Sidney, we're going to take a
brief look at these 11 verses found in Psalm 29. Notice it says, it's a psalm
of David. David was the sweet psalmist
of Israel. The Lord said of David, he's
a man after God's own heart. David said upon his deathbed,
the spirit of the Lord spake by me, through me. So this is
God's voice speaking to us in the Word, I'm taking the title
for the message from what is said in verse 4, Psalm 29 verse
4. Taking the title from the words
found in verse 4, the voice of the Lord is powerful. How powerful is the voice of
the Lord? I can't even begin to describe the power of His
Word, the power of his might, his sovereign power, the voice
of the Lord, or we could say the word of the Lord. The word
of the Lord is powerful. The word of the Lord is like
him, almighty, sovereign, and eternal. The voice of the Lord,
the word of the Lord. Notice a marginal reading on
verse four, the voice of the Lord in power. The voice of the
Lord in power. The voice of the Lord in majesty. And it mentions the voice of
the Lord seven times. Seven times. We know seven is
a number of, remember from our study in the Revelations, seven's
a number of completeness, isn't it? We have the complete will
and testimony of the Lord, the voice of the Lord, the word of
the Lord. You're holding it in your hand. Think about that. What a treasure. You have the
whole will and testimony of the Lord, the voice of the Lord,
the word of the Lord, what he wants us to know and reveal unto
us, right here. Right here in the word. You remember in our study in
the book of Hebrews, the word of the Lord is quick and powerful,
sharper than any two-edged sword. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
voice of the Lord. Remember Hebrews chapter one,
where it said, God the Father has spoke through the prophets,
in these last days has spoken unto us through his Son, his
Son. The wonder of the Lord Jesus
Christ is called the Word, the Word, the living Word. Again,
this is another gospel psalm, for the voice of the Lord is
another way of saying the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is the
power, dynamite, and lightning of God unto salvation. You talk about, and it talks
about here, the thunders and the lightnings and the wind and
the waters, all those things that we see, and I guess we're
gonna experience that again tonight, aren't we? Or maybe early in
the morning. The wind, the rain, the thunders,
the lightnings. It's really something to consider.
Considering who makes the lightnings, who says the lightnings go here
and they go. Who brings the wind out of his
treasury. You remember we studied that recently. Now let's look
at verse 1 and 2. Give, give unto the Lord. Give
unto the Lord. Now we can't add anything to
the Lord, can we? Why would he say given to the
Lord? We can't add anything to his majesty, his glory, his sovereignty. Given to the Lord, O ye mighty,
or the sons of the mighty, given to the Lord glory and given to
him strength. Now, what's he talking about
when he says given to the Lord? What could we possibly give him? Neither man nor angels can add
anything to the all-sufficient eternal Jehovah the Lord. He says the earth in Psalm 24,
the earth is mine and the fullness thereof. He possesses all things. He said the world is mine and
the fullness thereof. If I was hungry, I wouldn't tell
you. The cattle on a thousand hills, they belong to me. So
what's David saying here? Here's what he's telling us.
Ascribe and attribute unto the Lord and celebrate who He is. Ascribe glory, strength, power,
and worship to the Lord. You remember our study in Revelation
chapter 5, where it talks about worthy is the lamb that was slain
to receive what? All honor, glory, blessing, power,
both now and forever. And that's what we do as much
as we can in this flesh. We ascribe all greatness and
honor and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. And he mentions there,
oh you mighty, oh you mighty. And if you look at the marginal
reference there, it talks about the sons of the mighty. Who are
the sons of the mighty? Those who have been born of God,
those who have been begotten of God. Behold what manner of
love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called
what? Sons of God. Think about that.
