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LEARNING TO WORSHIP (Psalm 29)

There are few experiences on earth like sitting through a great thunderstorm. It is awe-inspiring, really, to hear the peal of thunder and see the flash of lightning

What is all of that? Well, it is a reminder of the greatness and glory of God.

A number of the psalms seem to connect us to the God of creation. Read Psalm 8 while looking at the moonlight or Psalm 19 when gazing at the sun.

When reading Psalm 29, you should think about the sound of thunder in the background. Can you hear it?

Verse 4: “The voice of the Lord is powerful.”

Verse 5: “The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars.”

Verse 7: “The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire.”

Verse 8: “The voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness.”

Verse 9: “The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve.”

The idea here is God’s majesty, power, and strength. It is evident every time He speaks. Let’s go back to the beginning of this beautiful psalm and read verses 1-3.

“Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. The voice of the Lord is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the Lord is upon many waters.”

All of these repeated references to the voice of the Lord are symbolized, if you will, as an object lesson — something we can all understand and relate to — in the form of thunder. It is powerful; it speaks and has an effect. God is saying, “I want to speak to you, and I want you to respond to Me.”

I believe that the key expression in this psalm is found in verse 2: “Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” We know that the book of Psalms was God’s worship manual for the nation of Israel. It teaches us that worship is in all of life because worship brings every emotion, every experience, and every relationship into the presence of God.

Worship is not corporate first. It is individual; it is personal. It does not begin in some public place. It begins in private, in the inner recesses of your heart.

Worship has to be learned. We all have to learn it for ourselves. I think Psalm 29 helps us do that.

1. Worship is our reverence for God. Notice in the first two verses, the repeated references to how we should “give” to God. So many people today have turned worship into a way of getting something from God. True worship is giving, not getting.

You will always get more than you give because you will receive from the overflow of His presence. But we come to worship, first of all, to give of ourselves to Him. The three “give” references in these two verses are not about what God gives, but what we give.

We do not give to God because He needs or lacks anything, but because He is worthy of it. We are simply ascribing to God what is already His and recognizing that He is the God of all glory and all strength.

His name is wonderful. Would you give Him praise today? That is what true worship is.

2. Worship is our repentance toward God. The end of verse 2 mentions “the beauty of holiness.” That is His holiness, not ours. “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come” (Rev. 4:8).

The idea here is that I come into God’s holy presence and allow Him to make me holy. I become a partaker of His holiness. I allow Him to get all of the junk and dirt and filth out of the holy place of my life. I want to be clean.

This is actually a reference to the sanctuary, which in David’s day was a place at the temple. Today, that sanctuary is in my own spirit — not a place, but in the heart where Christ dwells.

True worship doesn’t just make you feel better or give you the warm fuzzies. True worship helps you get right with God and stay holy before Him.

3. Worship is our response to God. We have already read the repeated references to His voice in this psalm. He speaks all around us in creation. There is a call to worship every day when the sun comes up, which Spurgeon referred to as “the church bell of the universe.” All of nature says that God is worthy of our worship.

But He doesn’t just speak through creation. He also speaks through the storm, which is described in Psalm 29. I can imagine David as a boy, sitting in the field where he tends to the sheep, when the storm came. He was probably looking for a place to hide when the thunder and lightning came, but he was also in awe of it. God speaks through the storm.

Maybe you are in a storm today. God is speaking through that storm. He is “a very present help in trouble,” as Psalm 46:1 points out.

Ultimately, we know that the Lord speaks through His Word. Seven times in this psalm we see mention of “the voice of the Lord.” What is that voice? It is the Word of the living God — not just in creation, but also in His revelation. Psalm 19, which we have already studied, makes this same progression from creation to revelation. We need God to speak to us.

People have all kinds of suggestions about how to get into a spirit and attitude of worship, but the way to do it is to read your Bible. As you read the Word of God and it speaks to you, it will lead you to worship. Nothing makes me want to pray and to praise Him like reading and meditating on the scriptures. Nothing makes me want to talk to the Lord like having Him talk to me.

4. Worship is our resource from God. Did it ever dawn on you that God gave worship to you as a resource so His presence would provide everything you need?

Look at how this psalm ends in verse 11. “The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.” The chapter begins with us giving Him glory, and it ends with Him giving us strength. God has designed it so that what brings Him the greatest glory also brings us the greatest good.

If you will simply learn to worship, God will teach you everything else you need for life. Your walk will be better, your work will be better, your witness will be better. It will touch every relationship and every part of your life.

Let me challenge you to take Psalm 29 today and, whether there is a storm or sunshine in your life, get on your knees and let God speak to you. Talk to Him and begin to worship “in the beauty of his holiness,” and you will learn that every good thing grows and flows out of His presence.