Give God His Due

Psalm 29:1-11

A Psalm of David.

“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.” (Psalm 29:1-2)

In modern society, many people want to deny God’s existence, and even those who claim to be Christians give little thought to his role in the world simply assuming he started it and doesn’t really care about what goes on.  David calls for those who think of themselves as strong or powerful to credit God with greater strength and power than they have.  Just as the demand respect from others for their power, they need to give him the respect due him.  They need to worship him as the source of their power, with a similar holy lifestyle. 

“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.” (Psalm 29:3-4)

The power of the President of the United States is minimal outside our borders.  Tiny countries with minimal armies have the right to ignore his demands and do what they want to and he is unable to do much about it.  When God speaks, there is no one able to stand against his word, anywhere in the world.  He speaks as the ruler of the entire world and he has the power to support his commands.  The picture here is the same as John used in Revelation 17:15 describing the  destruction of Babylon.  “And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.”   

“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.” (Psalm 29:5-8)

God created the various things in the world by simply speaking and they appeared.  When he said let there be light, it appeared, and when he said let the earth bring forth the herbs they appeared.   He still has that power, and can destroy the forests of Lebanon or cause them to jump around like a playful calf or a baby gazelle.  It is important to realize the European picture of a unicorn developed from the drawings of and early explorer of various African antelope in the late 1400’s   In one of them he only drew one of the horns and they called it the unicorn when the drawings were published.   It developed into the mythological creature we know today. 

God is able to speak and the wildfire divides, destroying some things and sparing others, seemingly at random.  He sends the earthquakes and makes the land shake or jump around, at his will. 

Unfortunately, there are people telling us that all people have a similar power to make things happen by just saying them and believing it will happen.  They may call it manifesting things or positive thinking, or various other names, but they are in effect claiming godlike powers.  It is not our power that makes these things happen, it is his.

“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.” (Psalm 29:9)

Not only does the Lord control the great earthquakes and other natural disasters with his voice, he also speaks to cause the deer and other animals to give birth, and the trees and other plants to produce leaves and fruit.  Those who truly worship him recognize his control over all these things.

“The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever.  The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.” (Psalm 29:10-11)

The Lord is ruler of the entire world, not just one or two countries, and he will reign for all of eternity.  He will give his people the power and strength to do what needs done, and will give them peace, throughout eternity.