Does His Power Bring You Peace? (AM Sermon Notes)
GIST: God is praiseworthy and powerful, so we can have peace.
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 29
This morning and evening, we’re coming to the end of our second “Summer In Psalms”. I love it. And it’s always a little bitter sweet transitioning between our studies like this. However, I feel like where we’re pausing at this summer is a wonderful break in our study...for two reasons. First, both of these psalms are amongst the shortest we have ever covered, so that might be ending on a high note for you! And secondly, both really encompass what so much of the psalms are drawing our attention to: our need to praise our powerful savior! Let’s read through this psalm and then dive in!
“1 A Psalm of David. 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!”
As I alluded to earlier, this sermon will probably be fairly short. However, the truth presented here is one I know I need to remember everyday. Here’s the gist: God is praiseworthy and powerful, so we can have peace. Let’s see how this is developed. First, the psalm opens by proclaiming that→
I. GOD IS PRAISEWORTHY (1-2)
“1...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.”
This opens with a call to→
Ascribe Glory and Strength. Glory is His character revealed—His perfection and sovereignty and grace and justice. Strength echoes His power, which is what the rest of the psalm will focus in on. We’re to proclaim these truths, that He is glorious and strong, not because He needs our proclamation for this to be true or at least known, but because it’s→
Due His Name. He is perfectly glorious and perfectly strong, so we’re to proclaim what is true whether or not we praise Him for it! And we’re to→
Worship In The Splendor Of Holiness. It seems translators have had trouble with this phrase. Are we to worship in the splendor of holiness or are we worshiping His splendor that is represented in His holiness? Either way, both are true. He is wonderful and holy. AND, because of that, we have also been called to worship Him wonderfully and holy—as in with a pure and transformed heart. Our worship of Him should be genuine, not forced or faked, and this will naturally occur when we’ve been made clean by His salvation, when He’s begun working in our lives and transforming us into His image. Otherwise, our worship is just noise. This reminds me of what God spoke through the prophet Hosea “6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6)
We have a God who is worthy of our praise. Come back tonight, and we’re going to talk even more about that ☺️. The second major section here focuses on the fact that→
II. GOD IS POWERFUL (3-9)
The picture we have here is one of an awesome storm. We get some powerful ones in our area, so we can imagine this a bit. But remember, the original audience wouldn’t have had the protection from these storms most of our homes provide. Storms were a huge and terrifying reality. Look at how David describes this→
“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.” From the beginning here, He’s the one in control. “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.” This is a picture of these mighty trees being tossed around so much they seem to be skipping around like young cattle. “7 The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire.” Lightning. “8 The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.” Earthquakes. “9 The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare,” He’s so powerful, He even startles the deer into having babies ☺️. “and in his temple all cry, "Glory!"” Of course they do! How could they not? Let me just make a few quick observations. First→
God Is Still This Powerful. He hasn’t changed! He’s still the same all powerful God He has always been. Your situation might seem out of control, but it can’t be out of His control! Nothing is! Nothing possibly could be! He’s the almighty God, and→
His Voice Can Speak In Your Life. Seven times in these seven verses the phrase, “the voice of the LORD” is repeated. You’d think He’s trying to make us see something here☺️! Tim Keller put it so well in The Songs of Jesus: “His divine power is active in his Word. Do not underestimate, then, how much the power of God can do in your life through the Bible. The voice of the Lord can break down even our strongest defenses, defuse our despair, free us from guilt, and lead us to him.” (53) And that’s the point I want to make sure we don’t leave without. God is praiseworthy. God is powerful. Yet, He loves us→
III. SO WE CAN HAVE PEACE (10-11)
“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!”
The storm is strong, but it’s under the direct control of God. See, because He is powerful and praiseworthy, we can have strength to face whatever comes our way. I know I keep saying this, but it’s because David kept being inspired to say this. Our lives may shake us, but God never changes. He never ceases to be enough. He never ceases to love you enough to be your strength. One of my favorite verses, and this is one I pray often for myself and for others, is in Isaiah where he says, “31 but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31) He is our strength.
And because He is powerful and praiseworthy, we can have peace. We can rest knowing that He’s with us and that He loves us. We are hidden in the shadow of His wings. No storm is more powerful than the storm He controls. Nothing is bigger than Him! It’s like the VeggieTales song, “My God is Bigger Than the Bogeyman!” Or the Jeremy Camp song that has been stuck in my head all week, “Same Power”.
I can see waters raging at my feet
I can feel the breath of those surrounding me
I can hear the sound of nations rising up
We will not be overtaken. We will not be overcome
I can walk down this dark and painful road
I can face every fear of the unknown
I can hear all God's children singing out
We will not be overtaken. We will not be overcome
The same power that rose Jesus from the grave
The same power that commands the dead to wake
Lives in us, lives in us
The same power that moves mountains when He speaks
The same power that can calm a raging sea
Lives in us, lives in us. He lives in us, lives in us
What are you afraid of?
TAKEAWAYS
1. Remember God is praiseworthy. I encourage you guys to come back out tonight because will be talking even more about this. However, I just want to say this morning: God deserves our praise. It should be on our lips. We should be constantly praising Him because He is holy, and He is loving, and He is good, and He is gracious, and He is enough, and He’s never let us go!
2. Remember God is all-powerful. There is nothing in life that surprises Him, and there is nothing in life that is outside of His hand. It makes me think of another passage from Isaiah where he says, “1 Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;” (Isaiah 59:1) So…→ “20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”(Ephesians 3:20-21)
3. Rest in His peace! Stop trying to do this on your own.
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