Give God the Credit He Deserves!

[0:00] please take your Bibles we're going through the Psalms and I have on the schedule to start Zephaniah the end of this month what's that the 30th I think Sunday July 30th so that's the plan so we'll see how that will go that's the plan so be praying as I'm preparing for that I've actually been doing some reading lots of reading researching so it's been good today we're going to do Psalm 29 Psalm 29 Psalm 29 I've been going through the Psalms we did 26 27 28 today we'll do 29 next week we'll do Psalm 30 so today Psalm 29 page 403 in that black Bible in the chair in front of you page 403

[1:04] Psalm 29 let me read and then we'll jump in Psalm 29 a Psalm of David ascribe to Yahweh oh sons of the mighty ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength ascribe to Yahweh the glory due to his name worship Yahweh in holy array the voice of Yahweh is upon the waters the God of glory thunders Yahweh is over many waters the voice of Yahweh is powerful the voice of Yahweh is majestic the voice of Yahweh breaks the cedars yes Yahweh breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon and he makes Lebanon skip like a calf and Syrian like a young wild ox the voice of Yahweh hues out flames of fire the voice of Yahweh shakes the wilderness excuse me

[2:08] Yahweh shakes the wilderness of Kadesh the voice of Yahweh makes the deer to calve and strips the forest bare and in his temple everything says glory Yahweh sat at the flood yes Yahweh sits as king forever Yahweh will give strength to his people Yahweh will bless his people with peace a local sports caster doing radio coverage of an Indiana high school football game from the stands used a chart listing the names numbers and positions of the players to help him describe the action well then it began to rain the ink on the chart ran and the numbers on the back of the players were covered with mud identifying the home team players was easy but the only familiar name on the lineup of the visiting

[3:13] Chicago team was that of Blansky it was a linebacker who was up for all state as local listeners didn't know the Chicago players and the station wasn't powerful enough to reach Chicago the sports caster made up the names of every Chicago player but Blansky and since Blansky was the only legitimate name he did his play by play with Blansky making most of the tackles the next day the Chicago coach called him to say he had done a really nice job of covering the game except for one thing Blansky had broken his leg in the first half and spent the second half in the hospital listening to himself playing one heck of a game I guess he didn't deserve all that credit hardly any of it maybe we give credit to those who deserve it but when it's all said and done God is the only one who should get the credit for anything who should get the credit for everything that takes place and so when we come to this psalm psalm 29 is how we can title it give God the credit he deserves give God the credit he deserves

[4:33] God deserves the credit for everything he is sovereign God deserves the credit for everything he's sovereign he's lord over all if you miss anything don't miss this penetrating truth from psalm 29 give God the credit he deserves he deserves the credit he is sovereign so when the storms of life rage remember that our God is sovereignly in charge so give him the credit he deserves and as we do he will strengthen us and give us his peace storms of life will rage and that's when we need to remember that our God is sovereignly in charge so give him the credit he deserves and as you do he will strengthen you he will give you his peace

[5:40] Stephen Lawson again I highly recommend his commentary set on the psalms he says this quote the greatness of God's unrivaled unrestricted sovereignty calls for all creation to give him glory this psalm is a song of confidence in God that voices the praise due his name and remember this psalm comes on the heels of 26 27 28 26 27 28 it seems like these three songs were compiled together possibly written during David's flight from Absalom Absalom's rebellion and remember David was crying out to the Lord vindicate me not that I'm perfect but I'm doing everything you've called me to do this is what's going on and yet

[6:44] David resorted to the fact that Yahweh manifests Yahweh God manifests his glory and strength he resolved to trust God so you see 26 coming 27 28 and here you have this psalm of praise in 29 it's like he just throws it all down I'm going to give you the credit you deserve and that's how the first point begins give God the credit he deserves verse 1 notice ascribe to Yahweh ascribe to Yahweh ascribe to Yahweh three times ascribe means to recognize to give credit a tribute to give credit a tribute recognize who the Lord God is render back to God cheerfully and joyously in admiring recognition this is what

[7:51] David resolved himself to do how he resolved to respond recognize God's position as sovereign God his character revealed the nature his attributes of holiness power majesty this happens again in the psalms in psalm 96 psalm 96 verse 7 sounds familiar from psalm 29 ascribe ascribe ascribe ascribe to Yahweh oh families of the peoples ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength ascribe to Yahweh the glory of his name bring an offering and come into his courts worship Yahweh in holy attire tremble before him all the earth say among the nations Yahweh reigns indeed the world is firmly established it will not be moved he will judge the peoples with equity give God the credit he deserves and notice he says ascribe oh sons of the mighty here he summons what we think is talking about here is holy angels he summons holy angels to praise

