Have you ever thought that singing praise to God is an act of defiance? That realisation only really struck me during the thanksgiving service for the life of my dad. Our tears and sadness at his untimely death were real, but through them we sang of the hope we had because of what God has done in Christ. Our songs were not an exercise in denial, but in defiance. To sing of the reality of God, and of what he has done, is to insist that there is one more powerful than the pain and darkness that seem so often to prevail in our world.

Psalm 29 is a gift of a song with which to express faithful defiance in a fallen world. It plays to the rhythm of a ferocious thunderstorm in which the powerful voice of God is heard (vs 3–5,7– 9), and his majestic, incomparable power is displayed (vs 5–9). This is in direct defiance of the Canaanite god, Baal, whose worshippers held that his voice was heard in the storm. Indeed, it may well be that this psalm is the result of an idolatrous hymn of praise having been purposefully reworked into a song celebrating the one true God. Redeeming culture is one of the ways in which God’s people on earth can echo his praise in the heavens (vs 1,9).

Ascribe to the Father and Son, O sons and daughters of God, ascribe to the Lord the glory due to his name. Worship the Lord in the splendour of holiness.¹ 

Yesterday we were urged to ‘give ... to God what is God’s’.² This includes exclusive worship, the essence of today’s reading. God is King, enthroned over the chaos (v 10). Remembering Psalm 27, New Testament writers often place ‘Jesus’ in  Old Testament passages which use ‘Lord’ (Yahweh). Doing so here, we find ourselves summoned to cry by the Spirit, ‘glory’ (vs 1,2) to God, Father and Son! In verse 1a, the Hebrew bənē ˒ēlîm, literally ‘sons of God’, refers to the heavenly host perpetually worshipping God.³ Now, in Christ, we too are sons and daughters of God! Verses 1 and 2 then urge us to join the eternal praise from the heavenly choir, ascribing to the Lord the glory due his unblemished splendour (name) and holiness. 

Verses 3 to 9 focus on God’s voice echoing out from his throne (seven times). When God speaks, his voice is thundering, powerful (v 4), majestic (v 4), destructive (vs 5–8), joy-generating (v 6), full of fire (v 7), earth-shaking (v 8), birth-generating and tree-stripping (v 9). Verses 3 and 10 focus on the primeval chaos of a flooded world (creation, Noah). Even where there is bedlam, God reigns. His word fulfils its purposes.⁴ It brings judgement and destruction, but also generates life and joy. We, the Temple of God’s presence, together respond, ‘Glory!’ (v 9). We pray for this loving and just God to give us strength and bless us with peace (v 11).

I write in the chaos of the pandemic. I hope that these notes are read in a recovering world. Whatever the chaos, God and his Son reign. Creation and history are shaped. He is with us by his Spirit. We can trust in him to give us strength and peace. He will comfort us. 

Read the psalm, knowing that God is Father, Son and Spirit. Listen to his Word. Obey. Share the insights of this psalm. Praise God again. 

¹ Ps 29:1,2, adapted  ² Matt 22:21  ³ Rev 4  ⁴ Isa 55:11