[0:00] We're now going to read in the book of Psalms, the book of Psalms, Psalm 29. Psalm 29.
[0:35] And we can read the whole psalm. Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty. Give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name. Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
[0:50] The voice of the Lord is upon the waters. The God of glory thunders. The Lord is upon many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars.
[1:06] Yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon. He maketh them also to skip like a calf. Lebanon and Syrian like a young unicorn. The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness. The Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.
[1:27] The voice of the Lord makes the hinds to calf and discovereth the forests. And in his temple doth everyone speak of his glory. The Lord sitteth upon the flood. Yea, the Lord sitteth king forever. The Lord will give strength unto his people. The Lord will bless his people with peace.
[1:50] Now, I want to take some thoughts from this psalm that we've just read together.
[2:02] And you'll have noticed that it's a call to worship the God who sovereignly rules over all things. In verses 1 and 2 we have the summons to worship.
[2:17] And in verses 3 through to 10 we have the reasons to worship. And he concludes in verse 11 with the effects of that worship.
[2:28] And that's the order that I want to consider this psalm. First of all, his summons to worship, which we have in the first two verses.
[2:39] Now, everyone should worship God. But unfortunately, as a result of the devastation that sin brought into the experience of man, we have lost our desire to worship God.
[2:58] Now, man didn't lose his desire to worship. He just changed the object of his worship. He began to worship himself.
[3:09] And he began to worship the creation of man's hands, creating for himself idols to worship. Some of them unbeknown to himself.
[3:21] But every person in this world today is worshiping something. However, for God's people, as a result of the redemption that we have in Christ, there is this desire to worship the true God.
[3:40] The living and the true God. And that worship has been made possible. As a result of what Jesus has done on behalf of those that are redeemed.
[3:54] And in this world, this is the great desire of all of God's people, that God would be glorified. That we would be able to worship him acceptably.
[4:08] But unfortunately, we will never be satisfied in this world with the worship that we give to God, even or though we come through the means that he has made available to us.
[4:23] And in the only way that our worship will be accepted in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. But in this world, we've been prepared for the day that we will give the perfect worship.
[4:36] Where we will live eternally glorifying and enjoying God. And everything that we do will be to his glory.
[4:50] And what we have in this world is small foretastes of that. And we're thankful for the small foretastes that we do receive.
[5:01] And that's what we're seeking here this morning. A foretaste of heaven. We're wanting to be brought before the throne. We're wanting to be caught up with the worship that has been presented round about his throne.
[5:19] And if God wills it, we will receive a small glimpse of that great blessing. As we seek to worship the Lamb that sits in the midst of the throne.
[5:33] Now the psalmist here calls us to worship. O ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and strength.
[5:48] It's unto the Lord that worship is due. Now sin has made us think that glory and honour belong to man.
[6:01] But we have absolutely no glory, no honour, no strength whatsoever in and of ourselves.
[6:12] So no glory is due unto man. Although very often that's where we first of all go when we seek to even progress the kingdom of God.
[6:27] And we look for people with certain gifts thinking these are the people that we need to enlist in order to progress the cause of God in this world.
[6:39] And we're giving the glory to these men who have been gifted by God with the gifts that they undoubtedly possess. But the glory doesn't belong to them.
[6:53] They have no power to bring anyone to life. They have no power to enable anyone to draw near to God. Only God can do that.
[7:07] So all the glory belongs to God. We have absolutely no power. Jesus reminded Pilate of that when Pilate said to him, Do you not realise that I've got power to release you or to put you to death?
[7:25] To which he replied, You would have absolutely no power had it not been given to you from above. So even those that are the enemies of God would have absolutely no power unless it had been given to them from above.
[7:41] So why do we glory man? Why do we think that we have abilities within ourselves when we come to the spiritual realm?
[7:52] And we have absolutely no abilities in and of ourselves. We are spiritually bankrupt. All the glory, all the honour belong unto God.
[8:05] So we should worship no man. We should worship nothing that man has created. Now sin has left us in such a state that we are reluctant to pay homage to God.
[8:28] And we are reluctant to humble ourselves and acknowledge that we need his help. And by nature we think it's beneath us to bow down to anything or anyone.
[8:41] But by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we come to recognise and we come to desire that we would be caught up in the worship of God.
