Storm Glory

Psalm 29 traces the fury of a thunderstorm blowing in from the sea.

It whips through the northern forests, tears across the land and into the Negev in the south.

It splits oak trees asunder and shatters the mighty cedars of Lebanon. It strips the forests bare.


The singer revels in the majestic roar of waves and thunder, howling wind, crack of lightning and reverberation of trees crashing to the ground. Nature is majestic, wild and breath-taking!

Water, wind and weather dwarf our pride. Sailors, mountain-climbers and airline pilots learn to respect nature’s laws. But this storm-song tells us more.

It has deep mythic overtones – it echoes the original waters of chaos when God cracked open darkness and called the ordered world into being – God’s creative voice. And it echoes God’s thundering judgment in Noah’s day when nature erupted to purge the world.

This psalm corrects our instinct to domesticate God or reduce God to an impersonal force. Eighteen times it names God by name and ascribes nature’s awesome power, majesty and beauty to Yahweh. This God speaks with a voice - seven times the voice of Yahweh speaks.

Another instinct in storms is to fear the worst – to give the storm 'god-status'. In a hurricane or personal upheaval - a medical crisis, family chaos, financial thunderstorm, a mudslide of failure or doubt, the fury of the storm threatens to over-whelm us. We fear it will consume us. This psalm reminds us that above the roar of waves and rain, God thunders, whispers, sings.

At the end of the psalm, Yahweh sits secure above the flood-waters, restoring strength to his people after the catastrophic storm and blessing them with peace - shalom – like the rainbow that arched over Noah and a renewed world.

The psalm’s opening summons everyone in the entire universe with a mind and a will to acclaim Yahweh as worthy of glory and honor.

Israel sings this song because she learned that Yahweh, not Baal is the ultimate Storm-god, ruling over nature powerfully and majestically. The very act of singing this song is a practice of faith and defiance. This psalm re-orients faith to sing with confidence and wonder - even during a storm.

Psalm 29: 3-5, 9-11
Ascribe to Yahweh, O mighty ones,
Ascribe to Yahweh the glory due his name!
The voice of the LORD is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the LORD thunders over the mighty waters.
The voice of the LORD is powerful;
the voice of the LORD is majestic.
The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;
the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
The voice of the LORD twists the oaks and strips the forests bare.
And in his temple all cry, "Glory!"
The LORD sits enthroned over the flood;
the LORD is enthroned as King forever.
The LORD gives strength to his people;
the LORD blesses his people with peace.

Shalom!