A Psalm of David
1 Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength.
2 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto His name: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
3 The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon 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 breaketh the cedars: yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He maketh them also to skip like a calf: Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.
7 The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire.
8 The voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness: the LORD shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in His temple doth every one speak of His glory.
10 The LORD sitteth upon the flood: yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever.
11 The LORD will give strength unto His people: the LORD will bless His people with peace.
Jehovah is the all-powerful Sovereign over all the earth and worthy of our praise.
If you were to watch a man take a gigantic tree of three feet in diameter and snap it in two, like a toothpick, you would most likely stand there for a moment in amazement. And if he did it by simply speaking the word, you would be in awe. We stand in awe of the authority, the majesty, the power, and the sovereignty of God. Some sports fans will roar with delight when a football player jumps six feet into the air to grab a ball, landing in the end zone. But how much more do we shake with thrill and raise our voices with praise at the greatness of the God who made and controls the swirling realms of nature!
Verses 1–2. For some of our modern ball games, we find cadres of cheerleaders whose responsibility it is to whip the audience of fans into a fervor of praise and encouragement for the players on the field. In a similar way, David opens this psalm with an encouragement to praise the One who can do more than toss a ball around a field. Here is an arousal to praise.
Now generally speaking, powerful and proud men do not want to ascribe the glory to God. They are so consumed with their own power, they cannot see that their power is nothing in comparison to God. That is why this psalm instructs the most powerful men in the world, including our president, to ascribe to God all glory and power. Although you will rarely hear the presidents of modern countries acknowledge God’s power and sovereignty over the world, that is precisely what they ought to do.
Verses 3–10. The following verses describe the God whom we worship, with a special focus upon His power working through natural phenomena. By merely speaking, powerful men can accomplish great things. For example, when President Truman issued the command, Hiroshima and Nagasaki went up in smoke and over 100,000 people died. But even these acts of power are a mere pittance when compared to what the voice of God accomplishes. When we hear the thunder, and the roar of a tidal wave that takes out 350,000 people in their cities and villages, we know that there is a God behind it. We can hear the very voice of God. In nature, we come face to face with the reality of the Creator. Even the power of nature harnessed by men through thermodynamic and atomic processes is borrowed power—borrowed from the God who created all matter and energy and holds absolute sovereign control over it.
Using powerful poetic language, the Psalmist continues to describe the power of God, snapping huge cedar trees in half, tossing them around like toothpicks, and sending earthquakes that make whole land masses skip like a calf. These tremendous earthquakes can move hundreds of thousands of square miles of land, and they have been known to level entire cities.
Thus, we see that God merely speaks and the inanimate and animate world obeys His voice. That is absolute authority. If He purposes an earthquake or another baby deer, He merely speaks the word, and there is an earthquake or another fawn. Certain theologians have suggested that God allows the world to function on its own and certain parts of this world’s natural operations function by shear chance or by the sovereign will of men. But this text clearly contradicts such vain imaginations. Every doe wandering around in every forest in the world produces the miracle of new life on the command from the mouth of Yahweh Himself. He is intricately involved with every detail of His creation. Nothing is hid from Him, right down to the tiny insect wandering about on the floor of the darkest and most remote forest on this globe.
He sits as King over the vast oceans and the galaxies in this expansive universe. Kings control the land over which they rule and our King maintains absolute control over every square inch of this universe. Surely He is worthy of our praise and worship.
Verse 11. The psalm ends with a comforting word for the people of God. The same power that moves the earth and causes a mother to bring forth new life will provide strength and salvation for the people of God. The Sovereign who brings about the turmoil of the raging volcanoes and earth-shaking quakes is the same Sovereign who blesses His people with peace.
Two applications emerge from this majestic psalm. First, the concerns and consternations of life should not cause us to worry because God is in control. For it is only because God is absolutely sovereign over the earthquakes and the floods that we, His people, can live in peace and rest in His salvation. Secondly, the voice of authority that controls nature is the same voice of authority that speaks through the written Word of God. As we read the Bible, we must bow to this authority and accept what the Word tells us to believe and to do.
Sometimes we need a little cheerleading in worship, to wake each other up and really consider the majesty, beauty, and grace of our God, and to encourage each other to His praise. This should come by way of exhortations from the pulpit, psalm-singing, and prayer. Worship describes the wonders of nature in terms of the acts of God Himself. As Christians who have accepted God as He describes Himself in His Word, we should never ascribe natural disasters to nature or chance. In worship, we view the world as the product of the creative and providential hand of God. We describe natural phenomena and occurrences such that we can hear the voice of God and see the hand of God in it all. It is critical that we bring God back to the center of our worship. He is the center of creation and ought to be in the center of our life and worship. If this is the case, we will stand in awe of the mighty God of creation. We will thrill at His sovereignty and rest in sweet comfort in His strength that will keep us all of the days and years of our lives. Many people today are familiar with the worship of sports heroes who toss little balls around a court, but far fewer know what it is to worship God who tosses the stars into the galaxies. The worship of God will include loud praises, boasts about His marvelous power and works, and a confidence in His strength to keep us in the future.
1. Give several examples of Praise psalms.
2. In the first two verses of the psalm, who is encouraged to ascribe to God power and glory?
3. How does God manifest His sovereign power in nature?
4. How does the psalm end?
5. Give several examples of Deliverance psalms.
6. Which psalm begins with, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”
7. Which psalm would you recommend to somebody who is going through a very big trial?
1. Of all of God’s works of creation and providence, what are the most impressive to you? Do you know how to praise God for these things?
2. Who are the most powerful men in the world today? Compare them with God in your mind, and tell us how powerful they really are.