[8:59] Hopefully that's what's brought us here this morning. Three times the psalmist says, Why does he say it three times?
[9:32] Because we're so hard to teach. We need to have the same thing brought before us time and time again. That we wouldn't forget that the glory and the honour belong unto him.
[9:50] It's his right to receive the worship from the creature that he created to worship him. Unbelief, mistrust, complaining and murmuring are what belong to us by nature.
[10:10] And this is what robs God of his glory. But we ought to worship the Lord in reverence and in fear, in spirit and in truth as he desires.
[10:24] And he's not looking at our outward forms of worship. He's not looking to us to perform rituals, to diligently pray to him three times a day or however often we do go aside to pray to him.
[10:44] He's not looking to the outward religiosity that we would clothe ourselves with. He's not looking for our outward piety.
[10:57] He's looking at our hearts and he desires the worship of our hearts because God is our spirit. He is holy. And he requires that we worship him in spirit and in truth.
[11:16] That we focus on his attributes. And that we recognise his great power. That we recognise the majesty with which he has clothed himself.
[11:33] That he is a holy God. Separate from sin. Separate from any form of sin. Even the religious acts of his people.
[11:46] He is separate from all of these things because they're all marred. But the worship that proceeds from the heart, which is conducted in spirit and in truth as the spirit leads us to the Lord Jesus Christ and comes wholly reliant upon Christ, that glorifies him.
[12:12] The Son glorifies the Father. And the Father glorifies the Son and all who are found within the Son, who are trusting in Christ.
[12:24] So that our worship can be accepted. He is a God who is pure, sinless, harmless and undefiled.
[12:36] He's full of goodness and righteousness. And that's the reason that the angels worship him. This is what we read in the prophecy of Isaiah.
[12:52] When Isaiah was given a glimpse of the glory of God. In the year that King Isaiah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
[13:10] Above it stood the seraphims. Each one had six wings. With twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet. With twain he did fly.
[13:21] And one cried unto another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory.
[13:35] The angels are moved in awe at the perfect holiness and righteousness of God.
[13:47] Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory.
[14:01] The effect that a glimpse of God's holiness had on Isaiah was that he cried out, Woe is me. For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live amongst a people of unclean lips.
[14:19] As we draw near the throne, we're filled with a sense of our own inadequacies. Filled with a sense of our own apparent nature.
[14:32] Filled with a sense that we're living amongst a people that are apparent to God. Because of the sinfulness of our nature.
[14:42] Yet this is the God who has condescended to come down to redeem us. In the person of his son, Jesus Christ.
[14:58] And this is the one that the holy angels in heaven are worshipping. Along with the redeemed saints. This is the revelation that was given to John that we read earlier.
[15:10] The inhabitants of heaven fall down to worship this great God. The four living creatures as representatives of the angels.
[15:24] The 24 elders, representatives of those that have been redeemed. And we notice that whenever the living creatures give glory to God, giving him honour and thanks to him who sits upon the throne, who lives forever and ever, that the 24 elders fall down and throw down their own thrones before his throne.
[15:54] Saying, You are worthy, O God, to receive glory and honour and power. For you created all things. And by your will they exist and were created.
[16:09] Those that are redeemed. Throwing down their own glory, their own honour. Because that's who are crowned.
[16:20] People who deserve to be honoured. People who have power in their possessions because they rule as kings. What do they do in the presence of the one who sits upon the throne?
[16:33] They throw it all down before him. Not unto us, Lord. Not unto us. But unto you the glory belongs. They throw down their own glory in his presence.
[16:47] And they worship him. And that's what we're called to do. Every time we assemble as we're gathered here this morning, we're called to worship him.
[17:03] The second thing that I want to consider is the reasons that we should worship him. Which we have in verses 3 through to 10.
[17:14] The voice of the Lord is upon the waters. The God of glory thundereth. The Lord is upon many waters. The thunder.
[17:25] The thunder. Now the thunder is not just poetical. It's also instructive. It's an emblem of the power of God's voice.
[17:39] And its sound is awe-inspiring. It's a awe-inspiring. It's awe-inspiring. It's awe-inspiring. It's awe-inspiring. It's awe-inspiring. Because it's entirely independent of any noise that man can do.
