Daily Bible Reading Wednesday 13th October 2021
by William Moody
Psalms 28–29
The Lord Is My Strength and My Shield
Of David.
28:1 To you, O LORD, I call;
my rock, be not deaf to me,
lest, if you be silent to me,
I become like those who go down to the pit.
2 Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy,
when I cry to you for help,
when I lift up my hands
toward your most holy sanctuary.1
3 Do not drag me off with the wicked,
with the workers of evil,
who speak peace with their neighbors
while evil is in their hearts.
4 Give to them according to their work
and according to the evil of their deeds;
give to them according to the work of their hands;
render them their due reward.
5 Because they do not regard the works of the LORD
or the work of his hands,
he will tear them down and build them up no more.
6 Blessed be the LORD!
For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.
7 The LORD is my strength and my shield;
in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;
my heart exults,
and with my song I give thanks to him.
8 The LORD is the strength of his people;2
he is the saving refuge of his anointed.
9 Oh, save your people and bless your heritage!
Be their shepherd and carry them forever.
Ascribe to the Lord Glory
A Psalm of David.
29:1 Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings,3
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.4
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 birth5
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 bless6 his people with peace!Footnotes
[1] 28:2
Hebrew your innermost sanctuary
[2] 28:8Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts is their strength
[3] 29:1Hebrew sons of God, or sons of might
[4] 29:2Or in holy attire
[5] 29:9Revocalization yields makes the oaks to shake
[6] 29:11Or The Lord will give . . . The Lord will bless (ESV)
Psalm 29 is a wonderful Psalm of praise to the Lord. David calls for the angels to join in declaring the Lord’s glory and strength (v1).
The glory due to the Lord’s name (v2) speaks of how God should be praised because of how He has made Himself known. The Lord is the God who is to be approached reverently as He lives in the splendour of holiness. Holiness speaks of both of God’s purity and His ‘otherness’, how he is removed from us and so far above us in His greatness.
David uses creation and God’s rule over it to help give us a picture of the Lord who is majestic and powerful (v3-10). This is the Lord who is almighty and who can in a moment destroy the greatest forests (v5), make mountains skip like young cattle (v6) and shake the wildernesses (v8).
But in the middle of this great display of devastating power there is this lovely reminder how God in His tender care causes the deer to give birth (v9).
David’s God is high and exalted but also loving and compassionate and the one who God’s people need to find strength and blessing in (v11).
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