rain (and so, fertility) to the land of Canaan.

Indeed, Moses warned Israel regarding the worship of false gods because of this very point. Since their crops in the Promised Land would depend on rain rather than irrigation for water, the people would be tempted to worship Baal (). Baal was not only responsible for fertility of the land, but in the myths he was the god who subdued the chaos monster. This malevolent deity was named Yamm, the raging waters of the sea (yam, as in Heb., means “sea”), also often depicted as a twisting serpent. Baal defeats Yamm in battle and by so doing subdues chaos and earns the right to be king among the gods with his own palace.

Walton, J. H. (2009). Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary (Old Testament): The Minor Prophets, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (Vol. 5, p. 345). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

The question of how this psalm originated both cannot be solved and is not our main interest. But thematically it is clear that this Israelite poem borrows from its Canaanite environment. The themes that it borrows—God’s voice as the sound of thunder, God’s advent as the arrival of the storm, God as king over the powers of chaos—it also "baptizes”: the God who so speaks, who so comes, and who is so enthroned is the Lord.

the question of how this psalm originated both cannot be solved and is rather uninteresting. But thematically it is clear that this Israelite poem borrows from its Canaanite environment. The themes that it borrows—God’s voice as the sound of thunder, God’s advent as the arrival of the storm, God as king over the powers of chaos—it also baptizes: the God who so speaks, who so comes, and who is so enthroned is the Lord (the psalm makes this point emphatically—it uses the name of the Lord eighteen times). In this sense, the poem’s use of these themes is like the church’s use of the pagan tree as a symbol of the Christmas festival of the incarnation or the church’s use of the pagan name Easter for its festival of the resurrection. In that sense, as McCann has noted, “ is fundamentally polemical, for it clearly attributes all power to Yahweh (Lord), who is enthroned in v. 9 with the exclamation, ‘Glory!’ ”

In this sense, the poem’s use of these themes is like the church’s use of the pagan tree as a symbol of the Christmas festival of the incarnation or the church’s use of the pagan name Easter for its festival of the resurrection. In that sense, as McCann has noted, “ is fundamentally polemical, for it clearly attributes all power to Yahweh (Lord), who is enthroned in v. 9 with the exclamation, ‘Glory!’ ”

P1. Giving What is Due (v. 1-2)

Ascribe (to give) is declared three times.

To “the sons of the mighty”; “you heavenly beings”; “divine beings”; overall conclusion is that David is calling the heavenly host into praise (v. 1)

David calls on either the heavenly host or humanity (or both) to give to God glory and strength (v. 2)

David calls on the audience to give glory to the very name of God that should lead to worship in holiness (v. 2)

P2. The Storm of Glory (v. 3-9)

“The voice of the LORD” is stated seven times.

Two literary features of the middle section of the psalm offer clues to the meaning of the poem. The first is the sevenfold repetition of the key phrase the voice of the Lord (qôl YHWH). Perhaps in imitation of the rebounding sound of the thunderstorm which the poem describes, the phrase echoes seven times in this section. This repetition rather clearly establishes the connection the psalm is making between the metaphor of the storm and the voice of the living God.

The second literary feature of the middle section is the inclusio that is formed by the word glory (kāḇôḏ). In v. 3, the term is used in construct in an adjectival sense to describe a quality that belongs to God—the God of glory (ʾēl hakkāḇôḏ). The implication is that glory is a quality that belongs to God … and God alone. The very last word of this section of the psalm, in v. 9, is again glory (kāḇôḏ), but this time the word is the liturgical response that is placed on the lips of those who worship in the temple: And in his temple, all say, “Glory!”

The combination of these two literary features makes for a highly interesting poetic witness. It is ironic that the voice of the LORD is mentioned seven times, but, no words of God are quoted—God never actually speaks. Rather, humans are the only ones who speak, and they say only one word, glory. In and 18:16, the phrase voice of the LORD refers to God’s revelation of the law, while in and it refers to announcements of God’s prophetic words. In , by contrast, the phrase is less about content than about an impression that is left—the impression of the Lord’s strength, might, and glory.

Jacobson, R. A., & Tanner, B. (2014). Book One of the Psalter: . In E. J. Young, R. K. Harrison, & R. L. Hubbard Jr. (Eds.), The Book of Psalms (pp. 284–285). Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

P3. God the King of Strength and Peace (v. 10-11)

The flood mentioned in v. 10 is a word only found 13 times in the Bible, once in , and 12 times throughout in regards to the Great Flood.

What conclusion is David making here?

In the concluding verses of this psalm, the psalmist confesses that the Lord is the King whose throne is over the flood (29:10), that is, over the chaotic waters which were understood by Israel’s heathen neighbours as destructive forces wielded by their gods. But these destructive forces are beneath the Lord’s feet. Because the Lord is the mighty God, he is able to give strength to his people and bless them with peace

That the Lord sat (i.e., exercised full authority and control as judges in biblical times might; ; ; 1Kg 2:12; ) at that worldwide event assures that He has sat as King over all human affairs ever since then, and that God will continue to sit over all Creation as King forever.

As the Lord is supreme in heaven in holiness (1, 2), so on earth he is sovereign (10) in holy judgment on sin. But this is not the whole story. He has his people (11) who, in a world deservedly under judgment, live by his strength and under his blessing of peace, i.e. peace with God, within a fellowship of peace, and in personal peace or wellbeing.

Rydelnik, M., Vanlaningham, M., Barbieri, L. A., Boyle, M., Coakley, J., Dyer, C. H., … Zuber, K. D. (2014). Psalms. In M. A. Rydelnik & M. Vanlaningham (Eds.), The moody bible commentary (p. 786). Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers.

This Psalm concludes with a blessing of peace!

Motyer, J. A. (1994). The Psalms. In D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, & G. J. Wenham (Eds.), New Bible commentary: 21st century edition (4th ed., p. 504). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press.