461_The awesome power of God

Psalm 29 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 splendor 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!

In August of 2015, a tremendous lightning storm struck the Grand Canyon. A photographer, who had waited for years to capture such a moment, finally clicked a once-in-a-lifetime shot: a single bolt of lightning arcing across the dark sky, illuminating the vast canyon with an otherworldly glow. The image went viral—not just because of its visual brilliance, but because it captured something deeper. That moment of thunder and lightning brought people to a standstill. It was as if nature itself was trembling before a presence greater than any man could explain.

What we felt when looking at that photo was awe. Not fear alone, not admiration alone, but a deep, trembling recognition of a power that we could not control or contain. This is the power that Psalm 29 invites us to ponder—not in nature alone, but in the voice and majesty of God Himself.

Psalm 29 is a poetic display of the awesome power of God. The psalmist, King David, begins by calling on “heavenly beings”—perhaps angelic hosts or even earthly rulers—to give God the glory and strength that is due to Him. This is not a casual invitation; it’s a summons to worship. And not just any kind of worship, but the kind that recognizes the weight of His holiness. David says, “Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.”

In our culture, beauty and holiness rarely walk hand-in-hand. We associate beauty with glamour, with youth, with external perfection. Holiness, on the other hand, is often seen as outdated, stiff, or inaccessible. But the psalmist insists: there is a surpassing beauty in holiness—a radiant, awe-inspiring purity that draws us near even as it humbles us. True holiness isn’t self-made; it is a garment given by God Himself—the imputed righteousness of Christ, without which none of us could stand in God’s presence.

As the psalm continues, a single phrase echoes seven times like a thunderclap: “The voice of the Lord.” Each repetition draws our attention to the sheer authority and power carried in the speech of God. This is the same voice that spoke the universe into existence: “Let there be light,” and there was light. His voice created; His voice sustains. As God later asks Job in chapter 38, “Have you commanded the morning since your days began…?” Every sunrise, every gust of wind, every drop of rain obeys His word.

The voice of the Lord doesn’t just speak—it commands. It thunders. It shapes reality. It disrupts the status quo. When Jonah fled from God, it was the voice of the Lord that summoned a storm. When the disciples feared for their lives in a small boat, that same voice calmed the sea. Even the fish, the plant, and the worm in Jonah’s story listened and obeyed. All of creation is tuned to the frequency of His voice.

In Revelation 1:15, the Apostle John—exiled on the island of Patmos—describes the risen Christ. He says, “His voice was like the roar of many waters.” It’s not a gentle whisper but a thunderous declaration that overwhelms and commands attention.

Psalm 29 reflects this same power:
“The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders…
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.”

The thunder of God is not like ours. It cannot be mimicked or replicated. It is His alone. As Job 37:4-5 says, “He thunders marvelously with His voice… Or can you thunder with a voice like His?” The implication is clear: there is no equal.

David then gives a striking picture: “The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.” Cedars—especially those of Lebanon—were symbols of strength, durability, and grandeur. They were used to build palaces and temples, known to last for centuries. But before God’s voice, these mighty trees splinter like twigs. They do not need to be chopped down; His voice alone shatters them.

Isaiah 2 paints a similar image when it declares: “The Lord has a day against all that is proud and lofty… against all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up.” Pride, power, human strength—all collapse under the sound of His voice. What man exalts, God can bring low with a single word.

Mountains like Lebanon and Sirion (another name for Mount Hermon) skip like a calf. The wilderness trembles. Forests are stripped bare. Even animals give birth in response to His voice. Everything moves. Nothing hides. Nothing remains unaffected. In the Garden of Eden, after the fall, Adam hid because he heard the voice of God. “I heard the sound of You in the garden,” he said, “and I was afraid.”

Before sin, Adam would have run toward that voice. But sin distorts our perception of God’s voice—it no longer feels like comfort but confrontation. Yet, to those reconciled to God, that voice is the sweetest sound. Like Joseph who said to his guilty brothers, “Come near to me.” The voice of the Lord says to us today, “Do not fear.”

Psalm 29 reaches its climax in verse 9: “In His temple all cry, ‘Glory!’” There is a recognition, a reverence, a spontaneous response of worship in the presence of such majesty. Just as thunder draws the eyes of all skyward, the voice of the Lord causes hearts to rise in awe. We don’t merely fear the storm—we worship the One who rides on it.

David ends the psalm by declaring:
“The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord is enthroned as King forever.
May the Lord give strength to His people!
May the Lord bless His people with peace.”

The flood here isn’t just poetic imagery—it harkens back to the flood of Noah. It represents God’s judgment and power over all creation. He is enthroned over the chaos, the waters, the world’s rebellion. And He is enthroned forever. Whether or not the world acknowledges Him, God reigns.

Yet David doesn’t leave us trembling in fear. He brings us to a place of comfort. The same God who thunders with might also blesses His people with peace. The voice that can shake the wilderness can also whisper comfort to the weary soul. His power is not only destructive—it is redemptive. To His people, His strength is a refuge, not a threat.

What should this mean for us today?

It means we must recognize and revere the awesome power of God. We must never trivialize His voice—whether in the thunder or in His Word. That voice that once thundered on Mount Sinai has now spoken to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. As John 1 says, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” That voice—majestic, full of power—walked among us, healed the sick, calmed the storms, and called the dead to life.

And one day, He will call all the dead from their graves. As Jesus Himself said in John 5:25, “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.” That voice will either summon us to eternal joy or eternal separation.

But today—today—His voice is tender. He still says, “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Will you hear Him? Will you listen to that voice—not just in the thunder, but in the quiet call of your heart?

This is the awesome power of God. It is not distant. It is not indifferent. It is majestic, yes—but it is also merciful. It is the voice that made the world and still speaks into our lives today. Let us not harden our hearts. Let us come near, clothed in the righteousness of Christ, and worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

And let us cry with all in His temple: “Glory!”