THE PSALMS - Week 3
To reflect on my own reflections, I hope you’ve found some of the scholarly insight around the Psalms interesting and helpful, but I acknowledge that some people reading these might want to dig into the contents of the Psalms in more detail – so, this week, that’s what we’ll do! We’ll look at one Psalm we read this week and see what we can learn.
Psalm 29
This is a relatively short Psalm, but there’s plenty of goodness in it’s eleven verses. The two features which most stand out to me are;
1) The focus on the ‘voice of God’
2) The imagery of a thunderstorm for God’s voice
1) The focus on the ‘voice of God’
Much of the commentary that I came across about this Psalm highlights that this focus on the voice of God serves to highlight the majesty and power of God, whose thunderous voice makes the earth shake. But it made me think of something different – in fact, it was verse 3 that prompted my memory as it describes the voice of God being ‘over the waters’. If that sounds familiar, it could be because in Genesis 1:2, a ‘wind from God’ or the ‘Spirit of God’ was said to have swept ‘over the waters’. Perhaps, then, there is a point of comparison between the ‘voice of God’ and the ‘Spirit of God’?
Also in that Genesis account, God creates with Their voice. ‘Then God said…’ is how Genesis portrays the creation of the world – God’s voice is connected with creativity and power.
Now, with that said, there is also a point of contrast here. In Genesis 1, the voice of God is constructive power – speaking creation into being. But in Psalm 29, the Voice of God is destructive power – stripping forests bare and ‘flashing forth flames of fire’ (which really comes alive in translation into that beautiful English alliteration!)
One of the places specifically named in this Psalm is the wilderness of Kadesh. This was a significant place for the Israelites, as it was a recurring location of the Exodus to the Promised Land. Miriam dies and is buried there (Numbers 20:1) and Moses strikes the rock to bring forth water for the people there (Numbers 20:2-13). The wilderness of Kadesh serves as a symbol of the Israelites' journey through the challenges and trials of the wilderness. It represents a period of testing, faithlessness, and divine discipline, but also of God's faithfulness, provision, and guidance.
To say that the voice of God shakes that very wilderness could be a powerful reminder that even that fierce and formative experience of the wilderness is either under God’s dominion, or not as powerful as God, or both.
2) The imagery of a thunderstorm for God’s voice
In the mix of Old Testament language about God, use of the imagery of a thunderstorm is not surprising. There is something communicated of raw, natural force that that analogy conveys. For a people with deep connections to nature, this speaks to them clearly. It isn’t the only time that this type of imagery is used;
Exodus 19:16-19: When God descends upon Mount Sinai to deliver the Ten Commandments to Moses, the scene is accompanied by thunder, lightning, a thick cloud, and the sound of a trumpet. The people tremble as God's presence descends upon the mountain, and the sound of the trumpet grows louder and louder, reminiscent of a storm.
1 Kings 19:11-12: In this passage, Elijah encounters God on Mount Horeb (also known as Mount Sinai). God's presence is not in the powerful wind, earthquake, or fire, but in a "still small voice" (or "gentle whisper," depending on the translation). However, the imagery of wind and earthquake evokes the sense of a storm preceding God's voice.
Job 38:1-3: In the book of Job, God responds to Job's questions with a series of rhetorical questions, asserting His sovereignty over creation. In this passage, God speaks "out of the whirlwind," using storm imagery to emphasize His power and authority.
Psalm 77:18: In this Psalm, the Psalmist recalls God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt, describing how God's voice was heard in the thunderstorm: "The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind; your lightning lit up the world; the earth trembled and quaked."
Jeremiah 10:13: Jeremiah uses storm imagery to depict God's creative power and sovereignty: "When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses."
Our culture might not have the same relationship with the idea of thunderstorms, but we still understand them to communicate something uncontrollable and powerful, maybe even something to fear?
Another location named specifically is Lebanon and their cedars. This was a common reference point for ancient Israelite culture around ideas of strength and resilience. Even the Lebanese flag contains the image of one of their famous Cedars.
So, for God’s voice to break these notoriously strong trees shows that this is not just any storm but one, almighty storm.
This Psalm seems to be equal parts awe and praise. In fact, the psalm is bookended by praise and exultation, with awe sitting in the middle. The structure and repetition of the psalm feels familiar as a poetic form, but I think there is something powerful in the writer’s ability to convey the majesty and might of God in just eleven verses.
It’s short and yet so good – you could even read it twice!