1 Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. 2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendour of holiness.
3 The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over many waters. 4 The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. 5 The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox. 7 The voice of the LORD flashes forth 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 give birth. and strips the forests bare, and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
10 The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD sits enthroned as king forever. 11 May the LORD give strength to his people! May the LORD bless his people with peace
If you’ve ever been outside in a full blown thunderstorm you’ll know just how awesome and terrifying it is. Today we may be inclined to describe a thunderstorm as the forces of nature unleashed. In biblical times the thunderstorm was more accurately understood to be a manifestation of God in fearful glory. The thundering of the thunderstorm was nothing less than the majestic voice of God (v4).
One important hallmark of a believer is that he is captivated by the glory of God. Creation and redemption both reveal God’s glory. In this Psalm David reflects on the arresting glory of God revealed in the thunderstorm. Creation is the theatre of God’s glory.
The Psalm divides into three sections
- V1,2 A call for heavenly beings to worship the Lord
- Vv3-9 The Lord majestic in the storm
- Vv10-11 Praise and petition for strength and peace for God’s people
Vv1,2 A call to worship
1 Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. 2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendour of holiness.
Three times the psalmist (or perhaps the assembly in the temple) calls upon heavenly beings to give or ‘ascribe’ to the Lord. (1 Kings 22:19). The Lord is Yahweh, the covenant God of Israel. He dominates the Psalm. 18 times he is named. Angelic beings are to ascribe ‘glory and strength… the glory due to his name’. They are to worship the Lord ‘in the splendour of holiness’. Holiness here seems to be similar to majesty. The exhortation arises from the majesty of the thunderstorm (Cf. Ps 18:13-15).. Such is the glory of God revealed in the storm unleashed from the heavens that the assembly of angelic beings is urged to respond in worship. It is the appropriate response to God’s glory displayed in the storm.
As God’s people we may ask how we react to God’s activity in creation. We may praise him for the gentle breeze and the warming sun. But do we see him in the storm, the flood and the drought. Is he the God of all creation? Does he reveal himself in the elements?
Vv3-9. The Lord majestic in the storm.
3 The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over many waters. 4 The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. 5 The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox. 7 The voice of the LORD flashes forth 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 give birth. and strips the forests bare, and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
These verses describe the storm as it passes through Israel. It starts in the Mediterranean Sea in the north crosses the mountain ranges of Lebanon and seems to pass through the whole of Israel before exiting through the desert of Kadesh in the south. It is a fearful theophany experienced by all the people.
The section centres around the thunderous voice of the Lord. His is the voice of the thunder and it is awesome. Seven times the Psalmist speaks of ‘the voice of the Lord’. The thunderous voice of the storm is majestic and glorious. It is like the battle cry of a mighty warrior (Ex 15:3; Judg 5). It is the voice of the God of Sinai (Ex 19:16).
The storm comes from the sea where the magnificent voice of the Lord is heard over the waters or floods (vv 3, 10). David uses an expression used elsewhere only in the account of the flood (Gen 6-9). God controls the deluge. The seas are his. Thus when Jesus stills commands the wind and the waves he is revealing he is a divine. He is the God whose voice is over the waters; they are subject to him (Mk 4:39)
This mighty thunderous voice of God in the storm breaks the great cedars of Lebanon. There seems to be allusion to divine judgement in the storm. The waters that refer back to the deluge of Genesis point in this direction. Isaiah depicts a day when the mighty (the cedars of Lebanon) will be brought low (Isa 2:12-22). The storm is a mini enactment of the day of the Lord, a day when he rises up to shake the earth (v 8). The mountains in the north, Lebanon and Mount Hermon (Sirion), rising to 10,000 feet are stirred – they skip like a calf and wild oxen. The storm makes the mountains wild. Their stability is disturbed by the voice of the Lord of the storm. The Lord not only shakes the mountains in the north, he shakes the desert in the south (v8). The voice of the Lord causes creation to quake (Hebs 12:26) and flashes flames of fire (lightning).
We are reminded in the storm that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebs 10:31). The thundering voice of the storm seems to cause the deer to enter into premature labour. The wind of God, ripping through the forest the branches and leaves are stripped from the trees. The storm leaves devastation in its wake. Meanwhile the worshippers in the temple are inspired by the storm to cry ‘glory’. In heaven and on earth the storm ought to evoke awe as God’s glory is revealed.
Vv 10,11 Praise and petition
10 The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD sits enthroned as king forever. 11 May the LORD give strength to his people! May the LORD bless his people with peace
As the storm passes by in the south the psalmist expresses his praise for the Lord. The storm impresses on David the sovereignty of the Lord. He rules the deluge. He is enthroned as king forever. The majesty of the storm imprints on David the transcendent majesty of God. Baal was the storm-god of the Canaanites. This psalm emphasises that it is Yahweh not Baal who inhabits the storm. To us it says that the storm is not simply the activity of inanimate nature; it is the activity of the living God. Perhaps when we see the storm (of whatever kind) is the Lord’s storm we will be less fearful and more able to praise.
Further David affirms that the God whose strength has been revealed in the storm will be the strength of his people. He affirms too that the storm will pass and the earth-shattering voice of the Lord will give way to his peace; indeed peace is found in recognising the mighty strength of the Lord that the storm reveals. The God of the storm is our God and he is strong. He is obeyed by the wind and the waves. His strength in the storm is theirs in him. Yet the God of the storm is also the God of the rainbow. ‘During the storm he gives strength; following it he gives peace’ (Morgan).
Cave Adullam 