April 18: Psalm 29
God’s Glory and Sovereignty over all
11.11.11.11 Foundation (How Firm a Foundation)
St. Denio (Immortal, Invisible)
O, give to Jehovah, you sons of the Lord,
Both glory and strength to Jehovah accord!
O, give to the Lord His name’s greatness of might
In splendor of holiness, worship the Lord.
The voice of Jehovah resounds on the seas;
The glorious God thunders forth from the height.
The Lord is upon the great sweep of the sea,
The Lord’s voice in splendor! The Lord’s voice in might!
The voice of Jehovah is breaking the trees,
Jehovah rips Lebanon’s cedars apart!
The slopes of Mt. Hermon, like calves they do leap,
And Lebanon’s hills like the antelope start!
The voice of Jehovah brings fire in the sky,
And causes the lightning in flashes to break!
The voice of the Lord makes the wilderness whirl;
The Lord makes the desert of Kadesh to shake!
The voice of the Lord makes the deer bring forth life.
The highstanding forest of trees it strips bare!
The length and the breadth of His most holy place
And all things within it His glory declare!
The Lord on His throne sat above the great flood,
The Lord on His throne sits as King without cease!
The Lord gives His people His bountiful strength,
The Lord is the One who will bless them with peace!
This is a psalm about God’s glory and holiness. The expression “qol Adonai” (the voice of the Lord), found seven times in this psalm, conveys the impression of a repeated thunder roll with its glottal shock of the letter “q” in the Hebrew. In any language, this is most certainly a psalm to be prayed out loud, allowing its words to come rumbling through the soul…this is a very active piece of poetry. After calling on the people of God to bring Him glory and honor, the psalmist begins to describe that glory as it is revealed in the storm. Calling all God’s sons to “give glory to His name,” the psalmist immediately speaks of “the voice of the Lord upon the waters. The God of glory thunders.” This divine and thunderous voice is heard exactly seven times in the psalm, seven being the number of fullness and perfection. If most of this psalm is rather loud and active, however, its ending is decidedly peaceful, for it closes with God serene upon His throne, reigning eternally over His Church: “The Lord puts away the storm; the Lord sits as king forever. The Lord will give strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people in peace.” (Reardon, p. 55-56)
“And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. And He (Jesus) was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they awoke Him and said to Him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ And being aroused, He rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Hush, be still.’ And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, ‘Why are you so timid? How is it that you have no faith?’ And they became very much afraid and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?’ (Mark 4: 37-41)