[0:00] Well, please take your Bibles and open them up this morning to Psalms chapter 29.! Psalms chapter 29 is our passage this morning. We've been in the Psalms for the summer.
[0:11] We took a break from our series in Genesis to spend a few weeks over the summer months in the Psalms, and we've come to Psalm chapter 29. Now, if you don't have a copy of God's Word, you are welcome to take one from the seat back in front of you nearby.
[0:27] Use one of those. And when you found it, let's stand in honor of the reading of God's Word from Psalm chapter 29. And as you find it, as you stand, you know, every now and then as you study the Word, you realize that there are some translation options, and normally your footnotes in the Bible will indicate some of those options.
[0:47] This is one of the times where I actually prefer some of the footnotes, and so as you read along with me, you'll notice just a couple of differences, but I promise as we get going, I'll try and explain what we're doing here.
[0:59] So listen along as I read Psalm 29. It's the Psalm of David. He writes, Ascribe to the Lord, O sons of God. Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
[1:12] Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name. Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness. The voice of the Lord is over the waters. The God of glory thunders.
[1:24] The Lord over many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars. The Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
[1:38] He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox. The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness.
[1:50] The Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord makes the deer shake, and strips the forest bare. And in His temple all cry, Glory!
[2:05] The Lord sits enthroned over the flood. The Lord sits enthroned as King forever. May the Lord give strength to His people. May the Lord bless His people with peace.
[2:18] Father, once again we pray, Lord, would You give us ears to hear, would You give us eyes to see, would You give us minds to grasp the truth of Your Word, and would You give us hearts to love the truth of Your Word this morning?
[2:32] We pray in Christ's name. Amen. You may be seated. About 250 years ago, August 23rd, 1775, King George III issued what is now known as the Proclamation of Rebellion.
[2:52] And this is his response to the Battle of Bunker Hill at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. And in it, he declared the American colonies to be in a state of, quote, open and avowed rebellion against the king and his kingdom.
[3:09] And so he ordered any and all officials to, quote, use their utmost endeavors to withstand and suppress such rebellion. His reason was that he believed the Americans desired to, quote, create an independent empire.
[3:26] And so the king sent a very clear message to the rebels. Come back. Honor the king. Heed my voice. Listen to my warning. Stop rebelling against the king.
[3:39] And, of course, less than a year later, the Americans signed the Declaration of Independence to make our rebellion official. And now every year we celebrate it with fireworks and hot dogs.
[3:51] Earthly politics aside, the reason that I share that little history lesson is because our psalm this morning, Psalm chapter 29, could be understood as a divine proclamation of rebellion.
[4:04] King David is concerned that there are some in the kingdom who are rebelling against the king, not against King David as an earthly king, but against the Lord, the king of kings.
[4:16] And so he writes this psalm urging them to come back, to give the king the honor that he's due, to heed his voice, to remember that God is king and we rightfully belong to him.
[4:30] So come and enjoy the peace and the blessing that can only be found in him. This psalm is a warning to rebels. Let's take a look together and we'll see three commands to rebels.
[4:44] This will be our outline this morning. If you're taking notes and trying to make it easy for you to follow along, three commands to rebels. First, he says, Give God the glory he's due.
[4:59] Give God the glory he's due. Now this is the first command that he gives here to rebels here in verses 1 to 2. But I do realize before we get too far, I think I need to explain why I think we're dealing with rebels here because it's not immediately clear from the passage that that's what's going on, is it?
[5:20] Sometimes we've noticed this, haven't we? As we've gone through the psalms, sometimes the context is kind of hard to pull out from some of these psalms, isn't it? Sometimes it's explicitly clear and it tells us in a subscript or a heading what's going on.
[5:34] Other times we've got to do a little bit of digging, don't we? But that digging is hard work, but it's worth it because that context helps us to understand what's happening in the passage.
[5:45] And often we get there by asking some really good questions of the passage. The questions like, well, who is David speaking to here? Who is David speaking to?
