God of glory, power and peace
Made to worship the God whose existence they deny, secularists too have their idols. Here David poetically takes on all the gods of Canaan, declaring that God alone deserves our worship.
A David psalm.
1 Stand back, you oversized godlings!
Stand in awe before YHWH’s power and glory!
2 Acknowledge YHWH
as the unrivalled star of the show.
Bow low before YHWH’s holy splendor—
perfect in mystery, matchless in glory.
3 YHWH’s voice starts out low
rumbling over the sea’s wild roar
and crescendos in mind-numbing bursts of thunder.
So powerful is the God of glory’s voice
that it drowns out the sea.
4 YHWH’s voice is commanding
magisterial.
5 YHWH’s voice
breaks the mighty cedars of Lebanon
turns them into matchstick wrecks!
6 YHWH’s voice
makes Lebanon’s majestic mountains
frolic like spring calves
Mt. Hermon wheel and gambol
like a wild ox!
7 Then YHWH’s voice strikes terror
in the liquid fire of a lightning bolt
8 that shakes the whole land
shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 Finally, YHWH’s voice
sends the mighty oaks into a dance
so wild it strips them bare.
At this point
no one in YHWH’s cosmos-turned-temple
can hold back and the whole place resounds
with shouts of “Glory!”
10 YHWH sits enthroned
above the vanquished floodwaters.
He sits enthroned as king forever!
11 YHWH gives strength to his people.
YHWH blesses his people with peace.
Many Israelites found Baal worship’s heady mix of religion, sex—temple prostitution—and power appealing. Baal simultaneously wore three hats, as god of storms, fertility, and war. Canaanites imagined him with a lightning bolt for a spear and a voice that shook the earth. Here David uses poetic devices and Canaanite imagery to declare Baal a fraud along with all the other Canaanite gods—and all without ever saying their names.
The psalm’s midsection pictures the storm caused by YHWH’s approach making landfall, overwhelming everything from majestic Mount Hermon in the north, to untameable Kadesh in the south. Also, since the Canaanite myth had Baal subduing the waters, the location of YHWH’s throne, over the waters, shows him—not Baal—to be creation’s undisputed Lord. To underscore his point, David uses YHWH’s name repeatedly, with echo effect. Our only reasonable response is to join creation in crying “Glory!”
The term rendered “godlings” (beni ’elim, literally “sons of gods/God”) can refer to gods or supernatural beings. Canaanites saw Baal as Lord of all the gods, who are addressed here rhetorically. Not that David believed in a multiplicity of gods. Rather, he simply addresses all the evil beings the Canaanites worship—whether demonic or other created supernatural beings—and demands their unqualified submission to God.
Thus, in effect, the psalm begins by ordering the whole Canaanite “pantheon” of deposed rival gods to join heaven’s court in bowing before YHWH. And if divine pretenders must bow, what about us mortals who seek whatever glory we can? We must yield our glory too, as the psalm implicitly calls us to do.
Being god of war, Baal supposedly made his warring followers into killing machines. By contrast, the strength YHWH brings to earth quells our love of war, blessing his people with peace.
Jesus, though our society now worships money, sex, status, and power—poor substitutes for you–you’re the one we long to worship. Help me see your matchless majesty, bow adoring, and cry, “Glory!” Help me learn from you, who have promised me rest of soul and peace. Amen.
During your free moments today, meditate on these words:
YHWH gives strength to his people.
YHWH blesses his people with peace.
