Burunche’s Blog

Praise to God in His Holiness and Majesty

A Psalm of David.

“Give[ascribe]unto the Lord, O you mighty ones, give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders; the Lord is 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, yes, the Lord splinters the cedars of Lebanon. He makes them also skip like a calf, Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild ox.

The voice of the Lord divides the flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth, and strips the forests bare; and in His temple everyone says, “Glory!”

The Lord sat enthroned at the Flood, and the Lord sits as King forever. The Lord will give strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace.”

“Give unto the Lord, O you mighty ones, give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” How can we possibly give anything to God, the All-sufficient One? This psalm makes more sense if you substitute “ascribe” for “give.” God is already strong and glorious. For us to ascribe these qualities to Him is merely to recognize that these are part of His nature. The term “ascribe” here can be defined as “regarding a quality as belonging to.” When we give God glory, we are simply recognizing His nature.

How can we “worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness?” While we are not holy, God is holy. When we begin to praise God for His holiness, God gives us more grace so that our worship increases exponentially. Worship takes us outside ourselves into a higher dimension.  

“The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders; the Lord is over many waters.” Anybody who lives close to a river that floods seasonally knows the power of water. Floods come when they will, and nobody can prevent them. The area in which we live and work is near a river that floods in rainy season, and if the other streams also rise, we can become a giant island. Under such circumstances, it is comforting to know that God is the One who is 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, yes, the Lord splinters the cedars of Lebanon. He makes them also skip like a calf, Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild ox.” Here the image is that of whirlwinds tossing huge trees around like so many bowling pins.

“The voice of the Lord divides the flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth, and strips the forests bare; and in His temple everyone says, “Glory!” God is both all-powerful and all-gentle. God’s power causes earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, and yet, God also causes deer to bear their young.

“The Lord sat enthroned at the Flood, and the Lord sits as King forever.” The flood referred to here is the flood in the time of Noah. God sovereignly flooded the earth, wiping out sinful people. No matter what happens, God will remain King forever.

“The Lord will give strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace.” Strength and peace! We all need both.

APPLICATION: This psalm is one of the most wonderful descriptions of God’s might and His glory. Worried about floods? Earthquakes? Tornadoes or hurricanes? Other natural disasters? No problem! God is bigger than all of that.

 The sheer power of a large volume of water must be seen to be understood. People who live in areas prone to flash flooding must be cautious about driving into running water. A few years ago, a woman in our regional capital was driving her big SUV through a rainstorm to collect her daughter from school. Despite the objections of a huge crowd of onlookers, this woman insisted on driving her vehicle into fast-moving water that had risen twenty feet to cover a bridge over the water way. The video on social media showed her vehicle as the water pushed it off the road and into the stream, tumbling it for several yards. The woman did not survive.

Personally, one of the most comforting verses for me is the last one. “The Lord will give strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace.” So many times in my career in a remote bush hospital I have felt totally inadequate. No matter how much experience one has, medicine furnishes an unlimited number of opportunities to be confused or bemused. As the only doctor for more than 100,000 potential patients, I have frequently had to beg God for additional strength to meet the needs of my patients. And when things have not gone as I have hoped and prayed, I still need God’s peace so that I can go on and try again tomorrow.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, we praise You for Your glory and Your might! We thank You for Your precious promises. And we claim Your promises of strength and peace. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

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This entry was posted on October 11, 2023 at 12:01 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.