This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Psalms” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, October 4, 1987.

Ascribed to the Lord, O sons of the mighty, ascribed to the Lord, glory and strength, ascribed to the Lord, the glory due to his name, worship the Lord in holy array. The voice of the Lord is upon the waters, the God of glory thunders, the Lord upon many waters.

The voice of the Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is majestic. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars, yes, the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. And he makes them skip like a calf, Lebanon and Syria, like a young wild ox. The voice of the Lord hues out flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness. The Lord shakes the wilderness. The voice of the Lord makes the deer to calf and strips the forests bare, and in His temple everything says, The Lord. The Lord sat as King at the flood. Yes, the Lord sits as King forever.

The Lord will give strength to His people. The Lord will bless His people with peace. throughout the wide expanse of this earth, O God, today, your word has been proclaimed by servants raised up by you. And in their voice, though it may well be faintly heard, there is the echo of the mighty, triumphant, climactic voice of the Lord. Father, we pray that peoples in the earth may tremble and shake before the mighty God, and that they, taking stock truly of their lives, may turn from darkness to light. Lord, we pray that you, gathering your elect, would also strengthen your servants who proclaim your word. May they do so tirelessly and without fear. We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.

We have been looking at this psalm now for a number of weeks, and we have noted, as I’m sure the superscription in your Bibles has also noted, that this psalm plays upon the image of the thunderstorm. The question that we have asked of the psalm is whether or not the psalmist in writing it, is here rhapsodizing on a phenomenon of nature. Is the thunderstorm actually the chief feature? Is it really the focus of attention? Or is that thunderstorm an image used to illustrate something much more important. You may recall our first message.

We endeavored to deliver the psalm from the grasp of the natural theologians. We tried to there suggest that the psalm does not well fit into the scheme of those who here simply see a reflection upon a phenomenon of nature, as that phenomenon, from their position, from their point of view, would after all drive one to consideration of the great God. Instead, we have attempted to ground the song in the specifics.

The specifics of our understanding of him, the specifics of his revelation of himself. Those specifics not to be disregarded, not held in abeyance as we consider the song We have contended that the psalm is properly understood in the context of the vision of the visitation of the Lord, the coming of God. As specific in its description of His coming as it is with regard to that One who comes, And therefore, you see, it is not some general deity that is considered here, presented for us, a god who is simply at work in the forces of nature to confront us with himself, or certain features about himself. Rather, in the specific description of this god and the specific description of his coming, we are confronted with the God who is, the God who alone is, the God who alone can act, the God who alone can say, and the God who alone who can judge. Now, We have said that the visitation of God and the focus on that visitation is coming, is actually what provides the background for verses 1 and 2.

You see the constraint that is laid upon the sons of the mighty, the constraint that is placed upon them with regard to the ascription of glory and strength, the glory due to the name of the Lord, worshiping Him fully arrayed, the constraint that is placed upon the sons of the mighty arises out of the fact that God, the God, the only God, is coming.

He is about to appear. It’s not just been a thunderstorm, nor any other phenomenon of nature that is prominent in the song. There may have been a great number of people this last week in Los Angeles who cried out to the Lord. were called out to some deity of some description or other. You see, the point is that the focus of this psalm is on the specific God of Israel, the one who is, the one who acts, the one who comes to save, and the one who comes to judge.

And therefore, the sons of the mighty are commanded to attribute to him of glory and strength. Now, we tried to explain that statement there at the end of the first verse. It’s not just the fact that glory and strength here are to be understood as those things which belong to God But it’s even more comprehensive than that, what I’m speaking of here, things that are true because of his nature. It’s even more comprehensive than that. You see, what the sons of the mighty are being commanded to do here is to attribute to God all glory, all strength, even that glory and strength that might be theirs.

It is with this, then, in mind that we can consider the impact of the coming of God. God comes, and in his appearance there is the ascription, even by his creatures, those described here as the sons of the mighty, even by his creatures, that whatever glory has come to them, whatever strength they have exerted or demonstrated, it is the Lord’s. It has been exercised, enjoyed, delighted in, because of him. All of this because God is coming.

