The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever. Sermons
I. HERE POWER IN VARIED MANIFESTATIONS IS TRACED TO ONE SOURCE. There are five thoughts which are presented cumulatively. 1. Power in nature's works and wonders specially as shown in storm and tempest, lightning and thunder, earthquake and mountain wave. Note: The larger our knowledge of natural science, the more capable shall we be of discoursing with interest, delight, and profit to others on these "wonderful works of God." 2. Power in providential administration. (Ver. 10.) "The Lord sat enthroned at the flood." This word rendered "flood" is the one applied to the Deluge of Noah, and only so applied. Hence it seems to include the specific thought that over and above all merely natural disclosures of power, there is a moral enthronement, whereby natural phenomena are made subservient to moral ends. Not only is every atom kept in harness, but the collocation of atoms is subsidiary to the discipline of souls. 3. There is gracious loving-kindness towards his own people. (Ver. 11.) "His people." There are those in the world marked off from the rest by tokens known to God alone. They are his, having "made a covenant with him by sacrifice" (Psalm 50:5). And with reference to them, there is a grace marvellous in its tenderness. The same Being who can thunder most loudly can also whisper most sweetly, and can also give out blessings to his own. (1) Strength (cf. Isaiah 40:31; 2 Corinthians 12:9; Psalm 27:14). (2) Peace. While the fiercest storm is raging without, God can and does give us peace within; a peace which becomes richer and fuller, till it is exceedingly abundant "above all we can ask or think." It is "the peace of God, passing all understanding" (John 14:27; Philippians 4:6, 7; Romans 5:1; Ephesians 2:14). 4. He who thus rules in nature, providence, grace, is the everlasting King. (Ver. 10.) "King for ever! 'The sceptre of universal power will never drop from his hands, nor will he ever transfer it to another (Psalm 97:1). The hand that upholds all will never become weary. The eye that watches all will never droop with fatigue. The arms that clasp believers in their embrace will never relax their hold. The voice that whispers, "Peace!" will never be stilled in death. The love that enriches with blessing will never be chilled. "King for ever!" 5. He who is this everlasting King is our redeeming God. The usual term for God as the God of nature is "Elohim" (Genesis 1:1). But here we are reminded that the God who thunders in the heavens and controls the swelling seas; that he who guides the forked lightning, is "Jehovah," the "I am that I am," the Lord who has thus revealed himself to his people as their God. And the great Ruler of nature is he who exercises loving-kindness, righteousness, and judgment in the earth, in order that he that glorieth may glory in the Lord. II. SUCH THOUGHTS OF GOD MAY WELL EVOKE GRATEFUL SONG. They know not how much of gladness and inspiration they lose who cannot see God everywhere. To see law everywhere and God nowhere would be enough to crush us. To see God everywhere working by law inspires rest and joy: our "Father is at the helm." Note: Since we have such disclosures of God, we have: 1. Unity in diversity. The seemingly complicated question of" the origin of force " is settled once for all by the man who sees God. And this privilege is reserved for "the pure in heart" (Matthew 5:8). 2. Since one God is over all, natural phenomena as well as providential incident may be made fuel for the religious life. A thunderstorm may aid worship. 3. Since one Being is the Origin of all kinds of force, prayer for natural blessings and temporal mercies is perfectly reasonable; e.g. prayer for rain. It is quite true that prayer and rain lie in totally distinct spheres. But since the same Being who hears one sends the other, the spheres find their unity at his throne. 4. Since the God who governs all is One whom we know, we may read and sing of glory under all circumstances and everywhere. (Ver. 9.) "In his temple every whir of it uttereth glory; "or, "In his temple every one says, Glory!" Yes; we may triumph everywhere since our God is "King for ever!" 5. Holy awe may well combine with triumph, and loyalty with praise. For God "sits enthroned" - such is the sublime figure suggested here. And "his people" though we are by grace, his absolute sovereignty must never be forgotten by us (ver. 2); ever must we give unto the Lord "the glory due unto his Name," and "worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness" - in holy attire, even in the "fine linen which is the righteousness of saints" (Revelation 19:8), "having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water" (Hebrews 10:22). 6. Amid all natural convulsions and national upheavings, let confidence and hope remain undisturbed. "King for ever!" Then, however gloomy the outlook of events, nothing can happen beyond the bounds of Divine control, nothing which he cannot make subservient to the inbringing of his everlasting kingdom. "Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea" (Psalm 46:2). - C.
