090201 How Great Thou Art Psalm 29 Dale Wells

How Great Thou Art!How Great Thou Art!

Psalm 29

Psalm 29:1-11 NIV A psalm of David

• Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. (2) Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness. (3) The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD thunders over the mighty waters. (4) The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is majestic.

Psalm 29:1-11 NIV A psalm of David

• (5) The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. (6) He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, Sirion like a young wild ox. (7) The voice of the LORD strikes with flashes of lightning.

Psalm 29:1-11 NIV A psalm of David

• (8) The voice of the LORD shakes the desert; the LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh. (9) The voice of the LORD twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, “Glory!” (10) The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever. (11) The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.

How Great Thou Art!How Great Thou Art!

Psalm 29

Voice known for 65 years

• Linked with Billy Graham since 1944

• Signature hymn “How Great Thou Art”

• Most popular gospel song in the world

• His first contact with hymn dates to 1954

• Theme for 55 years

Carl Gustav Boberg

• 1885 – thunderstorm; sensed God’s power

• 1886 – published a poem about storm

• 1888 – visited a church & surprised to hear them singing his words to a Swedish folk tune

From Sweden to England

• 1907 – Swedish to German

• 1912 – German to Russian

• 1940 – Stuart K. Hine brought it from his Ukraine mission to Great Britain

From England to America

• 1954 – George Gray gave a copy to Shea– Sung at Graham’s London

crusade

• 1957 – Madison Square Garden – Shea: “We sang it about a

hundred times at the insistence of the New York audiences, and from then on, it became a standard at most of the crusades.”

Into our hymnals

• 1953 – sung at Forest Home Christian Conference Center

• Hal Spencer heard it

• Showed music to his father, Tim Spencer– Formerly of Sons of the

Pioneers

– Owner of Manna Music

– Copyright by Manna Music

How Great Thou Art!How Great Thou Art!

Psalm 29

Almost 3,000 years before Boberg

• David witnessed awesome thunderstorm– Began over Mediterranean

– Moved north over Lebanon

– Seemed to shake the earth

• Attributed it to power of God– Wrote a poem to God’s power & majesty

– Saw an object lesson about God & nations

Psalm 29 celebrates God’s reign over all the earth

• Seven is the biblical number of God completing his work

• David repeats the phrase “the voice of the Lord” seven times in the text

• God is sovereign over all things– He is in charge

– Evil cannot overcome those who trust in him

– “Strength” and “peace” belong to his people

The thought moves from:

• Call to Worship (Psa 29:1-2)

• God’s Voice over the Waters (Psa 29:3-4)

• God’s Voice over the Nations (Psa 29:5-7)

• God’s Voice over the Desert (Psa 29:8-9)

• God Rules (Psa 29:10-11)

Call to WorshipCall to Worship

Psalm 29:1-2

Psalm 29:1-2 NIV A psalm of David

• Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. (2) Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.

Heavenly court urged to praise God

• “Mighty ones” literally “sons of the mighty” – Refers to angels in God’s heavenly court

– Psalm 89:6 NIV For who in the skies above can compare with the LORD? Who is like the LORD among the heavenly beings?

– Job 1:6 NIV One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them.

• Angels urged to: “Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength,” that is, “the glory due his name.”

“Worship” is giving to God, not getting from God

• The worshipers offer “glory” to God– I.e. praise for his majesty and triumph

• They also offer “strength” – I.e. ascribe to him might and power

• To “give” praise is to voice it in God’s presence– I.e. worshipers mirror back to him essential

aspects of his being and character

David turns from the what of worship to the how

• “Worship” means “bow down,” “surrender”

• Those who submit are to do so “in the splendor of his holiness” – “Splendor” means “holy adornment”

– “Holiness” means “apartness, sacredness”

• The call to worship pictures angels bowing before God & shouting “Glory,” “Strength” – This praise is “the glory due his name”

Do we reflect this heavenly worship?

• We are called to surrender to God in worship – Romans 12:1 NIV Therefore, I urge you,

brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.

• We are called to offer praises to his name – Hebrews 13:15 NIV Through Jesus, therefore,

let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name.

We are to worship the Lord “in the splendor of his holiness”

• 1 Peter 1:15-16 NIV But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; (16) for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

God’s Voice Over the WatersGod’s Voice Over the Waters

Psalm 29:3-4

Psalm 29:3-4 NIV

• The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD thunders over the mighty waters. (4) The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is majestic.

David describes God’s control of nature in a terrifying storm

• The God we worship is the God who …– Speaks creation into existence

– Orders all things according to his will

– Commands this world into submission

• Describes thunder as “the voice of God”– God’s voice, the psalm’s theme, is “over the

mighty waters” (i.e. the Mediterranean)

– God’s voice “thunders,” expressing his power and “majesty” as Creator & ruler of all

In the rolling “thunder,” the power and “majesty” of God is heard

• Thunderstorm in Dimmitt– Bolt of lightning & immediate thunder

– Tree, roots, wiring, television

• My body involuntarily shook from shock– Here was raw power

– Trembling reflected awe at majesty displayed

The point of Psa 29:3 is that God “thunders over the mighty waters”

• God commands the waters & they obey – Exodus 15:8-10 NIV By the blast of your nostrils

the waters piled up. The surging waters stood firm like a wall; the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea. (9) “The enemy boasted, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake them. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword and my hand will destroy them.’ (10) But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters.

