Psalm 29
1Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
2Ascribe to the Lord the glory of [the Lord’s] name; worship the Lord in holy splendor.
3The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over mighty waters.
4The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
5The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
6[The Lord] makes Lebanon skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox.
7The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
8The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9The voice of the Lord causes the oaks to whirl, and strips the forest bare; and in [the Lord’s] temple all say, “Glory!”
10The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits enthroned as king forever.
11May the Lord give strength to [the] people [of God]! May the Lord bless [the] people [of God] with peace!
Meditation
After a bitter battle for the two Senate seats in Georgia, Psalm 29 is a refreshing reminder of where our true allegiance belongs. Heavenly beings are called to ascribe glory and strength by way of “worship in holy splendor” to God (vss. 1-2). To ascribe something is to regard it as belonging to the object or person which the action is bestowed. In this case, glory and strength belong to the Lord and do not belong to any other. How we know that glory and strength belong to the Lord is through a list of powerful, chaotic, and scary images invoked by God’s voice. It controls storms, breaks cedar trees, sparks fire, shakes the wilderness, and strips the forest. And God’s people cry out in the midst of this, “Glory!” because they know that the Lord is in control even in the chaos. The images in this psalm are particular to the psalmist’s experience of nature and its power compared to God’s strength. Not only does God’s voice have more power than nature, God’s strength overflows to the people which blesses them with peace. Perhaps the natural chaos in this psalm can also be the metaphorical chaos in the world. Since God’s strength is more powerful than anything Mother Nature can throw at us; God’s strength is more powerful than any chaos we create amongst ourselves. Attributing to God glory through our worship, then, is the antidote to the terrifying chaos (natural and otherwise) around us. The Lord’s strength is what sustains us and blesses us and not the outcome of an election. Praise be to God!