Well, it was for me a Psalm 29 moment. I sat on the porch of the main building of a camp in western Pennsylvania on a summer day and watched an amazing storm come in. The camp was 90 acres nestled in a valley surrounded by mountains. You could hear the distant thunder. I love storms, so I couldn't resist staying on the porch. And I watched the wall of rain begin to come in and the lightning get closer; the distance in time between the flashes of lightning and the sound of the thunder got nearer and nearer.
Thunder Shaking the Porch
Pretty soon that thunder was shaking the porch and I'm sure breaking the trees on the hills. No I didn't go inside. Nothing could have made me go inside. And I sat there and what was in my mind as I felt the shaking inside of my chest was...this is but a meager picture of the glory of God. That's Psalm 29. A Psalm surely written by David in a storm and in a poetic way, he does a great job of capturing the power of a storm, but that storm immediately makes David reflect on the voice of God, the glory of God, the presence of God, because a storm is really a finger pointing to a God of glory.
Let me read again for you, Psalm 29: Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness. The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD over many waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox.
The voice of the LORD flashes forth 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 forest bare, and in his temple all cry, 'Glory!' The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD sits enthroned as king forever. May the LORD give strength to his people! May the LORD bless his people with peace! Although this is the poetic retelling of a storm and a storm that immediately draws the heart of David to God, this is a glory Psalm.
And it really is, in a poetic form, a logical syllogism. There are three points in this Psalm that are very tight and very instructive and functionally practical for us. I can say this without a doubt; you need Psalm 29 in your life because Psalm 29 speaks into a deep struggle of the heart of every person in this room. Look at verses one and two, "Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness."
Now notice what it says there, "Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings." I want to quibble with the translation here a bit. The original actually says, "Sons of God." There's a bit of a translation debate here whether the right translation is 'heavenly beings' or just 'Sons of God'? Is this Psalm addressing heavenly beings or addressing people? And, I sort of like third way thinking, so my answer is "both." There's something that you and I share with those heavenly beings, here it is: You are hardwired for glory.
You don't live by instinct; you are attracted to glory. That is why we love a wonderful piece of music that sends a chill down our spine; we're hardwired for glory. That's why you like a big, booming homerun in an important game--even better if you catch that ball yourself--What glory! Or you like the glory of a well-prepared meal, when you think that somebody started with just ingredients and the delights of the flavors on your tongue, you're hardwired for glory. And that's why it says, "Ascribe to the LORD, O Sons of God...glory and strength.
Why Do We Have to Be Commanded?
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name." Why do we have to be commanded? If we're hardwired for glory, if we're attracted to glory, why do we have to be encouraged, why do we have to be cajoled? Why do we have to be commanded to recognize, to worship, to live in light of the glory of God? Well here it is: Sin has done something dangerous to your heart. There is in your heart a glory war. It's a war of glory, and whatever glory rules your heart will set the agenda for the way that you live your life.
Sin does two things for us. The first thing is this: It produces in us a perverse ability to be blind to the glory of God. Now think about it, Isaiah 6 says, "The whole world is filled with his glory." Did you see that glory this week? As you looked around at the created world, were you filled with the deep sense of the glory of God? Were you blown away by the majesty of your Creator? Were you? Or was it all for you, busy schedules and lots of duties and dirty laundry and meals to be prepared and endless mundane conversations, and you live blind to the glory that's everywhere around you?
What a sad thing, if you're able to get up in the morning and you're not blown away by the awesome glory of God. But there's another thing. Sin causes you to replace the glory of God with other glories so that the glory that rules your heart, the glory that commands your life, the glory that becomes the basis of the decisions you make, and the actions you take, and the words that you speak, is not the glory of God. Now I think this is a place where it's helpful to recognize that Scripture interprets Scripture, and I'd like you to just turn with me to John, chapter 6.
This is a famous miracle of Christ; it's the feeding of the 5,000. And after Christ performed that miracle, it says in verse 15 that the crowd pursued Him; verse 14, to make him King. Verse 15 says, "Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself." Why? These people recognize who He is, and they want to make Him King. Why would Jesus run away and hide? Well, the answer is in verse 25, "When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, 'Rabbi, when did you come here?'"
Now listen to what Jesus says, "Jesus answered them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.'" Now here's what Christ is essentially saying. "There are two types of glory that exist, only two types of glory. There is 'sign glory' and 'ultimate glory', the glory of God."