God’s nature makes worship appropriate

• He is “the God of glory”

• His “voice … is powerful” & “full of majesty”

• Giving “glory” and “strength” to his name is simply reflecting back the appropriate response to him

God’s Voice Over the NationsGod’s Voice Over the Nations

Psalm 29:5-7

Psalm 29:5-7 NIV

• The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. (6) He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, Sirion like a young wild ox. (7) The voice of the LORD strikes with flashes of lightning.

The storm follows the compass around Israel

• It moves from the sea to the west to the mountains of the north

• God’s voice breaks the “cedars of Lebanon” by his flash of lightning

• A powerful image of lightning splitting a tree & felling it

• Also a metaphor – the cedars of Lebanon are a symbol for human pride

Isaiah 2:12-13 NIV

• The LORD Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled), (13) for all the cedars of Lebanon, tall and lofty, and all the oaks of Bashan,

God brings the pride of the nations down

• At his command “Lebanon and Sirion” “skip like ... a calf ... a young wild ox.”

• They act like silly calves because their power is ended when they hear God’s voice

Ezekiel 31:3-12 NIV

• Consider Assyria, once a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest; it towered on high, its top above the thick foliage. (4) The waters nourished it, deep springs made it grow tall; their streams flowed all around its base and sent their channels to all the trees of the field. (5) So it towered higher than all the trees of the field; its boughs increased and its branches grew long, spreading because of abundant waters.

Ezekiel 31:3-12 NIV

• (6) All the birds of the air nested in its boughs, all the beasts of the field gave birth under its branches; all the great nations lived in its shade. (7) It was majestic in beauty, with its spreading boughs, for its roots went down to abundant waters. (8) The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it, nor could the pine trees equal its boughs, nor could the plane trees compare with its branches-- no tree in the garden of God could match its beauty. (9) I made it beautiful with abundant branches, the envy of all the trees of Eden in the garden of God.

Ezekiel 31:3-12 NIV

• (10) “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because it towered on high, lifting its top above the thick foliage, and because it was proud of its height, (11) I handed it over to the ruler of the nations, for him to deal with according to its wickedness. I cast it aside, (12) and the most ruthless of foreign nations cut it down and left it. Its boughs fell on the mountains and in all the valleys; its branches lay broken in all the ravines of the land. All the nations of the earth came out from under its shade and left it.

The message thus far is that

• Angels worship God because of his power & strength (Psa 29:1-2)

• “The voice of the LORD” controls nature (Psa 29:3-4)

• “The voice of the LORD” controls nations (Psa 29:5-7)

It is hard for us to hear God’s voice over our national pride

• We think there’s no nation (or political party) that can measure up to ours

• God holds back judgment on our pride– 2 Peter 3:9 NIV The Lord is not slow in keeping

his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

• God is still in charge and will bring all things to completion in his time

God’s Voice Over the DesertGod’s Voice Over the Desert

Psalm 29:8-9

Psalm 29:8-9 NIV

• The voice of the LORD shakes the desert; the LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh. (9) The voice of the LORD twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

God’s voice also commands “Kadesh” to the south of Israel

• He “shakes the desert”

• “Shakes” means to “writhe in pain”

• David pictures God’s voice as an earthquake ripping across the desert in judgment

These manifestations of God’s power evoke a proper response

• “In his temple all cry, ‘Glory!’

• “The “temple” is the “palace” where the king dwells

• Here it is heaven where his angels worship him (Psa 29:1-2)

Micah 1:2-3 NIV

• Hear, O peoples, all of you, listen, O earth and all who are in it, that the Sovereign LORD may witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple. (3) Look! The LORD is coming from his dwelling place; he comes down and treads the high places of the earth.

Our worship is a reflection of heaven’s worship

• Revelation 5:13 NIV Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”

God RulesGod Rules

Psalm 29:10-11

Psalm 29:10-11 NIV

• The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever. (11) The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.

God sits above the “flood,” above the chaos

• “The LORD is enthroned as King forever” over creation and history

• He empowers his people, giving us “strength” from his strength– This may mean strength to battle against evil

• He blesses us “with peace” or “wholeness”

• No wonder praise should be offered to him

• This was the wonder behind psalm & song

In Psalm 29 God is King – the sovereign Lord

• Sin & pride challenge his rule, but his voice prevails

• Are we listening to voices of sin & pride? – They will fail

• Listen to God’s voice – Glorify him by obeying him

– In your life and worship, shout “Glory!”

– Let your worship tie your heart to heaven