God’s voice thunders over the waters, shatters the strongest “cedars,” shakes the wilderness, and strips the forests bare until heaven can only cry, “Glory!”—and yet this same Lord sits enthroned above the flood, giving His people strength and peace; let His awesome voice dethrone every rival “king” in your life and direct your worship, not just on Sundays but every day. [40:34]
Psalm 29 (ESV)
1 Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.
3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord, over many waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf,
and Sirion like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth
and strips the forests bare,
and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord sits enthroned as king forever.
11 May the Lord give strength to his people!
May the Lord bless his people with peace!
Reflection: Identify one rival “king” in your life (sports, work, ambition, or approval); today, set a 10-minute appointment to ascribe glory to God aloud from Psalm 29, and replace one habit tied to that rival with this worship time—what habit will you replace and when will you do it?
The same Lord whose voice shakes creation stands in a Galilean boat, rebukes the wind and waves, and gives grace to everyone in the boat; bring your present storm to Him today, because the One who commands creation is the only One who can grant you peace with God and calm within. [42:42]
Mark 4:35–41 (ESV)
35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Reflection: Name the specific “storm” you face right now; three times today (morning, noon, evening), speak Jesus’ words “Peace! Be still!” over it and ask Him for faith—who will you text to ask to pray with you once today?
All creation is summoned to give God the glory due His name, and even the heavenly beings never cease to cry, “Holy, holy, holy”; join their ceaseless adoration by letting your lips lead your heart into worship and calling others—on earth and in heaven—to praise Him. [32:28]
Revelation 4:8 (ESV)
8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!”
Reflection: At noon today, step aside for two minutes and slowly pray “Holy, holy, holy” and the doxology; who beyond yourself (a child, friend, or coworker) will you invite to pause with you and praise God?
Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of His nature; He sustains all things by His powerful word and, having made purification for sins, is seated, ruling and reigning—so bring what you cannot hold together under His upholding word today. [43:54]
Hebrews 1:3 (ESV)
3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Reflection: Choose one area you try to control (finances, schedule, reputation); write a two-sentence prayer surrendering it to Christ who upholds all things, and read Hebrews 1:3 aloud over it—what concrete action will show your surrender today?
In Christ, God rescues us from the domain of darkness, transfers us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, and grants redemption and forgiveness; let the peace of Christ rule your heart as His word dwells richly in you, overflowing in grateful worship and everyday obedience. [46:17]
Colossians 1:13–14 (ESV)
13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Reflection: In three sentences, write your rescue story (from darkness to Christ’s kingdom), and share it with one person today; if you have not yet trusted Christ, will you pray for salvation now and tell a pastor or trusted believer before tonight?
Psalm 29 lifts our eyes to the one question that governs every other: Who is king over my life? We chase lesser kings—sports, careers, ambition—and let them shape our emotions, our calendars, and our conversations. David calls us to give credit where it is due: ascribe to the Lord glory and strength; worship Him in the splendor of His holiness. That call stretches beyond this room to the heavens themselves—creation and the heavenly host summoned to praise. This is what we were made for: not a Sunday hobby, but a life of pursuing God with awe, day after day.
David then paints the voice of the Lord like a storm marching across the land—thundering over the waters, shattering the cedars of Lebanon, making mountains skip, flashing fire, shaking the wilderness, even precipitating birth. All creation becomes a theater of His glory, and the right response rises from His temple: “Glory!” Such power warns us against living at odds with God; and yet, as the storm subsides, the scene shifts to a throne. Yahweh sits enthroned over the flood—King forever—giving His people strength and blessing them with peace.
How do we receive such strength and peace? Only through Jesus. He is the one who rebukes the wind and the waves and stills the storm; the radiance of God’s glory who sustains all things by His powerful word. Through His cross, He makes peace with God for sinners. Today is the day to turn from our rival kings and entrust ourselves to Him.
