This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

(upbeat music) - Hi, this is Pastor Tom. Welcome back to day four of our look
through Psalm 26 to 30, Psalm 29 today. Psalm 29 tells us who God really is.

When you look at Psalm 29, in the 11 short verses of this psalm, there are 18
repetitions of the most holy name of God, Yahweh, or Lord, or Lord Almighty,
it's translated in most translations that we read. I want to read this entire
psalm to you. Psalm 29, one to 11.

Every time you hear the word Lord, just take note. Once again, he's talking
about who God is, who the Lord really is. Psalm 29, one to 11.

Ascribe to the Lord, O mighty ones, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory that's due his name. Worship the Lord in the
splendor of his holiness.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters. The glory of God thunders. The Lord
thunders over the mighty waters.

The voice of the Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is majestic. The voice
of the Lord breaks the cedars.

The Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon skip like a
calf, Sarian like a young wild ox. The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of
lightning.

The voice of the Lord shakes the desert. The Lord shakes the desert of Kadesh.
The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forest bare.

And in his temple, all cry glory. The Lord sits enthroned over the flood. The
Lord is enthroned as king forever.

The Lord gives strength to his people. The Lord blesses his people with peace.
What a psalm about who God really is.

And of course, as I read through it, you picked up that it talks again and again
about the voice of the Lord. In other places, when God speaks, he speaks with a
gentle whisper. Here, he speaks with power.

Here, his voice echoes, it thunders, it's powerful, it's full of majesty, it
splits the cedars, it strikes with lightning bolts. It makes the desert quake.
It twists the mighty oaks.

Here, his voice is a voice of glory. And as you read through this psalm, Psalm
29, there are two things that I need to do about who God is in this psalm. One,
I need to ascribe, and two, I need to worship.

Let's look at those. First, I need to ascribe. In verse two, ascribe to the Lord
the glory that's due his name.

Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness. Now, what does it mean to
ascribe? Well, to ascribe is to write something into your life.

It's not just to know about it. It means you've written it into your life. It's
not simply knowing the truth about who God is.

It's writing it into your life. The Lord rules, and so I follow him. I ascribe
who God is in his rulership by following him.

The Lord reigns, and so I ascribe, I trust him. The Lord gives, and so I
ascribe. I write it into my life, I give back to him.

The Lord blesses, and so I ascribe. I thank him for his blessings, and I bless
others. Here, we've read again and again, the voice of the Lord is powerful.

So I ascribe, I listen to his voice, I recognize the power that's in his voice,
and I act upon that power that's in God's voice. So I encourage you, ascribe
glory to God in your heart right now. Recognize the power of his voice.

His voice through his word, his voice through his Spirit, his Holy Spirit, his
voice through his people. What has God been telling you to do that you might
have been ignoring? When you ignore God's voice, you're ignoring that which is
most powerful in this universe.

So ascribe to God who he really is. Listen and do what he's asking you to do,
because you know he loves you. You know he's telling you this because he loves
you.

Ascribe to the Lord the glory that's to his name. You ascribe, and then second,
you worship. I need to ascribe, and then I need to worship.

He says you worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness. When we think of
holiness, sometimes we have a false impression. It's as if God is distant and
untouchable.

We have this holier than thou attitude even about God. He's above and beyond me,
I can't really connect with him. Here we're reminded that when we worship God,
we need to remember that we're worshiping God in the splendor of his holiness,
the beauty of his holiness, the majesty of his holiness.

It's like crystal clear stars when you're in the high mountains. Maybe it's been
a while since you've been there. Maybe you've seen pictures of it where you can
actually see the Milky Way.

When you see that, you don't want to shrink back from it. You're drawn into it.
That kind of a beauty does not push you away.

It draws you in, and the beauty of God's holiness draws you in to a place of
worship. Now I want you to notice in this psalm about the power of God's voice.
I want you to notice the last verse again, verse 11.

The Lord gives strength to his people. The Lord blesses his people with peace.
After the thunder and the shaking and the stripping the forest bare and the
flood, this psalm ends with the word peace.

This psalm ends with God's blessing of peace. As a follower of Christ, you need
to know this. God's power gives you the promise of God's peace in your life.

Peace, it's like the calm after the storm of thunder and lightning and rain and
flood. It's like the rainbow after the flood. In verse 10, he talks to us about
this.

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood. The Lord is enthroned as king forever.
When you think about rainbows, it's an interesting study throughout the
scriptures.

Noah saw the rainbow after the storm. You remember, after the flood. John, the
apostle John in the book of Revelation, he saw the rainbow before the storm, the
rainbow of worship before the storm of tribulation.

And Ezekiel, in the book of Ezekiel, saw the rainbow in the midst of the storm,
the windstorm out of the north in Ezekiel 1. Noah after the storm, John before
the storm, Ezekiel in the midst of the storm. God's promise is there for you
wherever you happen to be in the storm, whatever you're going through in your
life.

That is the power of who God is. So let's talk to our all-powerful God right
now. God, we worship you for who you are.

You know our storms. You know what we're facing. And whether we're after the
storm or in the midst of the storm or before the storm, we take time to ascribe
to you who you are and to worship you for who you are.

God of power, God of might, a God of love. Forgive us for those times when we
weaken in our minds the strength of who you are. You're the God of the universe.

You're the God who's made everything. You're the God of all power. We recognize
you as best as we can in this frail human body, frail human minds, frail human
hearts.

We recognize you right now for who you are. The God of all glory. We ascribe
glory to you.

We worship you in the splendor and majesty of your name. Amen. Tomorrow, we're
going to look together at Psalm 30 and what it means to grieve your way to a place
of joy.