Verse 29, and starting verse
1, Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and
strength. Give unto the Lord the glory
due His name. Worship the Lord in the beauty
of holiness. The voice of the Lord is upon
the waters. The God of glory thundereth. The Lord is upon many waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is full
of majesty. The voice of the Lord breaketh
the cedars. Yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars
of Lebanon. He maketh them also to skip like
a calf. Lebanon and Sirion, like a young
unicorn. The voice of the Lord divides
the flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shaketh
the wilderness, the Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh. The
voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve and discovers
the forest, and in His temple does everyone speak of His glory. The Lord sits upon the flood,
yea, the Lord sitteth king forever. The Lord will give strength unto
His people. The Lord will bless His people
with peace. Now David, in many of his Psalms, were composed during troublesome
situations or deliverance. that he had just experienced,
times of praise, Thanksgiving, but it was all a lot of natural
events took place that he wrote about these things. In Psalm
31, the dedication of the temple, the new house. In Psalms 104,
he speaks during a spring meditation. In the 51st Psalm, it's a time
of rebuke by Nathan the prophet. He writes about that. And so
here in Psalm 29, the God of all grace and supreme in all
nature, gives the psalmist poetic stanzas during the thunder and
tempest." Verse 3, the God of glory thundereth. So again, when
you go outside and it's storming and thundering, there's no need
to be afraid. It's in the hands of God. One
writer said, if God, you know, one of the captains of so many
years ago of an army, when it would start thundering and he
would just retreat and get in and hide. And the author of that
article said, God could kill him any way he wants to. So why
are you worried about, and I know a lot of times our children get
concerned about thunder. Well, it's a good opportunity
to tell them the God whom we worship, He's just on His throne. He's just on His throne. So,
the child of God and the child of mercy knows how to turn all
these common and natural displays to our religious or to our spiritual
advantage. So here in Psalm 21.9, David
takes the wondrous of God in the fits and power of the storm
and directs us to behold our sovereign and our Redeemer. And he ends this psalm with the
promises, which is where we're going to end up. The Lord will
give strength unto His people. The Lord will bless His people
with peace. Now that's almost a contradiction
to the world. It's crazy out there. There's storms everywhere. And yet the believer has been
blessed, that's grace, with peace. We'll get to that in a moment. But I ask myself and I ask us,
what have we to fear? What have we to fear? God is
in control of all things natural and all things supernatural. as we can read in this psalm. But let's look at it, let's kind
of go through it verse by verse. And I'm not going to make comments
on every verse, but there's a few that stick out. Verses 1 and
2 mainly. Give unto, give unto, verse 2,
give unto the Lord. He says that three times. Give
unto, give unto, give unto. And it's also interesting, the
name Jehovah, or the Lord or God, is used in these 11 verses
18 times. 18 times. Therefore, I believe
the whole of the Psalm points to the majesty, the kingly conduct,
and overall predominance of our great God. You know how I feel
about luck, and I feel about the same thing about chance.
There's no such thing. There's no such thing. Our God
rules and reigns. And if He rules over the lesser,
let's say, the stars and the moons and the skies and new galaxies,
man is so bright, discovering all the time. God rules over
those. He knew about them. He created
them. And we're just finally discovering. When I read again
the other day, there's a couple of more new species of animals
and insects. Well, they've been here the whole
time. No, God is over all this. And this should give us comfort.
Because He rules over the lesser things, which we see now, man's
like storms and lightnings and thunders. God rules over that.
But that's not as important to Him as ruling and reigning over
the lives of His people. The Lord will give strength unto
His people. His people. His people. So, also of note, the voice of
the Lord, that phrase appears seven times. So this is all about
the majesty and dominion and power and strength of our Lord
whom we serve and whom we love and whom we worship. But the
first thing that I noticed is I said, give unto the Lord, O
ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and strength, give unto
the Lord the glory due His name. This is said three times, the
first two verses, right off the bat. So this tells me that we
don't do this as we should. We don't do this as we should. We don't give unto the Lord the
glory due His name. We will glorify our neighbors,
we will glorify our friends, we will glorify our country,
and these are okay, but they need to know that they live and
move and breathe and have their being because He allows it. That's
how sovereign our God is. So it also tells me that man
thinks that he should at least share some of this glory. Because
as I said, we boast of discovery, we boast of science, intellect,
self-sufficiency, and how proud and arrogant we are from birth
that we gloat of our supposed free will, our decisions for
Jesus, our morality, our religiousness, anything that we can attribute
to ourselves, we glory. But the Scripture says, in no
uncertain terms, give unto the Lord. Give unto the Lord. Just
reading this one psalm ought to put us low in the dust. We
cannot even control the weather. Can't even control the weather.
We just look for the funnel cloud and we hightail it. We get out
of the way. We can't control that, let alone
the ways and means of the God in heaven. The God in heaven. He says in verse 2, Give unto
the Lord the glory, do His name. And I know it's been debated.