Some old-timer said years ago, the Son of God became the Son
of Man, that sons of men might be made sons of God. That's pretty
good, isn't it? That's pretty good. All men should
honor the Lord, but sadly they don't. Believers do. The sons
of God do. Believers readily and quickly
ascribe all honor and glory and blessing unto His matchless,
sovereign grace. in the Lord Jesus Christ. As
Paul said in Galatians chapter 6, God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. We study in 1 Peter
chapter 3 that we're to sanctify the Lord God in our heart. That
is, set Him apart and regard Him as absolute God in all things. Believers do desire above all
to worship Him in spirit and in truth. to worship him. Isn't that our desire? To worship
God as he is revealed in the word? Not cumbered about, worship
him in spirit and in truth. There's no spiritual worship
of God without the truth of God. Not being cumbered about with
ceremony and traditions of men. Our Lord said to those Pharisees,
in vain you do worship me, teaching for doctrines What? The commandments
of men. God's not worshipped with men's
hands. He's worshipped in spirit and in truth in our heart. The
Apostle Paul writes about it. He didn't fear much, but in 2
Corinthians 3, excuse me, 2 Corinthians 11, verse three. He said, I fear,
lest by any means as a serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety,
so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in
Christ Jesus. And that word there, simplicity,
means oneness and singleness of salvation. There is a simplicity. When I preached at my father's
funeral out in Salt Lake City, And the family invited me to
speak at his memorial service, and they held it in a Mormon
chapel. And I stood up and I read that verse about being deceived
from the simplicity that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I
told those folks, I said, you've made religion too complicated. You've made it so complicated
that it's false. That didn't go over so good. In fact, one fellow told me I
was going, it was my aunt actually, she came up with her finger in
my face and she said, you're going straight to hell. I said,
I appreciate that. I know you love me. But I had
to tell the truth, didn't I? The simplicity of the gospel,
the singleness, the oneness of the gospel. So that's what believers
do. They give unto the Lord. The
sons of God, the sons of the mighty God, the sons of thunder,
given to the Lord, we give Him glory and strength. All honor
and glory. We ascribe everything to Him,
don't we? We don't take any credit to ourselves. We don't pat ourselves
on the back. We say the salvation of the Lord.
Look at verse two. Given to the Lord the glory that
do His name. Now His name is who He is. His
name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. I did a whole series
years ago about the names of our Lord Jesus Christ, starting
with A, Advocate, all the way through to Z, A to Z. He is the A to Z. He's the beginning,
he's the end. God has highly exalted him and
given him a name which is above every name, that at that name
every knee should bow, Every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord. Peter declared before that Sanhedrin
court that was about to murder him and John. He said, neither
is there salvation in any other name. His name declares who he
is. He's the Lord Jesus, Savior. He's the Christ of God. He's
the anointed of God. So we give, we give as much as
we can in this body. We give glory to his name. And
because we do, we worship the Lord. We do worship the Lord. That's our desire, to worship
the Lord. The only place a sinner will
worship is at the throne of the absolute sovereign God. That
inspires us to worship, worship Him. And we do so in the beauty
of holiness. In the beauty of holiness. Now, Who is the beauty of holiness?
Look at Psalm 110. Psalm 110. Christ is the beauty
of holiness, isn't He? He is our holiness. He is our righteousness. Look
at Psalm 110, verse 1. The Lord said unto my Lord, sit
thou at my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
The Lord shall send the rod as I shrank out of Zion. Rule thou
in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power, in the beauty of holiness, from the
womb of the morning thou hast to do of thy youth." So we approach
God only through the beauty of His holiness. Our Lord said,
I'm the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the Father but
by and through me. So He is our beauty of holiness
before God. He's our righteousness before
God. There's none other. There's none other but Christ.
Christ is the beauty of salvation, isn't he? And the Lord is all
of our righteousness before God. Now look at verse three. The
voice of the Lord is upon the waters. The Lord is upon many waters
or great waters. It says in the last statement
of verse three, the God of glory thunders, thundereth. The voice of the Lord is upon
the waters. In verse 3 down through verse
9, various descriptions of the voice of the Lord and the almighty
powerful effect upon its target, not only in the kingdom of nature,
but also in the kingdom of grace, raising dead sinners to life. When he talks about breaking
the cedars and moving the mountains, that's not only true in nature,
in the kingdom of nature, but in the kingdom of grace. He breaks
the hard-hearted sinner and makes him to bow. Makes him to bow
before the Lord. The voice of the Lord, the Word
of the Lord. Turn one page over to Psalm 33. You remember this. We had this
study here a few weeks back. Psalm 33, look at verse 8. Let
the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the
world stand in awe of Him. Psalm 33, verse 8. For he spake,
and it was done. He commanded, and it stood fast. The Lord bringeth the counsel
of the heathen to naught. He maketh divisive the people
of none effect. The counsel of the Lord standeth
forever. The thoughts of his heart to all, to all generations. He spake, and it was done. He
commanded, and it stood fast. Our Lord, how powerful is the
word of the Lord, the voice of the Lord? Remember John 5, verse
25, we read, Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming,
and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of
God, and they that hear shall live. He makes dead men to hear
his voice. He gives them life. You have
to quicken who are dead. The voice of the Lord is upon
many waters. The God of glory thunders. Storms, rain, thunders, lightnings
are sent and controlled by Almighty God, the Sovereign God. It's
not Mother Nature. Mother Nature is not angry. The
God of glory creates the weather, controls the weather, sends the
weather. He reigns upon the just and the
unjust. He sends a storm, he sends a
calm, both fair weather and foul weather. This speaks of his sovereign
majesty, doesn't it? He sends the floods. The voice
of the Lord is upon great waters. Think about the moving water. Have you ever stood there at
Niagara Falls? and watch the amount of water
that goes over the falls and the thundering power of that
water. It's just, it takes you back. It's so powerful. Have you ever
stood on the beach when a storm is coming in and the waves roll
in with a roar? Who controls that? Who controls
the wind, the water, the rain, the sun, the moon, the stars? How about the flood in Noah's
day? Who controlled that? Who sent that flood? God sent
that flood. It rained 40 days and 40 nights.
