The Voice of the Lord

Psalm 29:1-11

Ascribe to the Lord , O heavenly beings,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.

The psalmist charges the heavenly host of angels to give glory to God. This is a foretaste of how God's people will one day have some measure of authority over the angels (1 Cor. 6:3). The rest of the psalm can be seen as David's reasons for the angels (and us) to give God glory.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders, the Lord , over many waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. 

This may be a reference both to God's personal meticulous hand in creating the world (Gen. 1:2), and God's deliverance of Israel through the Red Sea (Exodus 14).

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf,
and Sirion like a young wild ox. 

We know from Psalm 19 that all of creation, from the skies above to the seas below, cry out in figurative speech, declaring the presence and power of God. And Paul tells us that because of this revelation in nature, each man is without excuse and will be held accountable for their lack of faith in their Maker (Romans 1:18ff). 

The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 

Even the more dangerous forces of nature speak to us of God's presence and coming judgement. All creation groans under the curse of sin, but this is also the voice of God reminding us of our need to be redeemed (Rom. 8:18-25). I am also reminded of how C.S. Lewis explained the pain and suffering we face as a message from God:

"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world." (The Problem of Pain)

The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth
and strips the forests bare,
and in his temple all cry, "Glory!" 

Here is the connection to verses 1 & 2 and the exhortation to give glory to God. These voices in nature, even the small details like the birth of a deer, are all driving us to stand in wonder and cry out "Glory!" I hope I can open my ears to these voices and be inspired daily to stand in awe of God. In this way, I revere him as king and can look to him for my strength and peace:

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord sits enthroned as king forever.
May the Lord give strength to his people!
May the Lord bless his people with peace!

The LORD Lives

Psalm 18:26

The LORD lives...

...............

These three words may seem obvious, or so simple as to not need elaboration, but in fact these words are a helpful summary of the entirety of Psalm 18.  The LORD lives.

When we begin the Psalm, we meet David in the midst of some overwhelming circumstances.  He is surrounded by his enemy ("the cords of death encompassed me"), but he quickly turns from his distress to the only true source of deliverance, Yahweh.  Verses 7-19 describe in vivid detail the awe-inspiring power and intervention of the Creator God, breaking through the heavens to reach down his mighty hand and lift his servant David out of the enemy's hands.  When God exhales, the foundations of the earth are laid bare (v. 19).  This description of God's intervention leaves me trembling.

Verses 20-30 should remind us of Psalm 17, as David claims that God has honored his own blamelessness and shown favor because of his own righteousness.  While we discussed that conundrum in detail already, it is helpful to note how verse 27 sheds even more light on the matter: "For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down."  David's claim of righteousness, far from being a haughty boast, was in fact a claim of desperate humility.  Only the humble man who admits his own weakness and regularly calls out for God's assistance and grace can truly be considered "righteous."

But, in spite of this humility in weakness, the man of God must not assume that God will do His work independent of our actions.  Verses 31-45 make it clear that David was actively involved in overcoming his enemies, even though he attributes his success entirely to the intervention of Yahweh.  "For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made those who rise against me sink under me."  If Psalm 18 is a model for the kinds of prayers that God will answer, then we must be ready to be actively involved in "answering" the prayer ourselves, so to speak - getting our hands dirty in the fight against sin and the fight against the Enemy as we seek to love and share truth in a dying world.

So, how is this all summarized in those three simple words - the LORD lives?  This weekend, our pastor preached a sermon on prayer from Daniel 9.  The example of Daniel served to drive home the message that God is truly alive in the life of the believer!  He lives!  He is at work through our prayers of faith.  Our prayers are not a futile exercise, but rather, when we pray confidently in light of what God has promised in his Word, the very earth will tremble and hosts of angels will be moved to accomplish the work He has set out to do.  He is sovereign, but he has ordained the means of OUR prayers to accomplish His miraculous work in the world.  We MUST pray expecting the God who truly lives to truly intervene and act in the world.

Here's how it sounds from Daniel's mouth (Daniel 9:18-19):

O my God, incline your ear and hear.  Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name.  For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.  O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, pay attention and act.  Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.

Angels Overruled

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Matthew 1:21

"She will bear a son,
and you shall call his name Jesus,
for he will save his people from their sins."

...............

Angels are many things, but they are not necessarily "innocent." It is odd how the common conception of angels is that they are pure, holy beings. If I see another piece of infant clothing that refers to a "little angel" I will gag. This is quite foreign to the biblical account because angels are first and foremost, created beings, and second, mere messengers.

First, the fact that angels are created beings should clue us in that they are something less then "holy." Isaiah 6 is a clear example of this. Rather than being holy, they forever testify to the infinitely superior holiness of God: "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty!" Matthew 1 hints at this as well, by describing the angel as "of the Lord." Its being is not independent of God's, but rather is entirely attached to the source of its existence.

Secondly, that angels are mere messengers is even more clear from Scripture. The first two chapters of Hebrews are prime real estate for this topic. "Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?" (1:14). This is what we are seeing in Matthew 1. Joseph is met by an angel in a dream and he is brought the message of salvation - the gospel - that through Jesus people can be saved from their sins.

Why does all this matter? This appears to be rather trivial, but the importance of defining angels as created messengers becomes clear in Galatians 1:8 - "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preach to you, let him be accursed." Paul is adamant that angels can be overruled. They are not an independently certain source of true knowledge. Our epistemic foundation is better situated in the gospel message of the apostle, over and above a supernatural visit from an angel, who could potentially preach a lie and find himself accursed. Let this be a warning to the extreme mysticism of cults which are based more on visions and angels than on the unchanging promises of God in Scripture (see also Col. 2:18-19). Let this also be a warning to us who pride ourselves in being "biblical" but who daily struggle with trusting God's promises and find ourselves searching for circumstantial signs to direct us in our decision-making. May we continue to put our final hope in God, rather than created messengers or mystical signposts.