I don't know why. What is God's glory? Well, before
I even answer that, His glory is infinite and it's unexhaustible. You look at the insect upon the
ground and you can behold the glory of God. I can't remember
what we were talking about the other day. It was something to
do with the animal kingdom, and we're like, but how, why is that
the way it is? The glory of God. The glory of
God. I remember, and I don't, it just
popped in my head, I'll tell you, I think it was like Calvin
and Hobbes, like a cartoon, you know, I used to read some, I
don't even know if it's still in print, But the dad, or the
little boy, was being talked to and he's asking, he's asking,
well what about the leaf? He said, well God made those.
And what about this? God made that. And he goes, now tell me
if I'm going too fast. You know, most kids like, well,
You know, the stomata does this and does that, and then the photosynthesis,
but he was just going right. He says, well, God made that,
and God made that, and everything that was God. And so, well, you
know, tell me if I'm going too fast. But that's the case. I
mean, we have an inquiring mind, except for the glory of God.
Except for the glory of God. Well, I'd say the glory of God
has to do with His dignity. His very person and character. The exercise and display of His
distinctive attributes. Basically, it's what He has that
nobody else has. It's what He has that nobody
else has. His sovereign free will, His
perfect righteousness which is found in Christ, Christ stated,
if you've seen me, you've seen the Father, John 14, 9. So if
you've seen Christ, you've seen the glory of God. Christ reveals Himself to usward,
and what do we do when He does this? Well, finish in verse 2,
Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. We're brought to
the dust, and we worship the Lord God. the Lord of creation,
the Lord of nature, the Lord of the animal kingdom, the Lord
over all. That's what we do. When He reveals
Himself to us, we give unto the Lord. Mighty, we give unto the
Lord. Glory and strength, we give unto the Lord. The glory
due His name. We don't rob Him of any glory.
We realize if we can do something today, it's by His glory. It's by His grace. If we can't
do something tomorrow, we submit. It's for His honor and for His
glory. However weak and frail we may be, and we are, He intercedes
on our behalf, making us accepted or acceptable in the Beloved. Turn to Ephesians 1. Ephesians
1. Verses 1-6. an apostle of Jesus Christ, by
the will of God, to the saints, which are Ephesus, and to the
faithful in Christ Jesus, grace be unto you and peace from God
our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ." Everything we
need is right here. Paul is an apostle. How? Why?
By the will of God. By the greater, we have lesser. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who had blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places, according as He hath chosen us,
His people, in Him, before the foundation of the world, that
we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will. to the
praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted
in the Beloved." Hardly any comments need to be made. It sounds like
verses 1-6, salvation, acceptance, righteousness, holiness, grace,
mercy, and everything is found in Christ. The glory of God. Give unto the Lord the glory
do His name. And I said this before on Wednesday
or last Sunday, we realize when He reveals Himself to us, when
we see what we are, we have no problem with saying, without
Him, I can do nothing. It has nothing to do with age,
it has nothing to do with sex, it has nothing to do with ethnic
backgrounds. Without Him, I, we, can do nothing. And that puts us in proper place. That puts us as beggars at the
footstool of Christ. Well, let's just kind of read
through the psalm. Verse 3, the voice of the Lord
is upon the waters. The God of glory thundereth. The Lord is upon many waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is full
of majesty. These words are just, I guess
I should have looked each one of them up, powerful, majesty,
but we know what these are. The voice of the Lord breaks
the cedars. Cedars of Lebanon, which they
always talked about in the Bible as the strong, majestic, huge
trees. The Lord just looks and His voice
just breaks them. He makes them skip like calves.
Verse 7, the voice of the Lord divides the flame of fire. When
you're sitting in a campground and you're watching the fire,
and the fire's going and it divides and goes over here, the Lord's
doing that. The Lord's doing that. The voice
of the Lord shakes the wilderness. The voice of the Lord makes the
hinds, the calf, discovers the forest. In His temple does everyone
speak of His glory. Oh, I wish it was so. I wish
everyone in Jackson, everyone in Cape County, everyone that
would come into this place would glorify His name. Would glorify
His name. Would speak of His glory. Verse 10, the Lord sits upon
the floods. The Lord sits the King over all, forever. He's
King. The floods obey His words. Christ
was walking on the water and in the storm, the winds and everything,
and Peter was freaking out. I said, peace be still. He just calmed it. He speaks
and it happens. He speaks through the preaching
of His Gospel. He speaks through His Word. His Word is alive and saves whom He will. Lord,
You can make me clean. Come as a beggar. Come beseeching
Him for mercy, for grace. He can do it. Nothing is impossible
with Him. Nothing at all. But then we get
into verse 11. The Lord will give strength unto
His people. With all the trials and tempests
that fall upon us, the thunder clouds roll upon us of this evil
world, we His people must get, and we will be assured of strength.
