These days, voices frequently heard are those of political arrogance, religious friction, the rich getting richer, vigorous and exclusive nationalism and faint calls for assistance to the suppressed. While such evidence seems to support the ‘God is dead’ theory, much of it is the bad news, unbalanced if not fake, served up by commercial interests to a readership hungry for the sensational.
Where is the voice of God in all this? At the personal, local and community level, optimism and inspiration are still alive, as many readers will attest. The psalmist, said to be David in this Psalm 29, is in no doubt that a sovereign creator, a dominant eternal divine influence, reigns supreme and glorious across the world. In the previous psalm, David lamented the press of wickedness that we hear about abundantly today. Here, however, God’s powerful voice speaks through a vibrant, energetic, beautiful environment.
When you tire of the bad news, turn up Psalm 29 and refresh your sense of a creation and a human race that is designed, according to Psalm 99 and many others, for love and justice. Sing David’s final verse:
May God give strength to the people. May God bless the people with peace. (11)
🎵
Together in song 17 offers an easy refrain, with verses sung to a double tone, by Christopher Willcock — safe hands. For more on this psalm and music, please turn to a previous post twelve months ago here>>
Psalms in the South 