[5:57] Who is he talking to? This psalm is a little bit unique in this section of the psalms in the sense that David is not speaking directly to God, is he? This is not a prayer.
[6:08] He's not directly asking the Lord to do anything in this psalm, is he? Verse 1 tells us who he's talking to. What does it say? He says, Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
[6:25] And you'll notice, again, that in our reading, this is one where I follow the footnote. Your Bible should have a footnote down there at the bottom that says the Hebrew there says, Sons of God. So read it again with me.
[6:36] Ascribe to the Lord, O sons of God. Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. That's one clue for our context. And another question that we might ask would be, well, what does David seem to be describing here?
[6:53] What's the picture that he's painting? What does he want us to be thinking about as we read the psalm? Did you notice how he keeps talking about the waters here? The voice of the Lord is over the waters.
[7:05] Verse 3. The God of glory thunders the Lord over many waters. It seems like he's describing a storm, doesn't it? The Lord is breaking cedars and he's flashing forth flames of fire.
[7:18] That sounds like lightning to me. Down in verse 10, he says, The Lord sits enthroned over the flood. This is interesting.
[7:29] There's 13 times in the entire Old Testament where that word flood appears. All 12 of them show up in Genesis chapter 6 through 11. The 13th, you know where it is?
[7:41] It's right here in Psalm chapter 29. You put it all together here. All of this leads me to think that David is writing this psalm reflecting on the events of the flood.
[7:55] And if you remember what provoked the flood, what was it? He's thinking back on the time when the sons of God intermarried with the daughters of man.
[8:06] They rebelled against the Lord and the Lord punished that rebellion with this global flood. He's reflecting on this whole event, reflecting on this rebellion then, and as king of God's people, he looks out to those under his reign, to the sons of God in his time, and he says, Don't make that same mistake.
[8:26] Don't rebel as they did. And his first instruction to rebels and would-be rebels, to people like you and I who are so prone to wonder against the Lord, is this.
[8:41] Give God the glory that he is due. Ascribe to the Lord, you sons of God. Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
[8:55] Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name. Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness. We need to realize, all sin is a failure to give God the glory that he's due.
[9:13] All sin is a failure to worship God as he deserves. At the heart of all sin and all rebellion against the Lord is a failure to honor him as God.
[9:28] Isn't that what the Apostle Paul told us in Romans chapter 1? He looks out at the Gentiles and he says that although they all know God in a general way because creation has revealed him to them, to all people, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened.
[9:54] You realize, our fundamental duty as God's creatures, the reason that we exist and the reason that you have breath in your lungs this very moment is that you might give God the glory that he's due.
[10:09] Our God is the most glorious, most infinitely perfect, most beautiful thing in all the universe. And we believe that he is good and holy and perfectly just and gracious to sinners and merciful.
[10:30] And because he is infinitely good and infinitely holy and infinitely strong, because he is who he is, we believe he is worthy of all praise, worthy of all honor, worthy of all worship.
[10:49] We read from our catechism this morning, didn't we? Who is the first and best of all beings? And the answer, God is the first and best of all beings. And we read, what is the chief end of man?
[11:03] What is my purpose here on earth? Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. Our God is king of all the universe and we as his royal subjects are called to ascribe to the Lord glory.
[11:20] glory. Now, what does this mean? We have a mission statement as a church. Do you remember what it is? We exist to magnify the glory of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
[11:37] That's our mission as a church. We exist to magnify the glory of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We want to magnify the glory of God.
[11:49] John Piper points out that there's two kinds of magnifying and it's important that we know which one we're trying to do. There's microscope magnifying and there's telescope magnifying.
[12:01] Do you know the difference? Microscope magnifying on one hand. It seeks to take something really, really small and make it look bigger so that we can understand it and study it and see its inner workings and understand what's going on.
[12:18] But telescope magnifying on the other hand, that seeks to take something really, really, really big like the moon and the stars, the Milky Way.
[12:30] It takes something really, really big and it seeks to allow us to see it for as big and as glorious and beautiful as it really is. That's what we're seeking to do when we say we want to magnify his glory.