Because this is a promise, the Lord will give strength unto
His people. Why? Well, it says we were without
strength. In due time, Christ died for
the ungodly. We were without strength. So
we need strength. We are weak, but He is our strength. We are frail, but He is our help
in time of need. We are often downcast and set
at naught, but He promises that in Christ we have grace and glory. John 1 and Psalms 84, in Him
we have grace and glory. We are distressed and fearful,
but in Him we are, what, Romans 8, more than conquerors. What,
me? Yes, more than conquerors. Take
the helmet, the breastplate, and shod your feet with all the
armament that's in Christ Jesus, our Lord, for us. But this is
not all that is promised to the elect bride. Look at the last
phrase. The Lord will bless His people
with peace. Now, this word peace is just
so fascinating in the last ten years of my life because You
look without, there's not peace. You look within, and there's
struggles. You do something that dishonors
our Lord. It's like, how can I be a believer? How can I do that? How can I
think that? You don't want to look at my
thoughts. I don't want them projected. And then you go outside and you
know, okay, I'll read the news or I'll see what's going on.
And it's just this stuff all the time. It's just constant
disarray. Wars upon wars. But He said it
was going to be this way. But He who controls all things
by the Word of His grace and power can give you strength in
time of need. And to me, just as important
or more important is peace. Peace. When we start getting
older, shuffling off the coils, they say, peace, peace. He will bless His people with
peace, internal peace that passes all understanding, and at times,
external peace, There's times when you sit there and you wake
up in the morning and maybe you don't have to go to work, or
the kids are behaving and the grandkids are fed. You're just
like, it's peaceful. Those times aren't very much.
But you realize it's peaceful. But He's promised it. I will
bless My people with peace. Now in the world we will have
tribulations, so we know that. So we don't look to the world
for peace. We don't look to our jobs for peace. We don't look
for, we look to Christ, we look to one another, we look to the
scriptures, but Christ mainly, because the promises in Him are
yes and amen. I will bless my people, the same
as in the first part of verse. Who gets this strength? Those
who need it, His people. Those who need to have peace
are His people. And eternal. Internal, external,
and eternal. Peace. Turn with me to John 14. John 14 and verse 27. John 14, 27. Peace I leave with you, says
Christ, my peace I give. There is grace, there is a blessing
unto you. Not as the world gives, I give
unto you, let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be
afraid." Don't be afraid of the lightning, don't be afraid of
floods, don't be afraid of nature, don't be afraid of, you know,
people say God's speaking in the thunder and lightning, well,
perhaps, but don't be afraid of that. Don't be afraid of that. Neither
let your heart be troubled, let it not be afraid. That would
be peace, because He gives peace. We need to constantly go back,
if we can, and remember when the Lord saved us, and did graciously
to us. If you can't remember exact time,
I'm not saying that. I'm just saying, look where you
are now, and look what the Lord has done, and that ought to give you peace.
Well, we've had some trouble. I don't know if we're going to
make it to the end of the month. You will. You will. That's our problem in this country.
It's easier to do so than not. Next time we have Jean-Claude,
just sit him down and find out about our African brethren. Peace. It doesn't matter. He
promises peace. Hebrews 12 and verse 11. We talked about chastening in the
Bible class. Hebrews 12 and verse 11. Now, no chastening or correction,
for the present seems to be joyous but grievous. Nevertheless, Afterward,
it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which
are exercised." It yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness. Why am I struggling? Why am I
so downcast? Why is this happening to me? All these different things that
come to our mind. It's going to yield the peaceable,
because He's promised it, of righteousness. Isaiah 32. Isaiah 32, verse 17. This kind
of sums it up as far as I'm concerned. Isaiah 32, verse 17. The work of righteousness shall
be peace. Did Christ not work righteousness
for us? Yes. Absolutely. The work of righteousness
shall be peace and the effect of righteousness Quietness and
assurance forever. You have trouble with assurance?
Look to Christ. Look to His person. Look to what
He has done. The work of righteousness shall
be, not maybe, not if you decide, if you agree to the terms, no,
the terms have already been met, shall be peace and the effect
of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever. It has to
be this way. Every believer has to have peace.
It's an essential part and parcel of the finished work of our blessed
Redeemer. If you believe Christ, He promises
peace. He promises peace. The thunder clappings and the
hardships and trials and struggles are all around us all the time.
But in and because of the Only Begotten of the Father, we are
made strong, and we have peace. We have peace. I'll read verse
11 again. The Lord will give strength unto
His people. The Lord will bless His people
with peace. It's a promise. Claim it. Mark the date on the side of
the Bible. and every time you struggle, and every time you're
not restful, well, the Lord said so. I believe it. I believe it. Are we frightened of that last
day and that fiery judgment of God? Because there's going to
be a last day where He's going to separate. Are we beyond scared
of the wrath to come? Do we really understand the wrath
of God against the sin? Do we fear it? Are we scared? I say simply flee safely into
the protecting and all-covering arms of the man Christ Jesus,
who is God, who controls the water, who controls the sea,
who controls the air, who controls everything. Flee safely into
His arms. Be strong. Be safe. And be at peace. at peace. Bruce, would you close us?