[17:51] Man is not in control of the thunder and the lightning. Man cannot replicate this great power of nature with which God visits this world.
[18:06] Now it's a frightening experience for people to be caught up in a storm. If the thunder and lightning is thundering all around them and the lightning flashing all around them.
[18:25] This is what terrified the children of Israel at Sinai. This is what caused them to plead with God. Don't ever again speak to us like this God.
[18:39] Speak to us through Moses as the mediator. We cannot stand this awesome sound of your voice thundering.
[18:54] But the Lord speaks. The Lord speaks from above the firmament. In the dark clouds He is above them.
[19:06] He is the one that is roaring. He is the one that is speaking with power. He is the one that causes the seas to be whipped up into a storm as He breathes upon His creation.
[19:22] He is speaking from above the firmament from heaven and from the billows of the storm beneath.
[19:40] And very often spiritually this is the experience of God's people. they are aware of the storms that are assailing them from the heavens.
[19:58] The spiritual forces in heavenly places that are seeking to destroy them. Or they think they are seeking to destroy them. They are aware of the storm that has been whipped up from within the depths of their own soul.
[20:16] And the only thing the only one thing that can still these storms is the voice of God speaking.
[20:29] Peace be still. This is how the disciples experienced it when they were when they were caught up in the midst of a storm.
[20:42] When they feared for their lives. and where the Lord spoke peace be still and there was a calm.
[20:56] And that's the peace that we're seeking. This is the peace that Christ has earned for his people. This is a foretaste of the eternal peace that his people are going to inherit.
[21:12] a foretaste of the eternal Sabbath the eternal rest that will yet be ours. Now the voice of God in nature is powerful.
[21:26] This is what the psalmist is bringing before us here. It's as if he's saying nothing is going to happen in the world that we live in unless God commands it.
[21:37] He gives us several examples of the Lord speaking by his voice and by the voice of God things are done even in the natural realm.
[21:50] realm. But we're called to worship him in the spiritual realm. But the natural realm can teach us things above the spiritual realm.
[22:05] That he's the one who sits upon the throne which is far above the natural realm. He's the one that is in control of all things.
[22:21] The powerful voice of God speaks and it is done. That's what the psalmist is telling us here. Everything is under his sovereign control.
[22:35] And as we witness God speaking and God working and acting in the world that we live in we are to be filled with awe.
[22:48] and we are to fall down before him and worship him. Because how easily God could destroy any one of us at any given moment even using the imagery that's given to us here he could strike us with lightning from heaven at any given moment and we are powerless to resist it.
[23:15] we have no power in comparison to God's power he just needs to speak and it's done.
[23:27] now our first parents sought to hide themselves when they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden but his voice was seeking them out and there's no hiding place from the voice of God he speaks things into being and he discovers the secrets of man's heart but when he uttered his voice in the garden it wasn't to destroy them he didn't come in judgment he came to save them he came to redeem them and the same is true of us today today if you hear his voice harden not your hearts are you hearing his voice this morning is he speaking to us not the voice that you're hearing coming from me is he speaking in the spiritual realm of your souls as his voice penetrated into the darkness that you seek to hide yourself from well if you're hearing that voice don't be alarmed because he's not speaking in order to destroy you he's speaking in order to redeem you and in order to bless you because that's what he desires for us in this world he desires to bless us with the work of redemption that was afforded to us by
[25:25] Christ he is seeking to restore you and today if you hear his voice then don't harden your heart you might have had a job coming here this morning you might be going through something in your own spiritual lives that nobody knows of you might be caught up in the midst of a spiritual storm you might be aware of the powers of darkness that are coming from the heavenly realms that are seeking to destroy you you might be aware of the corruption of your own nature that has swooped up into a storm from within you but for those who hear the voice of God they acknowledge it is God and they believe that
[26:26] God is in sovereign control of all things God in verse 9 we read in the temple does everyone speak of his glory those who were worshipping in the temple as they viewed the storm coming in and the thundering and the lightnings as God was sending forth his voice and bringing things into being they recognized this is the almighty God this is the God that he serves to be worshipped and they're singing glory glory belongs unto him now those who are living stones in the temple that God is building for himself where his people might worship him in spirit and in truth they discern that
