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, September 13, 1987.

Tonight we begin our study of Psalm 29. Ascribe to the Lord, O sons of the mighty, Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due 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 Syrian 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 shapes the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord makes the deer to calf, and strips the forests bare, and in his temple everything says, Glory. The Lord sat as King at the front. Yes, the Lord sits as King forever. the Lord will give strength to his people, the Lord will bless his people with peace.

Let us pray again. Father, it is our desire to abide beneath your hand. It is our desire to dwell beneath your sovereign control. And that, Lord, willingly. We ask that your word may be ministered to us in order to encourage us in our submission. And Lord, May your word be mediated in your church in a way that exhibits wisdom, discretion, great strength of character, and abiding righteousness. We pray for the assemblies of your people throughout the world that truly they, by your word, may be governed. We ask this in Jesus name, Amen. I hadn’t read any Charles Spurgeon for a while. But then I did pick him up and I looked at him on this song. And I must admit that the experience was shocking. And I think that you’ll understand why after I read the quote.

He says of Psalm 29. Psalm 8 is to be read by moonlight when the stars are bright. Psalm 19 needs the rays of rising sun to bring out its beauty. But Psalm 29 can best be rehearsed beneath the black wing of tempest by the glare of lightning or amid that dubious dusk which heralds the war of elements.” End of quotation.

You may wonder how he accomplished that week after week. But going on, and giving away his particular slant on this psalm, he says, the call to worship climbs in with the loud, appealing thunder, which is the church bell of the universe, ringing kings and angels and all sons of earth to their devotion. His voice, whether in nature or revelation, shakes both earth and heaven.

Franz Delitzsch, the great German commentator of the last century, calls this twenty-ninth psalm the psalm of seven thunders. He does so certainly in a sentiment consistent with what we have heard from Spurgeon, but also taking note of the repetition seven times of the phrase, the voice of the Lord, as if that phrase were a recurring peal of thunder throughout the song. Delitch, as others, and certainly Spurgeon, recognize in the 29th Psalm the dominant image of a thunderstorm, and the noise, the cacophony that accompanies that storm, the upheaval that goes along with it. So it is that this psalm, 29, has been placed in the company of what are sometimes called the nature psalms. In addition to the ones mentioned by Spurgeon, 8 and 19, we have 29 and also 104. This theme of the storm is even recognized in your translations.

For instance, if you have a New American Standard, you will note that the subtitle given to this psalm is The Voice of the Lord in the Storm. Then we have Calvin, and Calvin expresses himself about this psalm in ways that are similar to what we have already heard. He says the intent of this psalm is a celebration on David’s part of God’s terrible, awesome power in the various wonders of nature. which are well suited to arouse us to glorify God, just as his voice is capable to establish our reverence before his reign. Calvin tells us that here there is a celebration of God’s awesome power in the various wonders of nature, and that these wonders of nature—here, a storm, a thunderstorm—these wonders of nature are well suited to arouse us in glorifying God just as his voice is capable in establishing his reign. Now, you have had the general line given you with regard to this 29th Psalm.

But I want you to be clear on this. There is a single thread that runs through all of these interpretations. In fact, we can say that all of these approaches from Spurgeon to Calvin or Calvin to Spurgeon, taking them chronologically, hang by a single thread. That thread is this.

The impression one gets from this song, when read along the lines that we have just heard, is that the psalmist is rhapsodizing on a thunderstorm, and that prominent and preeminent to him is this eruption of nature. He is witnessing an upheaval in the created world and moving from that to a reflection upon God’s incomparable power. the power of his word. But you see, there is a difficulty. For the word here that is identified by the psalmist, at least in the minds of those that we have consulted thus far, the word that is in view is the word that is heard in the thunder, in the storm. We have, then, the psalmist moving from a fact of nature, a feature of the natural world, to the supernatural, or to supernature.

If this is a difficulty for us when trying to understand and get a hold of this psalm, the difficulty is made even more severe. We might not want to rule out every move on the part of man from nature to supernature. observing the world and making conclusions from what we see about the one who is behind nature, who rules nature, who governs the world.

But we must be aware, if we do things like that, that those who have advocated such a thing have also found themselves entangled in the very complex web of what is called natural theology. What is natural theology? Natural theology states that we can construct a proper view of God, at least in part, from our observation of the natural world. Natural theology maintains that there exists, in some form, a revelation of God in nature which has to some degree a sufficiency unto itself. Now, I’ve added there, to some degree. It holds that there exists a revelation of God in nature that can and does operate independently of God’s direct revelation or his word as inscripturated in the Bible.

