GLORY AND STRENGTH
Psalm 29
“Ascribe to the Lord, you 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 his holiness.”
We live our lives as mortals, always subject to the power of the elements, the power of wealth, position, and brute force. Everyday as we read the news we are reminded of how weak we are, how little control we have in our lives.
In our weakness, God is a comfort: a warm blanket of hope and encouragement, shielding us from the worst of the evil that wields such power.
This is, of course, true. God indeed is our comfort, our protector, our bulwark against our enemies. But it is false if we think that that is all God is and can do. With such thinking we easily fall into the habit of treating God irreverently and sometimes even with contempt, as if he is merely a superior mortal but still subject to the laws of the Universe. We fail to see the glory and strength of God and that is a mistake we can ill afford. God is the One who laid down the laws of the Universe.
It is true that God has decided, for the sake of humanity, to allow a “safe” period so man has the opportunity to respond to the saving grace of our Lord. Our time is not the time when we will experience the fullness of his glory and strength; that would be when Christ comes again in judgement.
However, it is not true that our prayers are therefore futile and all we can ever know of God is comfort and grace. God is the God who sits over the Universe and in the name of our Lord he hears our prayers. We cannot manipulate him and bend him to our will but he will hear our prayers.
The Psalmist calls on us to ascribe glory and strength to our God and we must stand proud that he is on our side.
“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.”