Now, we’ve also concluded that verses 10 and are saying similar things. The opening of the psalm calls upon the sons of the mighty to attribute to the Lord glory and strength to worship him. But the conclusion of the psalm makes plain that what is at root are the mighty acts of God. The fact that God has acted and therefore God shall act He shall act again in comfortable manner.

God sat as king at the flood, yes? The Lord sits as king forever, and because God has acted, he is able, he is capable of giving strength to his people, and he will bless his people with peace. This is the language of salvation. and deliverance. Yes, God is coming in judgment, but God is also coming so as to render his people empowered and blessed.

These are the things that we have concentrated on, tried to assimilate as we reflected on the psalm. Its focus upon the activity of God, and specifically his visitation, his appearance, and what that means. I think that you can sense some of this, even as you think of it in relationship to the New Testament and the appearance of Christ. You see, Christ comes with a similar message. repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Therefore, he said, since God is coming, it is imperative that you ascribe to him glory and strength. His visitation means judgment for sure, but Christ’s message is also one of grace, forbearance and mercy, salvation for those who turn in faith.” Truly, through Jesus Christ, God gives strength, unprecedented strength, the very strength that is available now because God has acted to raise His Son from the dead. God is blessing His people with peace, not the kind of peace that the world gives, not that kind that comes. through the machinations of the minds of men, but a peace that only he can give, an eternal peace, a peace that lasts forever.

Well, these things then, before us, And, of course, you realize that with the coming of Christ, this psalm has such heightened meaning for us, because you see, the next act which God will perform is His coming for the culmination, the conclusion of all things.

There are some verses here, though we haven’t considered a great deal. We’ve spoken about them somewhat. These verses help us set the psalm in its proper environment and encourage us with regard to our proper focus in seeing the psalm right. What is the setting for the psalm? And once more, the pressures will be applied to take this out of the general realm of nature and place it in the specific realm of salvation and redemption. What is the setting of the psalm? I think that the setting of the psalm is articulated for us at the conclusion of verse nine. Now you may think that that’s a strange place to actually articulate for us the setting of the psalm, that is, waiting for the ninth verse to make it plain exactly what that setting is. But I think that you can see that that setting has been at work, especially as you work through the first two verses.

The setting of the psalm, then, The immediate focus of the farm is what he’s called in that ninth verse is temple. His temple. As we think of the circumstance of Israel. We may well think of the sanctuary of God, we might think of the tabernacle We would well think of the various aspects of the tabernacle, later the temple, that structure that was established as a testimony to the presence of God, a testimony to God’s condescension, a testimony to his covenantal love, his power, his right of rule, a testimony to his provision for his people that A way may be made for them whereby they might find forgiveness of sin and access to him.” The immediate focus of the psalm, if we take up on the last line of that ninth verse, is the tabernacle, the sanctuary of God. And we note that this has been at work in the song from the beginning, and it also is at work through to the end. For instance, you notice the impact, the pressure, the force of the last line of verse two. Worship the Lord in holy array. It’s a temple setting. It’s a sanctuary setting. The command to worship God to approach him.

But later on in the song in the latter part. Verse ten speaks about the Lord sitting as king forever. Now, I realize that that verse starts out with reference being made to the Lord sitting as king at the plot, but then there is this statement concerning the perpetuity of the Lord’s kingship, that he is sitting king forever. And you may think of other words spoken in other places in Scripture, specifically in some of the Psalms, which speak about the Lord being enthroned. What, after all, is the sanctuary, the temple? What, after all, is the tabernacle? Is it not a form of holy palace for the Lord? Is not His throne there? Are we not told that He is enthroned above the chariot?

You think of the Ark of the Covenant, you think of the chariot being above the mercy seat, but you also think about the Lord being enthroned above the chariot. The thought then drawing you in to the sanctuary of God, into the temple, into the tabernacle.

The setting of the psalm then is the temple. If we were to be a bit provincial, thinking of this strictly in Israelite terminology, we have before us a setting that suggests to us the mountains of Zion, the hills of Jerusalem, the place then to which the ark came and rested.

