God of glory, power and peace
We in the West are easily seduced by lust for money, comfort, excitement, and our culture’s other idols. Here David takes on all of Canaan’s gods, declaring that God alone deserves our worship.
A David psalm.
1 Acknowledge to YHWH
you heavenly beings
acknowledge to YHWH his power and glory!
2 Give YHWH
the glory his name deserves.
Bow low before YHWH’s holy splendor.
3 YHWH’s voice rumbles over the waters.
The God of glory thunders—
YHWH, over the turbulent waters.
4 YHWH’s voice is powerful.
YHWH’s voice is majestic.
5 YHWH’s voice breaks the cedars—
YHWH shatters the cedars of Lebanon!
6 He makes Mount Lebanon
frolic like a calf
Sirion like a young wild ox!
7 YHWH’s voice strikes with lightning flashes.
8 YHWH’s voice makes the wilderness convulse
YHWH makes the wilderness of Kadesh convulse.
9 YHWH’s voice makes the oaks dance
and strips the forest bare.
And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
10 YHWH sits enthroned the floodwaters.
YHWH sits enthroned as king forever!
11 YHWH gives strength to his people.
YHWH blesses his people with peace.
The Israelites found Baal worship’s heady mix of religion, sex—temple prostitution—and power appealing. Baal simultaneously wore many hats, as storm god, fertility god, god of commerce, and god of war. Canaanites imagined Baal with a lightning bolt for a spear and a voice that shook the earth. Here David uses poetic devices and Canaanite imagery to declare all of Canaan’s gods—Baal included—frauds. And he does so without ever saying their names.
The term rendered “heavenly beings” (beni ’elim, literally “sons of gods/God”) can refer to supernatural beings or gods. Canaanites saw Baal as Lord of all the gods, whom David addresses here rhetorically. David is calling out all the evil beings the Canaanites worship—whether demons or other created supernatural beings—and demanding their unqualified submission to God.
The psalm’s midsection pictures the storm caused by YHWH’s approach making landfall, overwhelming everything from majestic Mounts Lebanon and Hermon (Sirion) 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. The only reasonable response is for us to join the rest of creation in crying “Glory!”
Being god of war, Baal supposedly turned his warring followers into killing machines. By contrast, the strength YHWH brings to earth quells our love of war, blessing his people with peace.
Thus, the psalm envisions all the region’s deposed gods joining heaven’s court to bow before YHWH. And if divine pretenders must bow, what of us mortals, who seek whatever glory we can? We must yield our glory too, as the psalm implicitly calls us to do.
Prayer:
Jesus, our society now worships money, sex, status, and power—poor substitutes for you—when you’re the one we long to worship. Help me see your matchless majesty, bow adoring, and cry, “Glory!” Let me learn from you your peace and rest of soul. Amen.
In your free moments today, declare this truth:
YHWH gives strength to his people.
YHWH blesses his people with peace.