Now, the cat is out of the bag. From Calvin to Spurgeon, whom we quoted above, all of them are operating apparently upon a natural theology scheme. Is Calvin infallible? No. Is Sturgeon, despite the romance of his language, infallible? No. Not at all. But of all of the quotes and comments that we cited, none of them were more blatant with regard to a natural theology, surprisingly, as Calvin himself.

According to him, reading his words, his introduction to this psalm, he says that the thunderstorm is as adequate to move us to glorify God as his revealed word. But is this true? Is it true that after all we do move on a natural level, on a natural plane? Is it true that we move from the level, the realm of nature to the level, the realm of the supernature? Is it true that thunderstorms are, underline that please, are I’m here talking about equivalence, or the voice of God.

You might be feeling a bit uneasy. You might be thinking, well, I certainly think a lot of Calvin But if that is what he’s saying, I thought we left that behind in the Middle Ages. Doesn’t that reek of superstition? Isn’t that an example of a misreading of what is occurring in the natural realm. Is it true that thunderstorms are the voice of God? Is that what the psalmist is intending to say?

Alright, we have a problem. And we can blame the psalmist even. He’s the one that says the voice of the Lord in this recurring, repetitive fashion, making it sound, as you run down through it, like a thunderstorm. But if things aren’t complicated enough already, we have even something more to distress us.

For complicating things beyond what we have already considered, is the fact that unfortunately, and many seem unaware of this, the natural theology approach to this text—and I guess I’ve already intimated this—the natural theology approach to this text sounds strangely like paganism. You see, the thunderstorm and the thunder god was vitally essential to the theologies, the mythologies, the cosmologies of the ancient world. Among the Babylonians, the Chaldeans, for instance, the ancient Sumerians, the Thunder God had a name.

Enlil was his name, E-N-L-I-L. He was born of the union between Heaven, or the God An, or Anu, and Earth, T-K-I. He was wind. He was universal air. He was spirit. He claimed the earth as his domain. He separated the two and thus asserted himself in all of his power. And in later Babylonian mythology, he supplanted the former supreme god, Anu, as the chief god himself. And his voice was the thunder.

Moving westward to the great Hittite kingdom. The Hittites also had a storm god related to the Hurrian god, Keshup. He was the consort of the sun goddess. He was known as the king of the sky, the lord of the land of the mighty Hittites. His voice also, in Hittite mythology, was the thunder.

But then, they were the greatest theologians of the ancient world. Oh, you might think they were the Babylonians, you might think they were the Egyptians, oh no, they couldn’t even come close to the incredible mythologies, the incredible theology and cosmology of the Canaanites. Who was their great, active, energetic God? Who was their Lord of Heaven, that Son of Dagon, that One who rises victorious over death to ensure fertility and productivity? Who was the great storm God of the Canaanites, whose voice was the thunder?

Bale. You know him well, don’t you? Bale. If we allow natural theology and the advocates of natural theology to have their way. Wherein, even though in Christian dress, nature determines supernature. Nature has preeminence. It is first. If we allow natural theology and the advocates of it to have their way, the voice of nature becomes the voice of God. There has been a theologian in our day who has fought against natural theology with all his energy. His name is Cornelius Van Til. And he set out something like a modern day sense to slay, hip and fly, the natural theologians. And I think that you can see why. Calvin may not have perceived the conclusion of what he was saying. Spurgeon may not have considered the conclusion of what he was implicating. But Van Til has seen through the issue.

Eventually, natural theology, that is, in the end, natural theology Even though there are many inconsistent advocates of it, in the end, natural theology becomes a theology in which nature herself is God. I ask you, what advantage does the eleventh-century Jew have against the Canaanite by simply asserting, the thunder is Jehovah’s voice, not Baal’s. None. None at all. For you see, in the end, it is a natural phenomenon that is exalted to the level of God himself. Now there are a number of proofs that the natural theology approach to this psalm simply will not do.

First, we have the beginning and the ending of this psalm. Verses one and two, look at them again. Ascribe to the Lord, O sons of the mighty. One might well ask who they might be. Ascribe to the Lord, O sons of the mighty. Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory, do His name. Worship the Lord in holy array or in the beauty of holiness.

Now, unfortunately, these verses have been read as if a thunderstorm is sufficient to extract the ultimate expressions of adoration and worship from whoever is in view. The sons of the mighty, are they the angelic hosts? Are they the congregation of the righteous?

