Hearing the Voice of the Lord – Psalm 29

“A Psalm of David. Give unto the Lord, O you mighty ones, give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due to His Name. Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” Psalm 29:1-2

In Psalm 29, King David calls the mighty ones of the earth to give their glory and strength to God. They would not have the talent and tenacity they have if it were not for the Lord. David calls them to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

I appreciate it when people who are at the top of their profession give God the glory for their strengths and abilities. It is music to my ears to hear them praise the Lord.

It is good to honor the Lord when we are at the peak of our abilities because as our bodies age, try as we might, some of the abilities will not be there. However, if we have developed a lifestyle of praise toward the Lord, His Spirit will continue to shine through us. Nehemiah 8:10 says, “The joy of the Lord is our strength.” Proverbs 17:22 says, “A cheerful heart is good medicine.” Psalm 34:5 says, “Those who look to Him [the Lord] are radiant.”

What about you? What about me? Are we giving to the Lord our glory and strength? The essence of worship is to glorify the Lord. It is impossible that we should give Him all the glory due His Name, but as someone once said, “I’m not going to let a rock out-praise me.” This saying is a reference to Luke 19:37-39 where the Pharisees told Jesus to stop His disciples from praising God with loud voices. Jesus told the Pharisees, “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” Let us offer to the Lord our glory and strength! Cast our crowns at His feet!

“The voice of the Lord is over the waters. The God of glory thunders. The Lord is over many waters.” “The Lord sat enthroned at the Flood, and the Lord sits as King forever. The Lord will give strength to His people. The Lord will bless His people with peace.” Psalm 29:3, 10-11

In 2 Peter 2:5, Peter wrote that God did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others. God’s voice commanded the waters to purge the earth of evil.

In Exodus 14:16, the Lord said to Moses, “Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.” In Exodus 14:21-22, Moses did as the Lord commanded and God created a dry path in the midst of sea. In Exodus 14:26-28, the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” He did and the water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.”

The enemies of the Lord were overwhelmed by a flood but He blessed His people with peace.

“The voice of the Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars, yes, the Lord splinters the cedars of Lebanon. He makes them also skip like a calf, Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild ox. The voice of the Lord divides the flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness. The Lord shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare. In His temple everyone says, ‘Glory!’” Psalm 29:4-9

The Lord’s glory and strength is heard in the thunder and seen in the lightning. Trees are rent and split by thunderbolts. Even the cedars of Lebanon that are the strongest, the stateliest are split by His thunderbolts. Sirion is a high mountain beyond Jordan joining to Lebanon. The Lord’s voice makes this mountain to skip [shake] like a skipping calf or young wild ox. The voice of the Lord divides flames of fire. In a sense, Jesus is the voice of God. Jesus divided the flames of the fiery furnace in Daniel 3:25-27. Jesus was the fourth man in the flames that appeared to King Nebuchadnezzar as the Son of God. Jesus divided the flames of fire in that furnace so that they did not burn Shadrach, Meshach or Abednego.

The voice of the Lord shook the wilderness causing a timid expectant deer to go into labor. [1]

Lightning and thunder descend from above where God dwells. In Revelation 4:5, flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder come from God’s throne.

The voice of the Lord is powerful. In John 12:28-29, Jesus prayed, “Father, glorify your Name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” “The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered.” His Father’s voice sounded like thunder.

In 1 Samuel 7:10, “While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the Lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites.”

On July 2, 1505, near Stotternheim, Germany, a 21-year-old law student named Martin Luther was caught in a terrifying thunderstorm. A lightning bolt struck nearby, knocking him to the ground. Fearing immediate death and divine judgment, he made a binding oath to become a monk if he survived. He kept his promise and entered the monastery within two weeks, setting the stage for his role in the Protestant Reformation.

In Psalms 78:48, David recounts how God destroyed the livestock of Egypt with bolts of lightning.

“In His temple everyone says, ‘Glory!’” When a man is exposed to severe cold, he is apt to exclaim, “It’s so cold.” When a man hammers his finger, he is apt to say, “Ouch!” When anyone shall stand in the presence of the Lord, he or she is apt to shout, “Glory!”

Do you recognize the Lord’s voice? In John 10:4, Jesus said that His sheep hear His voice.

In Revelation 3:20, Jesus said, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me.”

In Acts 22:14, Ananias had a prophetic word for Paul. He told him, “The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from His mouth.”

The Lord, who created ears and mouths, wants to communicate with us. This has been God’s pattern from the beginning. Every outstanding person in the Bible heard God’s voice. And God listened to their voices as well.

In 2 Peter 1:10, the Apostle Peter wrote, “My brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble.” How can anyone know what God has called and elected him or her to do if he or she cannot hear from God? God told Noah what to do. God told Abraham what to do. God told the prophets what to say. The Lord told the Apostle Paul why He appeared to him and what he was to do. All who heeded God’s voice, accomplished great exploits for God’s glory.

In Isaiah 30:21, the Lord made a promise to us. He said, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way. Walk in it.’”

“Dear Heavenly Father, please speak to us with Your voice. Please make Your will for our lives known to us. Please help us to trust and obey Your guidance when we hear Your voice. For Your glory, I pray, in the Name of Jesus Your Son. Amen!”


[1] Matthew Henry’s Commentary