[12:43] We want to take this big, glorious, good, infinitely worthy God and see him for who he is and declare him to be as glorious as he is with all of our being.
[12:54] That's what it means to ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Do you see him? Sons of God, do you see him as first and best of all beings?
[13:10] do you see him as glorious and more glorious, more infinitely worthy of your life than sex and money and influence and popularity?
[13:26] Do you see him as more worthy of your life than sports and politics and entertainment? do you see him as strong and capable and strong to provide, strong to save, strong to carry your burdens and sorrows?
[13:41] Do you see him as infinitely holy, infinitely just, infinitely glorious? Do you see him as worthy of your life?
[13:54] Do you see him as worthy of your total worship? that's what it means to ascribe to the Lord glory. David knows that to see him in this way and to ascribe this to him not just with our lips but with our heart, this type of seeing and believing is the antidote to all rebellion.
[14:18] Do you want to know how to fight against sin in your life? The answer ought to be yes. I'll give you a strategy. Fix your heart on the worth and the glory of God.
[14:32] Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name. Magnify the glory of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ. When you begin to see how good God is, the allure of rebellion is squashed in our hearts.
[14:49] Sin becomes less appealing when you see how worthy God is. So David calls us rebels see him as he is give him the glory that he is due but not only this second second command he says heed his voice heed his voice look there to verses three through nine seven times in these verses he reflects on the perfect and powerful voice of the Lord and again I want us to get this imagery of the flood back in our minds!
[15:25] this morning he says the voice of the Lord is over the waters verse three the God of glory thunders the Lord over many waters the voice the voice of the Lord is powerful the voice of the Lord is full of majesty the voice of the Lord breaks the cedars the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon you all know that the upstate they're still recovering from hurricane Helene and just a terrible storm nobody was ready for it just mountains of water the flood waters came nobody was expecting that much water and especially to come that quickly Amanda and I went up there last fall and it was so strange to look up on the hillside at the mountains and see just rows of trees laying down if you've been up there you know what I'm talking about trees are just horizontal when they're supposed to be vertical it's very strange to see the waters had rushed through and laid them all out that seems to be what David's describing here I don't know much about trees
[16:28] Treg would know a lot more than I would but I do know that some cedar trees can grow over 100 feet tall these are very strong very sturdy trees the cedars of Lebanon in particular were very sturdy very strong they were famous in the ancient world it was these trees that Solomon requested to be used to build his temple it was these cedars of Lebanon that the Phoenicians used to construct their famous ships they're a symbol of strength and stability but here David says the voice of the Lord goes forth the waters rush through and these trees they snap like a twig just imagine the flood waters going through all the earth you've all seen videos I'm sure of ships out in the middle of the ocean in a storm and the waves are ebbing and flowing they're rising and falling and that ship is just bouncing on the waters you know what I'm talking about up and down up and down up and down the boat is tossed up and down
[17:31] David says in verse 6 that this flood is so great it makes entire areas of the earth Lebanon Sirion which is another name for a mountain Mount Hermon it makes them look like they're skipping like a calf or a wild ox up and down up and down the earth itself the mountains are swelling and ebbing and flowing like a boat on the waves we can hardly imagine this type of power and destruction and it's funny in God's providence as I was reading this passage this week started to storm this was Tuesday afternoon and it was raining and then off in the distance we saw some lightning a flash of lightning and one of the boys was in the kitchen and he started timing it to see how far away it was one Mississippi two Mississippi three Mississippi and at first it took several seconds so we knew it was several miles away it was kind of far off but eventually it got closer and closer and closer to the point where it was almost instant you saw the flash and you heard the thunder and things started to shake and rumble in the kitchen and the closer we got to the storm or the storm got to us rather the louder it was the brighter it was the more we felt it
