Psalm Chapter 29 - A Psalm of David

Psalm 29: The Voice That Breaks the Cedars

If you want to know what the ancients meant by "the fear of the Lord," read this psalm during a thunderstorm. Seven times the phrase "the voice of the Lord" crashes through these verses like rolling thunder — upon the waters, powerful, full of majesty, breaking the cedars of Lebanon, dividing flames, shaking the wilderness, making the deer calve. It is a catalogue of overwhelm. And yet the psalm does not end in terror. It ends in peace. "The Lord will bless his people with peace." This is the great paradox the psalmist grasps and Lewis loved: the God who is most terrifyingly powerful is the same God who gives peace to his people — not peace instead of power, but peace because of it. The cedars snap. The wilderness quakes. The flames split apart. And in his temple, every one speaks of his glory. It is the stillness that comes not from the absence of the storm, but from knowing who commands it.

00:00 Give Unto the Lord Glory and Strength

00:15 The Voice Upon the Waters

00:30 The Voice Breaks the Cedars

00:45 The Voice Divides the Flames

01:00 The Voice Shakes the Wilderness

01:15 The Lord Sits King Forever

01:25 He Blesses His People with Peace