Embrace the Word for Wednesday, February 25, 2026

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Psalm 29, which is, “A Psalm of David,” is neither technically a plea to the LORD, nor an explicit celebration of praise. Psalm 29 calls upon “the heavenly beings,” or the sons of God, to honor the LORD. Psalm 29 shares at least two significant points with Psalm 28. Each Psalm closes with the powerful affirmation that the LORD is strength to His people (28:8), the One who gives strength to His people (29:11). Whereas in Psalm 28, David lifts up his “voice” to the God he hopes will not be silent (28:1-2); Psalm 29 is a resounding reply by the sevenfold “voice of the LORD” (29:3-9). Psalm 29 opens with a command to the “heavenly beings” (29:1-2); then a celebration of the power of the LORD’s voice (29:3-9); before a conclusion that the LORD is the King who saves His people.

Psalm 29 seems to be the center Psalm in a subunit of Book 1 of the Psalter. This subunit is comprised of Psalms 25-33, with Psalms 25-28, which are personal prayers, inversely mirroring Psalms 30-33. Psalm 29 highlights the glory of the LORD, particularly in how He brings about salvation through judgment. David’s confidence of his own deliverance is seen through the way that the LORD secured the salvation of His people through the judgment of the flood. The term “flood” occurs thirteen times in the Old Testament. Twelve of the occurrences are in Genesis 6-11, and all refer to the great, destructive flood in Noah’s time. Psalm 29 has the thirteen occurrence: “The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD sits enthroned as king forever” (29:10). The use of the term “flood” in Psalm 29, along with the references to the “waters” (29:3), and the imagery of destructive floodwaters (29:5-9), indicates that the entire Psalm is a meditation on and response to what God did during the great flood. David is seeing that his experience is reminiscent of how the LORD rescued Noah from destruction.

Psalm 29 opens with a call to worship: “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” (29:1-2). What is intriguing is who David is calling to worship. The alternative reading for “O heavenly beings” in a footnote of the English Standard Version says “the sons of God.” Though an ever so slightly different phrase is used in Genesis, it was “the sons of God” (See Genesis 6:2), who saw that the daughters of man were beautiful and wanted to take them as their wives. In light of this, I am suggesting that it is the heavenly rebels, that is, the fallen, condemned angelic beings, who are being summoned to honor the LORD.

How these “heavenly beings” were to honor the LORD is explained in the remainder of verse 1 and into verse 2. The first three lines of these two verses begin with the exhortation to “ascribe to the LORD,” with each line adding more details. To “ascribe” means to recognize or acknowledge that these things are true of God and that He deserves praise for them. The first “ascribe” oriented us to those being summoned to honor the LORD. The second “ascribe” introduces us to what the LORD was to be honored for—“glory and strength.” The “heavenly beings were being called upon to recognize the glorious (we might say beautiful or majestic) display of His strength. Furthermore, the third “ascribe” calls for a recognition of how much the LORD has revealed concerning His glorious greatness. To “worship” is literally to bow before. Thus, the name of the LORD is to be recognized with a submission that adoringly acknowledges how beautifully unique He is as displayed in all that He does.

David explains, through a description of the power of the “voice of the LORD,” why He should be bowed down to and honored. The “voice of the LORD,” which reveals the power and greatness of God, that is the glory of God, occurs seven times, starting with the power of God’s voice over the waters: “The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over many waters” (29:3). The LORD’s voice brought all into being as He spoke the world into existence (See Genesis 1). The LORD’s voice summoned the flood. As the LORD’s voice is over the waters, God caused it to thunder. The LORD’s voice is a powerful force that reveals His greatness: “The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty” (29:4). The world is hit with the mighty force of the waters as they comply with the LORD’s voice: “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.” (29:5-6). The mighty cedars of Lebanon snap like twigs; the giant trees were tossed around like a calf skipping. Nothing stood in the way of the wall of water. By the command issued by the voice of the LORD, nothing remained.

The thunder that was mentioned earlier comes back into the picture accompanied with lightning: “The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire” (29:7). The effects of the stormy flood is further described: “The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare, and in his temple all cry, “Glory!” (29:8-9). The forests and the animals were all in panic and were tossed in angst in the face of the smashing weight of the overpowering storms. Under direction from the voice of the LORD, the forests were stripped bare by the watery judgment. And while judgment was unfolding at the command of God, all of creation was acknowledging that God is glorious. 

While everything was being subjected to the judgment, the LORD, whose voice was directing the destruction, was on His throne: “The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD sits enthroned as king forever” (29:10). The LORD held sway over His creation and His voice ruled over all. By the Word of the LORD, the world was created; by the Word of the LORD, the world is held together; and by the Word of the LORD, the world, at the time of the flood, was destroyed. The LORD will never be dethroned, and the Word of the LORD will never be derailed: “so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (See Isaiah 55:11).

David concludes with the implications that the power and majesty of the voice of the LORD have for God’s people: “May the LORD give strength to his people! May the LORD bless his people with peace!” (29:11). David prays that the LORD’s people would know of the strength that He gives and peace with which He blesses. The LORD transfers His strength (29:1) to His people. And the LORD, who curses the wicked by unleashing His judgment, blesses His people with peace. The final word in a Psalm that vividly describes the violence of God’s judgment is an even more vivid description of salvation: peace. The blessing of salvation is peace.

As we reflect on Psalm 29, we can consider how the great salvation that God has effected for His people has come through a profound judgment. This reflects backwards to the salvation of Noah and his family, who were saved through the flood by being in the Ark. But it also reaches forward to the salvation through judgement that Jesus provided for His people (See 1 Peter 3:18-22). The storms of judgment fell upon Jesus so that His people would be kept safe from the storm. The floodwaters of God’s wrath washed over Jesus at the cross, so that those who are in Christ, now experience peace and strength.

That’s all for Embrace the Word for Wednesday, February 25, 2026. I look forward to being back with you for the Friday, February 27, 2026 episode of Embrace the Word as we take a look at Psalm 30.