You see what I’m saying? Verses one and two have been read as if a thunderstorm was sufficient to extract the ultimate expressions of adoration and worship from an angelic host, or the congregation of the righteous and the faithful. Now, do you believe that? Well, nothing of the sort. that is in view at all.

For you see, here envisioned is the assemblage of the sons of God. It may well be, as some have suggested, that the angelic post, be they righteous or unrighteous, Be they servants of the devil, or servants of God, are in view. They are assembled before the Lord, and they are called upon for their praise. Unless you think this is any ordinary assemblage, like the one that is described at the beginning of the book of Job, think again. This gathering before the Lord is the unveiling of his conclusive judgments upon all that is. and his light of the conclusion of all things, and the resolution of the issues of life, existence, praise, is prescribed.

What else will do? How else would you respond? So you see, what is in view here, first of all, is not a thunderstorm, but the Last Judgment. Now adding to this is what we read at the conclusion of the song. So what are we reminded of At the end of this great song, the Lord sat as king at the flood. Why does he bring up the flood? Because the flood was a picture of the end of the world. No simple momentary, no day-long even, thunderstorm or upheaval in nature, but the end of everything. The beginning and the ending of the psalm convince us that what’s prominent is not a thunderstorm, but a last judgment. But secondly, we have what is described in between, verses three through nine.

Now, you see, it could be contended that what we have here is a poetic discourse, the purpose of which is to convince us that Baal has a rival that is certainly his equal. For if the voice of Baal thunders, if the voice of Baal is powerful and majestic, well, so is Jehovah’s.

So, Baal has a rival. But that isn’t the point. The point isn’t that Baal has a rival. The point is that Baal has a judge. And that takes you back to the first verse, because you see, if we’re correct in our understanding of that opening line, and the sons of the mighty are the sons of God, there refers to both the demonic and the angelic hosts, then Baal himself is in due. Not Baal only, but all Baals, all foreign gods, all idols, and all the earth have a judge. And what a judge! Not even Baal can stand up against him.

Why, the sevenfold voice of the Lord, Calcum, seven times the voice of the Lord is mentioned here, phrase recurring, as we’ve already said, like peals of thunder throughout the psalm. The sevenfold voice of the Lord is God’s great judgment. In its perfection, isn’t the number seven the number of perfection, wholeness and completion? So is it here. It is perfect and thorough judgment against all that opposes God. All false gods, all bales, all gods of the earth, all forces of nature that have been turned into gods are charged Before the God, you want to worship a tree?

You want to cut down one of the cedars of Lebanon and carve for yourself an idol? Look what he does to the cedars of Lebanon. He breaks them in pieces. You want to worship a mountain? Before the Lord, these mountains skip about like a calf utterly out of control. You want to worship the lightning He splits the lightning apart. He shakes the wilderness. You want to worship animals? You want to worship a deer? He’s the one that controls the life of the deer.

He alone has the power to strip the forests bare, the forest to which the worshippers of Baal repaired. That’s where they went. To celebrate their idolatry. To engage in their abominable practices. Not only does he strip the forests bare, He strips every worshipper of Baal bare. If all Baal can do is thunder, well now, look at what Jehovah does and will do. His appearance, his coming catapults the world, the cosmos into apocalyptic distress.

His coming brings with it the end of the world and the affirmation of his sanctuary. glory. The end of verse 9. That is, everything, everything is mine. Everything is mine. This God to whom all glory and strength belong bestows upon his people peace in the wake of the chaos that has been visited upon all those who live for and in evil.

Now it may well be that the psalmist has witnessed some fierce thunderstorm in the plains of Palestine, or even the heights of Zion. But they remain merely a figure to him, not the literal voice of God. He sees those storms and all other natural phenomena in the light of the supernatural order and the destiny of all things is made plain from above. He sees them in the light of the supernatural conflagration coming, the judgment of God, in which all pretenders will be judged, all false gods exposed, all enemies defeated, and his people preserved in peace.

Now, O Lord, before your awesome and terrible voice, the Word that has come forth, given to us the sure promise of our deliverance and the certain judgment that awaits this world. We, in light of thunderstorms and upheavals in nature, would affirm, You are God, the true God, the mighty God, who has no rival, who has no equal. O Lord, if we are tempted to wander off in the direction of exalting some aspect of creation, or even deifying some particular aspect of the world about us, do preserve us that we might give all glory to you. Ascribe all our strength to you, the great God. who has made himself known by his mighty acts. Surely as you judge the world in the flood, so you shall judge the world at the end. And Lord, in that day, may we be found faithful as you have been faithful to us.

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.