And as it does, then you see that one who has seen the Lord as it were come, appears, marvelously assert himself exercises power and glory. That one who has seen it, standing on those mountains, surveys the territory, and he looks off to the west, and he sees the waters, and he says, the voice of the Lord is upon the waters. The God of glory thunders. The Lord upon many waters. He looks off to the west, and then he looks to the north, The voice of the Lord is powerful and majestic. The voice of the Lord breaks cedars, breaks the cedars of Lebanon, and he makes Lebanon and Syria skip like a calf, like a young wild ox.

The triumphant ascent of God commensurate with the ascent of the ark, as if the Lord was being enthroned afresh, and those that were there seeing it and then surveying the geography round about, looking to the west and the waters of the Mediterranean and speaking then themselves about the powerful, the incomparable powerful voice of the Lord. for it has been by the voice of the Lord, the power of God’s voice, that his kingship has been established. But not just the West and the North, for his eyes then are turned toward the South, toward the wilderness, the wilderness of Kadesh, those regions out of which the Israelites had come, their existence itself being a testimony to his power. to his covenantal faithfulness, to his incomparable might. It is then even in these provincial terms of the confines of Israel that the terrain is surveyed and the expansiveness of the rule of God is considered. that in light of the exaltation of the God, the only God, the true God. This God then, who by his mighty works has established his throne in the midst of Israel, rules as far as the eye can see, bursting the bonds, bursting the boundaries of even the provincial consideration that some Israelite may imagine.

But we can’t walk away from the striving tone, the militant tone of these verses, the repetitive of the repetition, the power of that repetition of the phrase, the voice of the Lord. It comes like a field of thunder. His rule then, as you survey these verses, is established in the midst of violent upheaval, and that by His Word, by convolution. the elements themselves in the vault, they being transformed by his presence. Well I think that you can feel something of the impact of this psalm as it bursts beyond the provincial setting. of the tabernacle, the temple, the sanctuary in Israel.

For you see, if there is an immediate focus in those institutions of Israel, there is an ultimate focus in the institutions of heaven and the final temple of God. That’s why you see those addressed in the first verse must be considered in the full range of their implementation. Not just mighty men on the earth, not just kings and princes who rule over nations, but angelic forces, invisible powers, be they friendly or not, they all Now, being commanded to pay homage. What is described in verses three through nine must be understood, then, in terms of the conquest of all, everything.

Are there forces that signify tumult and chaos? Were not the waters raging when the world was made, and the Spirit of the Lord moved upon those waters as the Word came from God, and order and form was established by His Word, by His power?” Yes. Chaos of a different sort rages now in the world. But that chaos and tumult shall not have the final word. Its voice is not the voice you should fear. Rather, you should fear the voice of the Lord, for He is greater, more powerful than any chaotic force in all creation.

And what about the traditional images of strength and grandeur and pride in the ancient world? We’re not the proud, the strong, were not the vain compared to the cedars of Lebanon. Weren’t they thought as immovable as mountains? But before the great God and His coming, before His mighty voice, the cedars of Lebanon are splintered, and the mountains Be they so suggestive of strength and stability, they are dissolved.

Dance, skip, shake. The wilderness is here portrayed in tornadic eruption. Translation of the eighth may better be the voice of the world. The voice of the Lord causes the wilderness to world. The other disillusioned. Powerful. Before him before his voice. In fear, birth pangs are brought upon the dear, and she errs. The forests are stripped.

Truly, everything in the temple of God The immediate focus may well be saved. The tabernacle, the temple, but the ultimate focus is the final temple, the heavenly temple, something that is brought into focus because here Enduring is more than any remedial judgment, more than any remedial visitation by God. The final judgment and the final visitation of the King. It is for the life in that eternal temple, secure from the baddages and threats of this world, that you live presently. That it may be true of you in the days of the coming of the Great King, that strength has been given to you specifically and peace belongs to you. Pure and precious peace that shall never end. The voice of the Lord. Our Father in heaven, we ask you that your grace may be multiplied. We pray you, our God, that our joy in you also may be multiplied.

That as we truly, as we live before the statements, the force and power of the Psalm, As well as before the promise of your coming, we would realize the significance of those things with which we deal. May we even now be applying our hearts to wisdom, attributing to you glory and strength, truly that glory that is due your name, that we would worship you in holy We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.