God still speaks
Psalm 29 is a majestic, dramatic, and mighty ode to a great God who rules over the entirety of Creation—from the storms to the trees to the animals.
The psalmist neither minces words nor equivocates this truth and, while he is poetic, he avoids the ambiguity of artistic phrases.
This God reigns. This God is strong. This God moves the earth with the mere sound of his voice.
God’s Voice
The creative and animating power of God’s voice is a central theme for this psalm. Look at the verbs that the psalmist gives to God’s voice. God’s voice:
is over the waters
is powerful
is full of majesty
breaks the cedars (twice!)
flashes forth flames of fire
shakes the wilderness (twice!)
causes the oaks to whirl
strips the forest bare.
And it is natural to read this description of God’s voice and recall the very beginning of our Creation. Genesis 1 repeats over and over again the phrase, “And God said…” With the utterance of a few divine words, God’s voice brings order from the chaos, places lights in the sky, divides water and earth, calls flying creatures to fill the air, creates creep-crawly animals to roam the earth, places more living things in the sea, and—to culminate it all—creates humans in God’s very image.
We know from elsewhere in the Bible that God’s voice can be still and small—even a whisper. God speaks to Hagar in the wilderness when she believes she has been utterly abandoned. Gods speaks through mysterious messengers to Sarah, acknowledging her presence and laughter when she is told she will finally bear a son. God wakes Samuel up from a dream with a voice so gentle that Samuel mistakes it for that of the priest Eli.
In Psalm 29, however, God’s voice moves and breaks and shakes and does things.
Can we see it?
Although we might typically think of hearing a voice, Psalm 29 and Genesis 1 are both more interested in us seeing God’s voice. The sound of God’s voice might have moved water and sky and earth and animal into created order, but we were not present to hear that sound. We are, however, fully present to see what God created at every moment our eyes are open. God’s voice in Psalm 29 shakes and breaks and flashes not so that we might hear it, but so that we might see its power and proclaim together, “Glory!”
God is still speaking.
I am convinced that our God still speaks today. Sometimes in whispers and sometimes in booms that shake and create and break. The whisper might be more comfortable, but the breaking cedar alters our very world. As you experience this day, take note of what you are seeing around you. What are you seeing on television? What are you seeing in your community? While those sights might be jarring, dare to ask yourself, “Is this a sign of God’s voice? Is a sign of God creating something new?”
If yes, then may the final verse of Psalm 29 ring true:
May the Lord give strength to his people!
May the Lord bless his people with peace!
Shelley Woodruff, Pastor for Community Engagement, First Baptist Church Decatur