[27:27] God is in control and they discern that everything regardless of what the chaos that they might be experiencing in their lives regardless of the discouragements they know that the Lord is riding upon the storm and that he is able to speak peace and we might wonder at the power that he exercised in bringing forth everything in the natural creation that we see all around us but the Christian sees a new creation and they see that all glory belongs unto him glory to God in the highest flood very often follows after storms and they cause great devastation but
[28:33] God is never caught off guard there is never an emergency with God he is in control of everything no deluge can undermine the foundations of his throne he is calm and unremoved by whatever happens in the world the Lord sits as king verse 10 the Lord sit upon the flood day the Lord sits king forever because Jesus has the government upon his shoulders and he's got the eternal interests of his people at heart and in the most stormy times they are safe in his hands nothing and nobody will be able to pluck them out of his hands or his father's hands who is greater than he because
[29:41] Satan is not king Jesus is the king king king John was discouraged at the time of fierce persecution and he might have been wondering what on earth is happening is God really sitting upon his throne had been crucified and as the revelation progressed he saw that all things were brought to give an account at his throne all the powers of darkness were accountable to him and he was the one who had the power to assign their eternal destiny so even in the midst of great discouragement he was encouraged because he wasn't looking to his own abilities he wasn't looking to the church's abilities he was looking to
[31:13] God's abilities and he recognised the Lord is king he is sitting on the throne forever now what effect does this have on those that worship the Lord well we're told in verse 11 the Lord will give strength unto his people the Lord will bless his people with peace power is displayed in the storm and now it's the calm after the storm that power is promised to be the strength of God's people Isaiah says those that wait upon 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 faint because his strength is made perfect in our weakness and if you've been considering professing the
[32:29] Lord and giving obedience to the command that he gives to all of his people and you've become aware of your own depravity you've become aware of your own in abilities then cast yourself on his mercy because he doesn't need people with abilities he can't use people with abilities he can't acknowledge those that think that they have earned the right to be accepted by God those who think they are worthy as a result of what they've done he rejects them he keeps them at a distance from him but those who recognize their own inabilities their own sinfulness and their need of his mercy then he is inviting you to come to him so that his strength may be demonstrated in your weakness you don't come to the
[33:36] Lord's table because you think you're worthy or because you've been able to achieve something you come to the Lord's table because you recognize your unworthiness but you're trusting in what God has achieved and you're worshipping him you're not worshipping yourself you're not worshipping the minister or the people that are sitting beside you at the table you're not looking to them and thinking well they deserve to be here there's nobody that will come to the table that deserves to be there it's not by their abilities that they were invited to come they were invited to come in recognition of their inability and the ability of God because they recognize Christ is the savior Christ is the only one that can save me
[34:40] Christ is the only one that I want to trust for my salvation and they come to honor him because they realize that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given unto him the king who rules over all the storms.
[35:05] Now we notice in the psalm the movement from verses 1 to 2 in the call to worship and in the peace that is guaranteed to those that do worship in verse 11.
[35:21] How similar that is to the announcement and the song of the angels that came to announce the birth of Christ to the shepherds. This is what they said to the shepherds.
[35:36] Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and goodwill towards men. Glory to God in the highest.
[35:50] And if we recognize that he's the one to be worshipped then we will experience the peace that passes all understanding.
[36:05] The establishment of this new king brings well-being into the world. And the action of the psalm is to sing into place the glory and the blessings that God wants to bestow upon his people.
[36:33] This is how Christ benedicts his people. After his work was finished and when he first met with them as a corporate body his first words to them were Peace be with you.
[36:56] This is what he's earned. The peace of God in our hearts. This is the great blessing that we desire.
[37:11] This is what we receive when we're caught up in the act of worship to join with the angels and the redeemed saints in heaven as we're caught up in the spirit of the resurrection the power of the resurrection bringing us to sit with Christ in heavenly places where we experience the peace that flows from the worship that is given unto God where we experience the purpose of our creation to glorify and to enjoy him forever.
[37:54] Well may we experience that peace more frequently may we desire to worship him more frequently may it become the desire of our lives that we will do all things to the glory of God as we're being prepared for that eternal rest that he's prepared for his people where we will live throughout eternity giving him the glory that is due unto his name and where we receive all the blessings that brings peace and joy into our existence may we have a foretaste of that let's pray