And Christ says to them, "The reason I withdrew from you is you didn't actually see the sign, you only want me to be your King because you had your bellies filled. Your idea is an endless buffet." And then He says this, "This miracle is like a finger that points itself to my glory--that glory, that is the glory for which you are to live. " And Christ goes on and says, "Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." Now hear this, what Christ is saying is this, "Every physical glory is ordained by God to point us to the true glory that can only be found in relationship with God."
It's the only glory that is actually glorious! And it's the only glory that will ever satisfy my heart. That physical glory, those glories of creation won't satisfy me. They will leave me empty; they'll addict me as I have to go back and again and again and again, hoping to be satisfied, and I'll never be satisfied because that glory can't ever satisfy me because it's not the thing that I am supposed to live for--it points to the thing that I'm supposed to live for! If you're traveling to a location and you see the sign that points to the location, you don't stop at the sign, because you understand the sign isn't your destination.
The Sign Points to the Destination
The sign points to the destination. Hear this, your spiritual destination is not physical creation, it's the Creator! Wow! And I would ask you as your pastor this evening, "What glory right now is commanding your heart?" Be honest. The glory of financial success? The glory of new material possessions? The glory of the affection and respect of a certain person? The glory of physical beauty and physical health? The glory of human power and control? You see, every one of those glories is ordained by God to be a finger that points to His majesty, points to His power, points to His dominion, only God is able to satisfy that longing of your heart.
There are people in this room, your life is a life of anxiety, and you're driven and you're empty and you're confused and addicted because you're trying to feed your soul on something that will not satisfy. We must be commanded to run to the glory of God because sin has put such glory confusion in our hearts. Brothers and sisters, there is a way in which it's proper to say, "Life this side of eternity is one great big, glory war." And the glory that you seek to fill your heart will set the agenda for your life.
Only two types of glory: ultimate glory, the glory of God; and sign glory, everything else that has been made that is meant to exist as a finger pointing to the glory of God. Well, back to Psalm 29. First point is, you're hardwired for glory, and so you are commanded to seek to live in light of the glory, the only glory that's truly glorious, to worship God for the glory that is, that He is. And then verses three through ten are an argument that only God is truly glorious, that you'll only find the definition of what glory actually is when you look at God, when you look at who He is, when you look at what He does.
And this is sort of a storm argument, it's a physical argument, but there are three things that David points to that are arguments for the glory of God. First is the glory of His Power. Look at the words here, The voice the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over many waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox.
The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire. The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. What a powerful description in these verses of the thunder and the lightning and the shaking of the earth. Now think of this, this all is attributed to the voice of the Lord. The voice of the Lord is powerful, the voice of the Lord spoke the world into being, the voice of the Lord speaks life into dead people, speaks spiritual life into us. The voice of the Lord reveals the deepest mysteries of the universe in His Word.
The voice of the Lord is powerful and glorious, and that phrase is seven times throughout this Psalm. And that word 'Lord', that word that wouldn't be spelled completely out by Hebrew people, is there eighteen times. Now think about the logic here, if God is able to command the storm, if the storm is there because of His power, then He has immeasurably greater power than the power of that storm. Were you ever afraid in a storm? Have you ever awakened at night with crashes of thunder and feel a little twinge inside of you?
God Is Glorious in His Rule
That awesome display is not comparable to the power of the God who commands that display. God is awesome in His power. Second thing that David wants us to see is that God is glorious in His rule. He says this, "The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth and strips the forest bare, and in his temple all cry, 'Glory!' The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD sits enthroned as King forever." What an amazing description from a flood to the birth of a deer. David says, "God is in intimate rulership over the world that He made."
This world hasn't been set into motion like a watch and it sort of just rules itself--the gears work, no, no, no! David says, "This God sits as a King on a throne over His world, and the world operates according to His command." That's glory! Think about this. Think how miniscule the world is that you command. How many things (How humbling is this!) actually operate under your command? It's almost a funny question, isn't it? And if you concentrate on this, you'll start with a longer list, and the more you're honest, the smaller the list will get because what is actually true, hard to imagine and accept, is God is sovereign, and you positively are not.
And so, rest for me is never in my power; it's never in my rule because I have such limited power and such limited rule. It's God's glory that I rest in, the glory of His power, the glory of His rule, but there's a third thing, the glory of His grace. It's there in just a brief allusion here, but I think it's one of the most important things in this Psalm. "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 forest bare, (Now listen to this.) and in his temple all cry, 'Glory!'"