[18:50] David says here the voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire that's lightning the voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness that's thunder he shakes the wilderness of Kadesh the whole world is shaking under the force of this storm even the animals verse 9 he says the voice of the Lord makes the deer to give birth now that doesn't make much sense at all does it in context until you realize that it's the same root word as up above the voice of the Lord makes the deer shake all the animals all those who didn't make it onto the ark shake in fear and writhe in pain as the voice of the Lord strips the forest bare and the response in his temple all cry glory glory you realize that's the proper response to the power of the voice of the
[19:57] Lord don't you to ascribe to the Lord glory and strength when you consider the power of the voice of the Lord the proper response of our heart ought to be awe and to marvel at the Lord and to ascribe to him glory that moment in the flood it was undeniable the Lord God is king of all the earth his voice is powerful to accomplish all his purpose and none can rebel against him do you ever just marvel at the power of God's word just consider the power of the voice of God we know that the voice of the Lord created all things we saw this in Genesis didn't we Genesis chapter 1 tells us he simply spoke and all things came to be let there be light and there was light he spoke all things into existence in
[21:00] Hebrews chapter 1 tells us that it is his word it is his voice that sustains all things Jesus upholds the universe by the word of his power we're told apart from the power of the voice of Jesus all things are blasted into nothingness we see clearly here the power of his voice to judge it is his voice that executes judgment on those who rebel we see that so clearly in the flood but as we've seen before we need to remember again this morning this global terrible destructive powerful flood is just a small picture of the future judgment to come on all who will not heed his voice second Peter chapter three tells us the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished listen to this but by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly
[22:20] God destroyed the rebels in Noah's day and we are told he will destroy all the ungodly at the return of Christ the Bible tells us that each and every last one of us is a rebel against the king every single one of us in our own way has sinned against him and if that's true if judgment is stored up for rebels and that's us friend what hope do we have to escape the flood of his wrath we must heed his voice because praise God his word is also powerful to redeem rebels I think often of the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37 do you remember that story the valley of dry bones
[23:22] Ezekiel is brought out this prophet is brought into a valley he looks out it's full of dry bones it's full of skeletons scattered about it's a picture of the spiritual state of Israel it truly is a picture of the spiritual state of all people we are all by nature we are dead spiritually dead we are dry bones by nature what hope do those who are dead in sin have of coming to life surely it's nothing we can do dead people can't stop being dead in their own strength we need some outside power to act upon these dead bones and cause them to come to life so what does God say he says Ezekiel prophesy over the bones speak the word of the Lord say to them oh dry bones hear the word of the Lord thus says the
[24:23] Lord God to these bones behold I will cause breath to enter you and you shall live I will lay sinews upon you I will cause flesh to come upon you I will cover you with skin I will put breath in you and you shall live and you shall know that I am the Lord and what happened Ezekiel speaks to these dead dry bones and as they hear the voice of the Lord they come to life this is a picture of what has happened in every single Christian we are those who have been brought from death to life how did that happen the power of the voice of the Lord resurrected you the gospel came to you whether it was through a Sunday school teacher or a pastor standing in a pulpit or a friend opening up the word to you the word of
[25:23] God came into your ears and by his grace he caused it to cause you to come to life we believe his word is powerful to convert sinners his word alone is powerful to take rebels and to bring them into the fold of God what does what does Jesus say in John chapter 10 he says my sheep what help me my sheep hear my voice and they follow me what does Paul say in Romans he says faith comes through what help me help me faith comes through hearing and hearing through the word of Christ he says I am not ashamed of the gospel for that gospel is the power of God for salvation to any who believe to the Jew first and also to the Greek so what is that gospel church what is the message that sinners must hear that rebels need to hear and believe in order to be brought from death to life the good news of the gospel is that
[26:31] God the king by the the God the God the living word of God the word became flesh and dwelt among us and this word incarnate lived in our place he died a rebels death that he didn't deserve that our punishment that our guilt that our death that that's a sacrifice made for rebels and he rose for us so that by faith in Him, rebels like us can become children of the living God.
[27:14] This God who is powerful to destroy is powerful to deliver. In fact, He's eager. He's eager to deliver rebels. Friend, the application here is obvious, isn't it?