It rained so much that the highest mountain on the earth was covered
by, what, 20 feet? Isn't it amazing how you can
go out in the mountains of the West and you can go 6, 7, 8,000
feet and you can find remnants of the sea. Seashells and fossils. How did that happen? The Lord
sent the flood, didn't he? The flood in Noah's day and the
flood in our day. We know something about that
in recent years, don't we? Even recent days. February 15th. I wonder how many people that
were devastated with that flood knew and realized that the Lord
sent that flood. I doubt very few, I doubt very
few did. We've been through, we've been
through many floods. And the Lord sent every one of
them. And it must needs be. And it's for, it was for our
good. It was for our good. So we know
when we talk about the kingdom of nature, The weather, the wind,
the lightning, the thunder, the storms. God controls all that,
right? It's also true in the kingdom
of grace. Also true in the kingdom of grace.
God Almighty sends a storm of his mercy. the waters of the
word, the lightning of his grace, and the thunder of the gospel,
where, when, and to whom he will." He sends the gospel in power
to whom he will. He said, I'll have mercy on whom
I will have mercy. I'll have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. You say, well, I don't like that. Tough, that's the way it is.
Take it up with him. You remember Romans 11, who are
you to complain against God? Who are you? I'm nobody, I'm
nobody. The voice of the Lord is in the
water of his word, isn't he? The word is quick and powerful.
The voice of the Lord is in the thunder of the gospel. Paul said,
I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it's the power
of God, and that word there, power, is dynamite, isn't it? It's the explosion of God unto
salvation. The God of glory thunders in
the gospel of grace where it is a blessed gospel of the glory
of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse four, the voice
of the Lord is powerful. We can't describe how powerful
his voice is. It's as powerful as God, the
almighty God. He rules in heaven. among the
inhabitants of this earth and he gives salvation to whom he
will. The voice of the Lord is in power
and is powerful. The voice of the Lord is full.
It's full of majesty, full of glory. The voice of the Lord
is full of mercy, full of love, full of grace. The wise man Solomon
writes in Ecclesiastes chapter eight, verse four, where the
word of the Lord, where the word of the king is, there is power.
Who may say unto him, what doest thou? None can say his hand or
say unto him, what doest thou? This is true in the kingdom of
nature. The power of tornado, hurricanes, lightning, earthquakes.
Boy, they had a devastating earthquake, didn't they? Who can shake the
earth like that? No man can shake the earth. God does. Why? He has all power. He has all power. I remember
when I was a little boy, I was in about third or fourth grade
out there where we lived in northern Utah. We lived right on what's
called the Wasatch Fault, the fault line. We lived right on
it. And sometimes that thought line would shift. I remember
one morning, I was in third or fourth grade. I was early in
the morning. It was about time to get up for
school and my bed just started sliding all over the floor. I
thought, my dad's shaking my bed to wake me up. Well, I woke
up and nobody was there. I started screaming. Who controls
that? God controls it all. I thought
the house was coming down. God controls the earthquake,
doesn't he? Only our God can shake the earth and only God
can shake the center and wake him up. It's true in the kingdom
of nature. It's also true in the kingdom of grace, isn't it?
How much more in the kingdom of grace? for who can accurately
describe the measure of His infinite, limitless, sovereign power, Almighty
God. In creation, He created all things
by the word of His power. I was reading Genesis chapter
one, and I was quite set back when it kept saying, and God
said, and it was so. And God said, and it was so. He speaks and it's done. He commands.
He stands fast. He creates all things by the
word of his power and creation. And in providence, the unfolding
events in time are merely the eternal decrees of God being
revealed. He said, I've spoken it. I'll
bring it to pass. I've purposed it. I will do it.
And in salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ has all power. He has
all power to convict of sin. of what I am and what I need. He has all power to convict of
righteousness, what I don't have and what I need in Christ. And
he has power to convict of judgment, what I deserve and what Christ
endured to put away my sin. He has all power to convict of
sin. He has all power in his salvation
to reveal it to our heart. You remember that verse when
it talks about God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness?