For those in Christ, Colossians reminds us what has already happened: rescued from the domain of darkness, transferred into the kingdom of the Son, redeemed and forgiven. Let the peace of Christ rule your hearts as the word dwells richly among you. Practice enthroning Him in the ordinary—make a gratitude list, rehearse the gospel, sing, pray, and encourage one another. And at the Table, remember: this family meal celebrates the King who gives His people strength and peace.
Well, to answer the question, who's your king? The psalmist enters in chapter 29 here, and David gives usa good explanation of who we ought to be glorifying as the king, who it is that we ought to praise, who it is we ought to honor, glorify, and worship. It's a clear illustration about who it is that we ought to be in awe of and who it is that is rightfully king.And this morning and always, that is God Almighty. [00:27:31] (39 seconds) #OnlyGodIsKing
And as you begin to walk through this psalm, you want to be sure not to miss that we should only be attributing kingship and praise and honor and glory to the God who creates, to the God who saves, to the God whose power is unmistakable, and the God who brings a peace and a strength to those that he calls his own. [00:28:09] (23 seconds) #EnthronementPraise
See, this psalm, it could technically be described as a psalm of praise.But I think David takes it to another level.This is a psalm about enthronement.Psalm 29, it's a celebration. It's a celebration of divine kingship, of God's sovereignty. It's tone, it stresses to us the significance of the God that we serve and the king over creation that he is.And so this morning, I pray that you would see the sheer awesomeness, the awesomeness of the voice of the Lord, that we would be able to spend this time together and we would cultivate a reverent awe of God to the point where it's him alone who captures our hearts and directs our lives as our one true king. [00:28:33] (57 seconds) #RunAfterGod
Church, hear me this morning. Our God, our God is infinite. He's infinite in perfection. The weight of that reality ought to drive our desire to show him praise. His glory, his glory is infinite. He is our Lord, he is our king, he is our God. Our worship should be characterized as running after God. [00:33:37] (30 seconds) #WorshipEveryday
So what's the question? Well, the question is, is that happening in your day -to -day life?Is that happening right here this morning as we worship, as we hear the word proclaimed, as we take the Lord's Supper, as we do everything church on Sunday?Are we running after God?Do we run after God just on Sunday and then hang it up and the Bible goes on the shelf for the rest of the week and then we come back the next Sunday?Or are we running after God every single day because of who he is?Is that happening in your walk day -to -day? Are you running after God in worship? Have you ever spent time thinking about how you worship the Lord?So this morning I urge you, consider your worship of the Lord because it matters. It matters. Where on your list of priorities is bringing glory to God? [00:34:07] (61 seconds) #GodsPowerRevealed
And in three through nine, really the picture that's painted is this picture of a storm. God is like a storm here. He's described as a storm. Think with me about where we live.Think with me about the seasons that we experience here in Virginia Beach.We get all four, don't we? We get hurricanes. We get blizzards.But when I read this psalm, what really stuck out to me was this sort of season where it changed. We have a change of seasons from spring to summer.And we have these thunderstorms that occur that are just, they're overwhelming. [00:36:08] (36 seconds) #HeedHisWarning
So how do I become his people?We could ask, how do I get right with God? And the reality isthat we don't give God the glory due his name.That we are preoccupied with all the things of this world, whether it be football or our careers or our ambitions.Whether it be thinking that we're a good person and just trying to do good things.We don't always give God the glory that's due his name. We don't always see the awesomeness of his power. So what's the answer? How do I get right with God? [00:41:53] (41 seconds) #GospelBringsPeace
Jesus, the Lord, Jesus, the King. Church, he has come down. He has served. He has sacrificed. And through the blood of the cross, praise God. He has made peace with God for all of our sins. [00:43:59] (18 seconds) #GratitudeAndGospel
So as his people, we can and we should adore and praise the Lord as king. We should let him rule over our hearts and minds. It should affect how we worship, how we serve, how we study, how we pray, how we support one another. Here at Bayside Baptist Church and also when we leave these four walls. [00:46:20] (27 seconds)
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