[9:13] God one of the chief functions of the angel was to give God credit give credit to God for all that he is and all that he's done Psalm 89 verse 7 oh God greatly feared in the counsel of the holy ones awesome above all those who are around him and yet not just the angels but David includes in verse 11 God's people we should give God the credit he deserves give God the credit he deserves now two questions come up here he was going to bring up two questions so to speak and then answer those two questions for us first it's what and then why question number one give God the credit for what give God the credit for what three aspects he brings up here in verse 1 and 2 first give God the credit for his glory and strength give him credit for what for his glory and strength recognize give credit to Yahweh oh sons of the mighty credit to

[10:22] Yahweh glory and strength recognize his glory recognize his strength his power which he manifests God is sovereign all his attributes over all the heavens over all the earth over all the events that are happening right now in your life God is sovereign remember coming on the heels of David's possible flight from Absalom David resolved Yahweh you're manifesting your glory you're manifesting your strength so why do I have any fear from those who are against me I shouldn't fear give him credit for his glory and strength even thinking about John 17 when Jesus says father glorify your son as the son has glorified you what gives God the most glory is when Jesus hung there on the cross the cross gives the glory and shows the very glory of

[11:24] God both his love and his wrath both his mercy and his judgment give God the glory for what the glory and strength for his glory and strength to give him credit for his name give credit to Yahweh the glory due his name due his name means the reputation of his character what's his reputation he is supreme in heaven in his holiness and the only one who deserves glory his name is glorious reminds us of what the Lord said to Isaiah Isaiah 42 8 where Yahweh speaks and says I am Yahweh and that is my name I will not give my glory to another nor my praise to graven images that was

[12:24] Isaiah 42 8 there's no one like him this is the reputation of his character give God glory give him credit for what for his glory and strength give him credit for his name and here's a third one give him credit that's worthy of worship give him credit that's worthy of worship notice the last part of verse 2 worship Yahweh in holy array or holy attire worship bow down in holy adornment because of the glory of his holiness only those who are holy who are set apart can truly worship before such a majestic holy God holy meaning he is otherness he is godness he is separate from us there's no other God like him so we must carefully fearfully reverently admirably worship him we should not come to God flippantly but reverently humbly fearfully and yet realize we can come to his holy throne to find grace the writer of Hebrews tells us this in Hebrews 4 14 through 16 we've had a high priest who's passed through the heavens

[13:58] Jesus Christ the son of God and then he says in verse 16 let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need we can come to his holy throne to find grace we can worship him because he's given us grace in Christ Jesus I also wanted to make mention to you so you have this this psalm is actually you can so to speak repeated in 1st Chronicles we read from 1st Chronicles 1st Chronicles 16 this was David's psalm of thanksgiving towards the end of his life 1st Chronicles 16 verse 27 says this and you'll recognize lots of the phrases similar phrases from

[14:59] Psalm 29 splendor and majesty are before him strength and joy are in his place ascribe to Yahweh families of the peoples ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength ascribe to Yahweh the glory do his name bring an offering and come before him worship Yahweh in holy array tremble before him all the earth indeed the world is firmly established it will not be moved let the heavens be glad and let the earth rejoice and let them say among the nations Yahweh reigns let the sea roar and all it contains let the field exult and let all that is in it and all that is in it then the trees of the forest will sing for joy before Yahweh for he is coming to judge the earth oh give thanks to Yahweh for he's good where his covenant love is everlasting then say save us oh God of our salvation and gather us and deliver us from the nations to give thanks to your holy name and glory and your praise blessed be the Lord the God of Israel from everlasting even in everlasting then all the people said amen and praise the Lord give God the credit he deserves glory and strength credit for his name credit worthy of worship that was the first question give God credit for what now question number two why should we give God the credit he deserves why

[16:34] David here in the text only gives us two reasons reason number one because he shows his power in nature as in verses 3 through 10 he takes most of the psalm to show how God is described or excuse me David describes God's power in nature Yahweh made himself heard in the language of the thunder revealing himself in the storm you'll notice he goes from glory to voice so he shows his power in nature and what happens here is the awesome display of a thunderstorm is revealed as reflecting God's supremacy his power and his sovereignty geographically