Going all the way back to creation. God who commanded the light to
shine out of darkness. God said, let there be light.
God had commanded the light of the gospel to shine in our heart.
That we might see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Aren't you glad He has all power?
All authority? To make unto us known His majesty. The majesty of His glorious wisdom. being both a just God and Savior,
therefore he said, look unto me and be ye saved. I love verse
5, Psalm 29 verse 5. The voice of the Lord breaketh
the cedars. Now there's different kind of,
different kind of trees. Cedar trees are Our special trees
are made of hard wood. Cedar trees, the old timers used
to use, they made fence posts out of cedar trees, didn't they?
They made furniture, cedar chest. It's enduring wood, isn't it?
It's hard wood. It's lasting wood. But the voice
of the Lord, you can take the biggest, strongest cedar tree,
and God can make it splinter to kindling wood. God does that. The voice of the Lord breaketh
the cedars, yea, even the cedar trees of Lebanon. You know, believers
are called the trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord. There
is no sinner too hard, too hard-hearted, that the Lord can't break, that
the Lord can't control. and subdue in submission unto
the Lord. There's no sinner too proud,
too arrogant, or too self-righteous that the voice of the Lord can't
whittle down in the dust and cause him to cry out for mercy. When the Lord sends his word
in power, it breaks the stout-hearted cedar trees, no heart Too hard
for God to break. He's not of a broken heart. Save us such as be of a contrite
spirit. In Isaiah 2, he writes, the lofty
looks of man shall be humbled. The haughtiness of man shall
be bowed down. And the Lord alone shall be exalted
in that day. The Lord breaketh the cedar trees.
when they need to be broken, and he breaks us. He controls
us. Look at verse 6. The voice of the Lord, he maketh
them also to skip like a calf. Lebanon and Syrion, Like a young
unicorn. Talking here about the mountains,
the mountains around Lebanon, or the mountains in Lebanon.
Sirion or Hermon, as it's said. The Lord not only has a way with
the trees, but also the mountains. By the command of God, mountains
melt down to nothing. You remember Mount St. Helens?
What happened to that mountain? Exploded, didn't it? God did
that. When we see these earthquakes
and these volcanoes and these eruptions and these mountains
melting down, that's the power of God. Even more so spiritually
in the gospel. The gospel is the dynamite of
God to level the mountains of pride and self-glory. The dying
voice of the Lord Jesus Christ from Calvary's tree caused the
rocks to rent and the grave to open. And the veil of the temple
split top to bottom. The voice of the living Lord
still works powerfully and he works wonderfully in the hearts
of his people. Let me remind you, don't turn,
let me read this to you again. The voice of him that quieth
in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord. Isaiah 40
verse 3, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be exalted. He strips us, he breaks us, and
he raises us up. Every mountain shall be made
low, hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made
straight, and rough places plain, and the glory of the Lord shall
be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth
of the Lord has spoken it." Controls all things, doesn't
it? Who would have thought that proud, proud, hard-hearted, God-hating
Pharisee named Saul of Tarsus, on his way to murder Christians,
But he met somebody, didn't he? He ran head on, and the Lord
of Glory arranged that meeting, and the Lord revealed Himself
unto Saul of Tarsus, and old Saul put his face in the dust
and cried out, Lord, what would you have me to do? He broke him,
didn't he? He gave him a heart to love,
the one whom he hated, the one who he's persecuted. The Lord
said, you're persecuting me! They're persecuting me. The voice
of the Lord, look at verse 7. The voice of the Lord divideth
the flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shaketh
the wilderness. The Lord shaketh the wilderness
in Kadish. Kadish, Barnea. That's the wilderness
where they spent 40 years in the wilderness. The voice of
the Lord divideth or cutteth flames of fire. Lightning flashes
across the sky with tremendous energy and crushing power, like
the flames of fire generating great light and heat, even more
so in the kingdom of grace. Flames of fire attend the voice
of our God in the gospel, illuminating and melting stony hearts of men.
At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was upon the disciples like a
fire, remember? gave them great boldness in their
day. The voice of the Lord in the gospel is a flame of fire
upon the hearts of his people. We sang a moment ago, Kindle
a Sacred Love. in these poor hearts of ours,
that we might set our hearts on things above, not on the things
of the earth, causing our heart to burn with passion toward the
Lord Jesus Christ. Remember what those two men said
to the Lord, those two men on the road to Emmaus, when the
Lord opened to them the gospel, and he preached, beginning with
Moses and all the prophets, the things concerning himself. And
they said one to another, didn't our heart burn within us when
he opened to us the word of the Lord? That's what the effect
of the word of the Lord has upon his people. Verse 8, the Lord
shaketh the wilderness. The Lord shaketh the wilderness. In the desert and desolate places
of the world, he sends his voice. He causes a storm to ride upon
the wasteland where no voice of man is heard, but the voice
of God thunders and shakes the inhabitants thereof. Even so,
in the desolate wilderness of a sinner's heart, the Lord does
send his mighty voice to the preaching of the gospel. He shakes
our mind, convicts us of our sin, breaks our stubborn will,
and turns the wilderness of sin into a fruitful garden. I want
you to turn and read this with me. I was looking at this earlier.
