Psalm 29 Summary - 5 Minute Bible Study
Psalm 29 Short Summary:
In Psalm 29, David calls on the heavenly servants of God to praise His name in worship. He goes on to speak of the majesty and authority of God’s voice, mentioning 6-8 ways in which God’s voice powerfully works in the natural world.
Psalm 29 Summary
AUTHOR:
Psalm 29 is a psalm of David.
NEW TESTAMENT REFERENCES:
No Known New Testament References.
THEMES:
The heavenly beings worship the Lord.
God’s voice has power and authority over the natural world.
The majesty of God should lead us to worship.
DEFINTIONS:
Kadesh (29:8) – David mentions the wilderness of Kadesh in 29:8. This wilderness was located to the southwest of the Promised Land and the territory of Judah.
Cedars of Lebanon (29:5) – The land of Lebanon, north of the Promised Land, was well known for their forest of cedar trees. Kings and rich men came from far and wide to harvest timber for building projects.
OUTLINE:
WORSHIP GOD IN THE SPLENDOR OF HOLINESS (29:1-2):
David opens Psalm 29 calling on the heavenly beings (spiritual beings, like angels) to worship God in the “splendor of holiness” (“in holy array”; NASB).
God is worthy of being worshipped by the great men of the earth and the great beings of heaven (this is confirmed in the Book of Revelation).
THE GREAT VOICE OF THE LORD (29:3-9a):
David continues with a moment of personal worship describing the majesty of God’s voice.
David makes several descriptive statements about the power contained in God’s voice.
1. God’s voice is over the waters. The glory of God thunders over the water.
Deep waters in a storm are a chaos no man can control, but God’s voice has authority over the seas. God brought forth all of creation when He spoke over the waters at the beginning of time (Gen 1:2-3).
2. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
God’s voice brought the universe into existence, creating it out of nothing. There is no power known to man that’s comparable.
3. The voice of God breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
The forests of Lebanon were renown for producing mighty cedar trees. These trees were prized by kings who used them to build architectural wonders to glorify themselves. But God could snap the mighty cedars in half with just a word.
4. The voice of the Lord “flashes forth flames of fire” (29 :7).
God’s glory was well known to the Israelites through the visual of fire. Whether the fire that judged Nadab and Abihu, the fire that fell on Mt. Carmel, or the pillar of fire that led Israel to the Promised Land, fire was often associated with the Lord’s power.
5. The voice of God “shakes the wilderness” (29 :8).
God shaking places and nations is used in the Bible as a way to describe God’s influence over a place (Isaiah 23 :11; Hebrews 12 :26-29).
6. The voice of God “makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare” (29 :9).
The natural world knows God’s voice and fears it. It’s sound is enough to cause animals to be induced into labor and for trees to shed their leaves.
GLORY TO THE ENTHRONED KING (29:9b-11):
The proper response to the incredible power of God’s voice is for all people to go into His Temple and cry, “Glory!”
“The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD sits enthroned as king forever” (29:10).
God sits above the earth and brings its elements into subjection by His voice. Without God all would be a flood of chaos, but God has tamed it all. It’s this power that David is admiring in Psalm 29.
APPLICATION:
When we can’t be bothered to pick our Bible’s and study, we show we don’t share David’s enthusiasm and admiration for the voice of the Lord.
God has written to us, told us about Himself, and given us instructions for living. The same voice that thunders over the waters, rends the cedars, and shakes the earth, speaks to us.
Are we anxious to hear what He has to say? Or is it hard for us to pick up His word?
When we really start to understand the majesty of our Creator, when we share David’s thoughts about Him, we won’t find Bible study to be a burden.