[17:36] David moves from the Mediterranean sea to the north of Palestine then to the south why does he do a storm because the noisy sounds of a storm rouses us from our sleepiness it wakes you up right sometimes in the middle of the night when the monsoons come in and you're hearing the thunder and you see the lightning the flashes of light wakes you up in the middle of the night rouses you awake that's why God's voice thunders so notice what he does here starting in verse three he starts off here with the voice of Yahweh he keeps saying the voice the voice the voice the voice and he does this to show that his word is connected to his personhood his word is connected to his voice which is connected to his personhood who he is the voice of Yahweh is upon the waters the God of glory thunders

[18:44] Yahweh is over many waters the voice of Yahweh the very word of Yahweh symbolizes Yahweh and his wrath listen to Job Job 37 Job 37 this is Elihu speaking after a voice roars he thunders with his majestic voice and he does not restrain the lightnings where his voice is heard God thunders with his voice wondrously doing great things which we cannot comprehend there's a shaking and an overturning power in God's word and is that not true once again the writer of Hebrews doesn't he bring that up when he talks about the very word of God for the word of God is living and active Hebrews 4 12 sharper than any two head sword piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit of both joints and marrow and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart there's the power of

[19:54] God's word right it pierces through it's a double edged sword a two edged sword and notice he says back to Psalm 29 this voice this word of Yahweh is upon the waters he's talking about the raging Mediterranean sea it thunders our glorious God rages like the raging sea waves and he says over many waters think of it like a hurricane tornado like hurricane like waves notice verse 4 the voice of Yahweh is powerful the voice of Yahweh is majestic he describes God's word with these adjectives powerful and nature is a way to symbolize his fury interesting the word majestic means ornament a decoration adorning when you decorate something and it shows its own glory when you decorate something that's what he's doing and that's the very word of God it's decorative it's adorning and look at how powerful it is just how powerful is it verse 5 the voice of Yahweh breaks the cedars yes

[21:14] Yahweh breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon these tall beautiful mighty cedars in all their strength maybe Aaron's probably seen that who knows maybe he saw it these cedars in all their strength were broken by the power of God as the storm moved inland think of the huge redwood trees you have there in Sierras not even the powerful mighty cedars can stand against this storm the voice of Yahweh and look at what he says in verse 6 and then into verse 7 verse 6 and he makes Lebanon skip like a calf and Syrian like a young wild ox they refer to the quaking of earth during a heavy thunderstorm they dance to the Lord's tune like nothing Syrian is another word for Mount Hermon like a young wild ox like the rhinos of India they were swift moving fast verse 7 the voice of

[22:15] Yahweh hues out flames of fire God's voice cuts or digs or hues weapons of fire it is like lightning flashes Yahweh's word is like a bolt of lightning it's fun to watch that from very far away you see a bolt of lightning right close to you it's a whole different ball game you feel the power you feel it because you feel it's a rumbling that thunder that comes and you see its power coming from the sky that's the voice of Yahweh look at verse 8 the voice of Yahweh shakes the wilderness causes to whirl the desert he's moving from the north now to the south down to Kadesh Barnea the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh this is how powerful Yahweh's word his voice is and then he says this in verse 9 the voice of Yahweh makes the deer to calve makes the female deer give birth prematurely because of the power of this great storm

[23:30] NIV translates this kind of odd so I think the numeric standard and the legacy standard Bible translates it's better makes the deer to calve prematurely because the power of this great storm and then look at the next part verse 9 and strips the forest bare the trees are knocked down stripped bare of all their branches he removes and uproots entire sections of a vast forest like a raging tornado and that's where his word uproots the hearts of men God's word is so powerful if it can uproot entire sections of a vast forest like a storm that means God's word can pierce the heart of people people who don't want anything to do with him people that hate God people that love the darkness rather than the light

[24:32] God can do a work in their heart and change them and save them can't he and then look at how he ends this section in verse 9 and in his temple everything says glory with all that took place in the storm with all of God's power displaying itself we cannot help but say wow what a glorious God you ever see that in a storm you look at a storm monsoon wow that's amazing when you see a raging storm a vast hurricane huge tornado flashes of lightning wow so when the word of God goes forth and breaks the hearts of sinners when the word of God goes forth and convicts the hearts of his people all we can say is wow that's the glory of God and if you don't know

