The Glory of the Lord is the Good of His People (Part 1 of 2)

Psalm 29:1-11
Ascribe to the Lord, O sons of God,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
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,
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.
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;
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 all cry, “Glory!”
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!

This passage holds a significant example for how Christians should live. Much gold can be mined from this psalm. The ideas presented describe a lifestyle that Christians should embrace, whereby every day God grows bigger in our perception than He was yesterday—or even the moment before. We grow in our perception of the magnificence, magnanimity, and majesty of God, and that becomes a huge motivation for how we live.

The purpose of this psalm is to instill the reality that the glory of God is man's greatest good. As we perceive how we should live or the things we experience in life, we recognize a solid foundation: the glory of God as the centerpiece, central focus, and foundation of our lives. If we live with God's glory as central, foundational, and most important, we eliminate abnormal amounts of disappointment and discouragement that come from circumstance-based living.

We don't define what is good or true by our circumstances. A negative situation doesn't mean life is going wrong. We don't perceive God through circumstances, letting His magnificence diminish before a horrible situation. We don't define God by our experiences—He's angry with me, disappointed, getting back at me. Instead, we take God's glory as the central foundation and focus, looking at circumstances through the lens of His magnificent glory. Then circumstances decrease in intensity.

Remember Peter walking on stormy water, beholding Christ. Everything was smooth sailing amid the storm—waves crashing, yet he walked on water, not in the safety of a vessel. When he stopped beholding Christ and focused on the waves, he sank. The circumstance defined the negativity, and he sank. Praise God He didn't let him.

The glory of God is the greatest good of mankind, exactly what we see in Psalm 29, divided into three sections: our responsibility, our reasons, and our results.

Our Responsibility: Ascribe Glory to God

The first section is a command to you: ascribe glory and strength to God. Worship Him. This is your purpose, why you were created and saved. Your life testifies to God's greatness—your existence demonstrates that God is glorious, magnificent, amazing, revolutionary, life-changing as He invades your life. That's what it means to be a Christian.

The psalmist commands the “sons of God”—not just heavenly beings, but us, the saved—to ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. God is already glorious and strong, so how do we ascribe these? “Ascribe” means to give credit, acknowledging God as the source and origin of glory and strength. It is due to His name.

Verse 2 tells how: “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.” Worship clothed in holiness—a lifestyle permeated with an attitude of holiness where God's glory matters more than sin.

Biblical holiness follows this pattern:

1. Christ first. He is your sanctification; you have no holiness outside Jesus.
2. Christ-caused separateness and devotion to God—cutting off from anything not God, making Him your sole source of passion, pleasure, satisfaction, and direction.
3. Christ-motivated practical living of biblical principles, motivated by beholding Christ's glory in the gospel.

If you don't behold Christ's glory, obedience is meaningless. Church discipline confronts unrepentant sin because it lies about God's glory—saying He's not sufficient, something else is better. Paul said, “Whether you eat or drink, do all to the glory of God.” Ask: Is God glorified in this divorce? This drinking? This fornication? If not biblically prescribed, it's not glorifying God.

When God is displayed as glorious, it's not obligation but opportunity. You find in Him what sin never provides. Like the woman at the well, chasing relationships yielded no satisfaction. Jesus offered living water to quench her barren soul. Beholding His glory turns responsibility into privilege.

Our Reasons: Behold God's Glory

The second section, the bulk of the psalm, gives reasons to ascribe glory: behold God in His glory. He is already the “God of glory.” Many sins stem from not beholding His glory.

Consistently behold God's glory so you're neglectful of insignificant things. Imagine declining invitations because beholding “the voice of the Lord over the waters... powerful... full of majesty... breaks the cedars... makes Lebanon skip like a calf... flashes flames of fire... shakes the wilderness... makes the deer give birth... strips forests bare... in his temple all cry, ‘Glory!’... sits enthroned over the flood... as king forever” captivates you.

God's voice created from nothing (“Let there be light”), sustains creation, holds atoms together, is preserved in Scripture. He sits enthroned over the flood—perhaps Noah's, or mighty waters—God of the tempest, thundering in storms. Unlike Canaanite gods ruling domains, Yahweh rules all: fertility, birth (even deer), everything.

These reasons outweigh temporal relief from suffering or temptation. Divorce for unbiblical reasons, continuing fornication “for the kid”—these lose sight of God's glory for lesser things. Temporary relief can't compare to eternal relief and face-to-face enjoyment of God, freed from sin.

Preaching glory isn't “turn or burn” to scare; it's inviting to the good you're missing in God, that your temple (you) might cry “Glory!” instead of housing idols.

Our Results: Strength and Peace

The final verse is the result: “May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace!” Responsibility, reasons, results—the good of God's people. If God is this powerful, majestic, salvation-granting through Christ's blood, shouldn't it compel obedience? Sin blinds us, but beholding Him makes living for His glory compelling.

The Lord's Strength and Blessing of Peace

In verse 11, we see the result: "May the Lord give strength to his people; may the Lord bless his people with peace." It's significant that verse 1 credits God as the source of strength, and verse 11 echoes that the Lord gives strength to his people. This is godly, divine strength—his own strength and involvement in our lives. Just as in 2 Corinthians 1, God gives divine comfort in adversity, enabling us to comfort others.

Questions for Reflection on Worship and God

What does your worship life look like on an ongoing basis, in every circumstance and decision? Why choose one job over another, or one godly spouse over another? What does worship look like when your boss, your wife, or you yourself mistreat others? When pressures and struggles stress a negative response, do you wrap yourself in holiness, putting the glorious God before you? Or is worship only stirred by a preacher's words or music's crescendo—moved by non-God things?

This leads to the second question: What does your God look like? Is he a moralistic, therapeutic deist—good for you but not Lord, not directing your life for his glory? Or do you choose circumstances for the Lord's glory, free from disappointment because it's not about you? Is he the God who rules the storm, sovereign over your experiences, even the deer in the field, directing all things?

The Benefit of Strength and Peace

Third, what benefit will this strength and peace have in your life? Strength means the capability to function effectively in any circumstance—its source and origin in God. Not just physical gym strength, but enduring a loved one's death or life's pressures, effective for displaying God's glory.

If man-centered, we misperceive it as making us mighty. Instead, like 2 Corinthians, we're crushed but not crushed because God anchors us. God equips the ill-equipped so glory goes to him as insignificant people do significant things—like Paul's thorn keeping him humble for God's greatness.

Peace isn't an emotional feeling dictating rightness; I've done right amid turmoil. Jesus in Gethsemane wasn't at peace in feeling, but peace comes from recognizing the glorious God with you—like the Psalmist in the valley, fearless because of his Shepherd.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4)

Peace isn't ignoring grief or emotions—grief with hope is a gift, anger without sin is appropriate. Peace is acknowledging the God of the storm is in your boat, with authority to still it—Jesus displaying himself as the God of Psalm 29. It's being captivated by God's power amid circumstances, finding him glorious and satisfying.

What benefit would this strength and peace bring? They enable a better display of God's gloriousness.