Turn to the book of Isaiah again. Turn to Isaiah 51. I hope I've got this right. Isaiah 51. He turns a wilderness
into a garden. Isaiah 51. Look at verse three, Isaiah 51,
verse three. The Lord shall comfort Zion.
He will comfort her waste places. He will make her wilderness like
Eden, like Eden. And her desert, like the garden
of the Lord, and joy and gladness shall be found therein. Thanksgiving, and the voice of
melody shall be heard. The voice of the Lord. He turns
a wilderness into a garden of His grace, doesn't He? Look at verse 9, the voice of
the Lord maketh the hinds, the calves, the deers, to give offspring, and discovereth
the forests, and in His temple doth everyone speak. They speak
of His glory. In His temple, they speak of
His glory. His people speak of Him. Of him, of him alone do
they speak of. The voice of the Lord makes the
deer to bring forth their young and strips the forest bare. In
the kingdom of nature, the mighty roar of the thunder causes the
deer and the sheep and other animals to cast forth their offspring. And in the kingdom of grace,
we're regenerated from above by the mighty voice of the Lord. Of his own will beget he us with
the word, with the voice of the Lord, begotten from above. Our Lord said no man can see
the kingdom of God except he's born from above. And He causes
us to have life. He quickens and begets us into
life. And He grants us faith that we
might see Him as everything, everything in salvation. Look at the last part of verse
9. In His temple, that His temple
is where He dwells. in his temple, that everyone
speak of his glory. When Isaiah heard of him, he
spake of his glory. Those who have heard his voice
in the words of the gospel, those who've had this soul-shaking
experience of grace in their heart, They see the glorious
revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when they see that,
they speak of His glory. Job said, I've heard of Thee,
but now I see Thee, wherefore I hate myself. When Isaiah learned
of Christ, he spake of His glory. That goes back to Isaiah chapter
6. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord high and
lifted up. And then he said, woe is me.
I'm undone. I'm a man of unclean lips. Verse 10, the Lord sitteth
upon the flood. He sits king forever. He reigns upon the flood. The
Lord said, it's king. You remember the wise men came? We've
always heard it's a religious tradition that there were three
wise men. Scripture doesn't say that. It
just said there were wise men. But what did they say? Where
is he this born king? Where is he this born king? He
is the king priest. He's the king that sits upon
the throne, the king priest. He's king of king and lord of
lords. Lord of lords and king of kings. Lord of lords and king of kings
forever and ever. He's not king by something we
do. He's not king by a democratic process, is he? We didn't vote
on this. God said, I've set my king upon
my holy hill Zion. You remember we studied this,
Psalm 47, don't turn on me, he's ready for you. For God is the
king of all the earth. Sing praises with understanding.
God reigneth over the heathen. God sits upon the throne of his
holiness. He sits upon the throne. He's
not, he's not raising his hand, walking up and down the banisters
of heaven trying to figure out what I'm gonna do next. The fall
didn't sneak up on God by surprise. He brought it. That he might
magnify his grace and mercy in Christ. The Lord sits upon the
flood. The Lord sitteth king forever.
He's the king priest. He's the king of righteousness
and the king of peace, isn't he? Verse 11, in closing, the
Lord will give, what does he give? The Lord will give, what
does he give? Everything we need. He gives
it. God who spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Everything you need. I mean everything
you need to stand before God complete is in Christ. In him goes all the fullness
of God's head bodily and you're complete. He will give Strength
unto His people. The strength of salvation is
Christ. He's given us Christ. Can you get any stronger than
that? Christ is our strength. He's our salvation. The Lord
will bless. He will give strength and then
He will bless His people. Remember Ephesians chapter 1?
He's blessed us with all spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in
Christ, according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy without blame before
Him in love, having accepted, we are accepted in the beloved,
predestinated to that end. The Lord will give strength unto
His people. The Lord will bless His people. I will be your God, you shall
be my people. I will and you shall. I shall
and you will. Isn't that a blessing? Aren't you thankful for the voice
of the Lord? We have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation and peace in Him.