[25:36] Christ you're not here you're here you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ that's what should happen for you where you say wow here's the word of God here's Jesus who is the very living word of God he can save you he came he died and he rose repent and trust Christ he will come he will show you compassion this is God's word going forth interesting too you have this concept but just mention the word is mentioned in John 1 the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we saw his glory Jesus is the living word of God and then here he closes off this section of his power that's seen in nature in this last verse verse 10 the Lord sat at the flood what flood seems like he's talking about the great flood the flood of

[26:38] Genesis when God judged the earth drowning the wicked for their iniquities but just as well the floods and storms have brought destruction to the earth they're all controlled by the providence of God he alone governs it all the Lord sat at the flood yes he says Yahweh sits as king forever these forces remain obedient to his will and he still reigns he ruled when floods or storms brought destruction to the earth he ruled when the great flood cover the earth he rules the earth from his throne in the heavens and wrath and mercy over the earth he is sovereign in his holy judgment on sin that's how powerful his word is that's how powerful our God is and notice he says forever he sits he sits as king forever through all the dim ages through all the storms that you face in life the Lord sovereignly reigns firm and strong and it's true some natural disasters are used by God to bring about his judgment that's true but David here he correlated

[27:51] God's word with the power of a storm even the power of the great flood to show God we should give God the credit he deserves because he shows his power in nature so when we see God's power displayed in nature it puts us on our knees because we get a glimpse of just how powerful Yahweh is when he speaks his glorious powerful word there's no need to fear great is our God that's why we sang the song glorious Christ and yet how does God show his glory amongst us and it's the greatest way in the very word becoming flesh and dying on the cross for our sins so we give God the credit he deserves why because he shows his power in nature but then David does this changes things here interesting verse 11 God shows his power we give him the credit he deserves why because he shows his power in nature but second because he shows his power with us his people

[28:58] Yahweh will give strength to his people now this is a different word that he uses from verse 4 it's actually the same word he uses in verse 1 when he says give credit to Yahweh O sons of the mighty give credit to Yahweh glory and strength that's the same word that he used here in verse 1 he says here Yahweh will give that strength to his people we as God's people belong to him and he gives to us a share of his own might and strength and notice Yahweh will bless his people with peace that brings us peace while his wrath bursts over his foes that strength upholds us as his people and we're given peace he exerts his power power in a peculiar manner on behalf of his people he upholds us he cherishes us he strengthens us with the same power that he has what a gracious merciful God what a gracious merciful God we serve the same

[30:33] God who controls the forces of nature who wields his control over nature he wields his control for the benefit of his people for your benefit and thus calms us when we present ourselves as weak and needy Yahweh God as the word comes in to be our deliverer our savior and our provider this is David he closes this off he closes off this psalm just giving God the credit he deserves yes look at how amazing it is he says that amazing God is on our side he loves his people and what he did with Jesus God showed his power the power of the cross and reminds us of what Paul says in 1st

[31:34] Corinthians chapter 1 for the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness but to us who are being saved it is the power of God we are victorious and blessed with his peace in the midst of his voice of anger we have peace with God and we are in the fellowship of peace with such well-being all because of God all because of Yahweh Romans 5 1 therefore I've been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ we should stand in all of his majesty because he alone is worthy and because we're defended by our invincible sovereign God listen to what

[32:36] Spurgeon says he who wings the unerring bolt will give to his redeemed the wings of eagles he who shakes the earth with his voice will terrify the enemies of his saints and give his children peace why are we weak when we have divine strength to flee to why are we troubled when the Lord's own peace is ours Jesus the mighty God is our peace what a blessing is this today at Spurgeon so when the storms of life rage remember that our God is sovereignly in charge the storms of life rage in your life God is sovereignly in charge so just give him the credit he deserves and as we do he strengthens us with that same power that he has and he will give us his peace let's thank him for it thank you living word the Lord

[33:51] Jesus for you showed the power of God at the cross dying on our behalf rising from the dead to display that you are a gracious merciful God thank you for the psalm because when life hits us and hits us hard David reminds us you're powerful and you give us that same power that strength which brings us peace let us find our peace in you we have peace with you through Jesus Jesus you are our peace help us as a body in this time of crisis peace that you will show your sovereign power give us peace we pray peace and I want to encourage you to take a few moments to reflect on what we've seen from

[35:26] God's word in Psalm 29 talk to yourself proclaim the gospel to yourself reflect and ponder and we'll sing in just a moment we'll do our closing prayer and benediction but take these few moments just between you and the Lord to fill your mind with the truth please do that now you