[27:29] We must take heed to His word. We must repent and believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
[27:45] This is a call to marvel at the power of the word of the Lord, to repent of your sin, to trust in the living word of God. And when you do, look what awaits repentant rebels here in verses 10 and 11.
[28:01] Look at this, how David closes out this psalm. It is peace and strength and blessing and security and life and joy forevermore in the sovereign reign of the King.
[28:18] This is the third and final command. We are called third to come enjoy the blessing of His reign. David describes the blessing of His kingship for those who believe at the end of this psalm.
[28:35] He shows us all the things that rebels seek apart from the Lord can only be found in the Lord. And they are poured out graciously and generously upon His people.
[28:51] Friend, if you would seek a refuge from the flood of His wrath, where will you find it? If you would seek an escape from your guilt, where will you turn? If you would escape the punishment that we are all due for our sin, it is only found in Him.
[29:09] Take refuge in the one who sits enthroned above the flood. We sometimes sing, A mighty fortress is our God.
[29:19] A bulwark never failing. Our shelter, He amidst the flood of mortal ills prevailing. Friend, if you would seek someone to serve forever.
[29:32] Someone who is worthy of your devotion. Someone who will reign over you in love and justice. Who will love you and lead you in righteousness forever. Know that the Lord sits enthroned as King forever.
[29:46] He will not be dethroned by any pain, by any trial, by any sickness, by any loss, by any rebellion.
[29:58] If you would seek strength, He is our strength. If you would seek blessing, all blessing is in Him. He's the source of all blessing. If you would seek peace, He Himself is our peace.
[30:10] Since we've been justified through faith in Christ, we have peace with the Lord, in our Lord Jesus Christ. These are all blessings that only come from Him, and He extends them to us freely in Christ.
[30:27] So He ends with His benediction here in verse 11. May the Lord give strength to His people. May the Lord bless His people with peace.
[30:41] James Hamilton, reflecting on this psalm, he wrote, Jesus was baptized in the floodwaters of God's wrath at the cross, so that all who are baptized in Him will never face that wrath for themselves.
[31:04] He took it all. And in doing so, He purchased for all His people, all the blessings of citizenship in the kingdom of God.
[31:18] Friend, rebels like us need to be reminded that peace and blessing, strength and joy, security and eternal life can only be found in joyful submission to King Jesus.
[31:30] Now for some of you, that might be the first time that you've heard a call like that. This call to give God glory, that you belong to Him by right, that you're made for Him.
[31:42] Hear this invitation again, repent of your sin and come to Christ. But for all of us, we know, don't we, that we are all so prone to wonder.
[31:53] We have this indwelling rebellion in our hearts. We need to be reminded, time and time and time again, of the blessing of submitting to the reign of King Jesus.
[32:06] The author of Hebrews, seems like he was dealing with a similar issue. It's always the same, isn't it? Whether it's in the time of the flood, or in the time of David, in the New Testament early church, or here in All in Dawn 2025, rebels need to be reminded.
[32:22] So I'll leave you with this word of warning and encouragement this morning from Hebrews chapter 3. Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.
[32:39] But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called today, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end, as it is said, today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion.
[33:06] Church, today you have heard His voice. You have heard His word. Do not harden your hearts.
[33:19] Let's leave this place locking arms together, exhorting one another, as often as it is called today, encouraging one another to ascribe to the Lord the glory He's due.
[33:30] to heed His voice, to trust in Christ as our only hope, to cling to Him, and then to rest and enjoy the glory of His reign now and forevermore.
[33:43] Amen. Let's pray. Father, we praise You for Your power in our life.
[33:54] Lord, we praise You that by Your word, You have called sinners like us into fellowship with You through Your Son, Jesus Christ. We pray if there are any here who don't know You, would You draw them to faith in Christ this morning?
[34:09] Would You work that resurrection power in them this very moment? For the rest of us, Lord, we pray that as we are so prone to wonder, prone to rebel, Lord, would You give us by Your grace strength to heed Your voice and ascribe to You the glory that You're due.
[34:27] We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.