And in that, "...in his temple all cry, 'Glory!'" David summarizes one of the most amazing and glorious exercises of the power and rule of God. This God of awesome power, this God of amazing grace has exercised His power in such a way that He has made it possible for Himself to dwell in the middle of His people--What grace! That this God of glory would choose to make Himself in any way visible to us, that He would choose to make, to dwell in the temple that's in the center of His people, is something so amazing it's hard to put in your brain.
Why would God ever choose to come in His glory and to live in His temple? Surely the picture here is of the visible glory of God that lived in the temple, in a visible cloud of Shekinah Glory. You can't read this Psalm as a New Testament believer and not reflect on the fact, (Hear this.) that glory has made you the temple in which He dwells. Jesus said, "Father, the glory that you gave me I now give to my children," John 17. You don't have to go to a place to find the glory of God, (Are you ready for this?) because in glory and grace, glory has found you.
Is that not sweet? Glory has found you. You have been blessed with glory. Now, reflect with me on how sad it is to be the place where glory actually dwells and yet attempt to feed yourself on other glories. You don't have to search for glory because if you're God's child, glory has found you. You're hardwired for glory. It's only in God that you will find the glory for which you seek because only God is truly glorious, glorious in His power, glorious in His rule, glorious in His grace. Now look at verse 11 with me, "May the LORD give strength to his people!
May the Lord bless his people with peace!" Because you were hardwired for glory, and because God alone is truly glorious, (Hear this third thing.): It's in His glory; it's His glory--that is the only thing that will ever give rest to your heart. "May the LORD give strength to his people! May the LORD bless his people with peace!" Hear this! When David talks about strength here, he's not first talking about physical might, he's talking about fortitude of heart. He's talking about that inner courage and inner resolve that is only possible when you understand that you have come to know the Lord of lords and King of kings, that the God of awesome power, the God of awesome rule, the God of awesome grace, now is your Lord and now has made you the place where He dwells.
Rest in the God Who Dwells in Me
And I no longer approach life hoping I can figure it out, hoping I'll have enough independent wisdom, hoping I'll have enough strength; I rest in the God who has made me the place where He dwells. And I live with courage. Do you live with courage? Do you live with hope? Do you live with strength of resolve? Or are you anxious, fearful, timid, afraid, unsure, insecure? Whose power gives you rest? Whose rule gives you hope? That strength is only ever found when the glory of God is the glory that rules my heart.
"May the LORD bless his people with peace!" What is that peace? It's that calmness of heart, that rest of heart; maybe this is the best way to say it: That inner sense of wellbeing that cannot be shaken by situations, locations, and circumstances. Listen, if situations can rob you of your peace, if other people can rob you of your peace, then your peace is probably not resting in the God of glory. Do you have that inner peace? Do you have that security of heart? Do you walk around with a deep sense of well-being because you understand glory has been given to you?
That rule, that power, that grace, is exercised on your behalf by that King of Glory. "Holy! Holy! Holy is the Lord God Almighty, the whole earth is filled with his glory." May I ask you again, "Did you bask in that glory this week? Did it give you courage?" Come on, be honest. Did it give you hope? Were you able to say, "I don't have a clue what's happening in my life, but it's okay because the God who is my hope knows everything, rules everything, has power over everything, and that God is a God of awesome grace."
I would ask you a second question, "What other glory seduces you? What other glory becomes a replacement glory for you? What other glory do you tend to look to to try to satisfy your heart?" There is, in my heart and yours, a glory war. That war will continue to rage until the Lord calls us home to be with Him. Maybe you're here tonight, and you've never ever put your trust in the glory that can only be found in the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ came, not only to reveal that God of glory as He walked here on earth, but to free us from slavery to all the wrong kinds of glory.
He welcomes you to come to Him, to confess your struggle, and to find the forgiveness that can only be found in Him. I would encourage you to do this the next time you're in the storm. Don't run inside; stay on the porch; watch the lightning flash; feel your chest quiver with the thunder; hear the sound of the driving rain, and look to heaven and say, "Thank you, I need the reminder. I can be so blind to Your glory." Step out in the rain and get drenched and say, "May I never again give my heart to any glory but Yours."
Let's Pray: Lord, we do get glory so terribly confused. We do seek to fill our hearts with other glories, and we thank you for this wonderful Psalm and its physical pictures that reminds us that the physical world is but a finger that points us to the glory that can only be found in You, the glory that can only satisfy the cravings in our hearts. We worship You for Your power; we worship You for Your rule; we worship You for Your grace; Your glory is our hope. In Jesus name, Amen.