The Lord sitteth upon the flood; yea, the Lord sitteth King for ever: There is a well-known line of an English poet, which tells us to "look through Nature up to Nature's God." And not a few of our national poets have nobly done this. But the Bible is the supreme example. Its writers did not refuse to look at Nature; they were ever doing so.I. That THE COURSE OF EVENTS ON EARTH IS FULL OF CHANGES. Calm today, storm to-morrow. II. BUT "JEHOVAH SITS UPON THE FLOOD." The changes of human life do not disturb Him. Yet more, He controls them all, "He sitteth King for ever." Natural science shows how the smallest and seemingly most insignificant events are all guided by law. Nothing is arbitrary or of chance. God watches over and controls them all. 1. Scripture asserts this. There may be seasons when His people seem to be forsaken so that their enemies ask exultingly, "Where is now their God?" And yet, even then, the answer is, "Our God is in the heavens; He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased." 2. Fulfilled prophecies confirm it. For example, the Advent of Christ. That was predicted seven hundred years before He came, and that He should be born at Bethlehem. 3. The continuance of true religion in spite of all opposition. III. THE MANNER IN WHICH EVENTS ARE OVERRULED. 1. By general laws. See the illustration of the text, "the flood." That obeys the law of its nature. Now one of God's general laws is this — that sin is always followed by suffering — and another is — that generation shall be followed by generation: wicked men are removed to make way for better. 2. By special interposition. See the miracles. IV. LESSONS. 1. Let the Church of Christ be comforted. 2. Also each individual Christian. (F. Tucker, B. A.) 1. "I am come unto deep waters where the floods overflow me." What is the character of this man's crisis? "Iniquities prevail against me." He is the victim of unclean desire. The inner rooms of the spirit, the holy place, is defiled. He is unable to contemplate the beautiful and to love it. The floods of carnality overflow him. Or perhaps the victim is overborne by the spirit of envy which too frequently manifest itself in deceit and treachery, or he is possessed by the passion of jealousy which makes him a conspirator against his neighbour's good. Whatever may be the type of the man's besetment, the flood is at the gate, and he is overpowered by the invasion of its unclean deeps. What shall we say to him? One would perhaps advise him that the secret of his redemption will consist in "plain living and high thinking." But the counsel is worthless. We are advising a man who is overborne by appetite to control the appetite, and suggesting that a man who is the victim of his own thought should order it in beautiful regularity. How fares it if we call in the Lord Himself? The Master's speech is full of healing confidence and hope. He speaks of a clean heart and a right spirit. He not only unfolds an ideal, but He offers the power by which it can be realized. The unclean channels are flushed and cleansed, and all the powers in the life are quickened and revived. 2. "Save me, O Lord! for the waters are come into my soul." What is the type of this man's sorrow? It is a flood of trouble, perhaps arising from common circumstances such as we are familiar with in our own life.(1) Here is a case of slow cancer. The growth is eating its way, but, oh, so slowly! Day after day, and night after night, the wolf gnaws at the vitals. Let us speak to the victim. What shall we say to her? Matthew Arnold once said: — "In poetry our race will find an ever sure and surer stay." What kind of poetry can we give to the cancer-ridden? If God be gone and the Man of Nazareth is only a pleasing fiction, and immortality only a winsome dream, whatever we offer will be only as dead ashes; gravel where the soul is pining for bread. Let us call in the Lord God. The very thought of His appearing is comforting. "What I do thou knowest not now." "When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee."(2) Here are a father and mother whose son is in the far country. Their hopes are blighted, their ambition is overthrown. They are overwhelmed, and the waters have come into their souls. What says the world about their child? "He is too far gone; .... he is a hopeless case; .... he is too old to mend; .... there is no remedy for a bad heart." The world has no ministry to offer in the time of the flood. Let us call in the Lord God. Here is His speech: "What man of you having a hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine and go after that which is lost until he find it?" What a hopeful and uplifting word to speak to a broken-hearted father! 3. All Thy waves and Thy billows have gone over me." "The sorrows of death compass me." This type of overwhelming sorrow is one of the most familiar sights in the common way. Here is a beautiful wedded, life. The early intimacy was like a spring day. The wedding was only the welding of ties already sanctified. The home was a haunt of love and peace. Then a storm came, and the billows rolled against the little sanctuary. The sorrows of death compassed it, and the wife is gone I Now, leave God outside, and let us go inside. What shall we say to the bereaved husband? Shall we tell him that "other friends remain," that "loss is common to the race"? Let us call in Jesus. "Thy brother shall rise again." "I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am there ye shall be also." "There remaineth therefore a rest for the people of God." "Weeping may endure for a night, but-joy cometh in the morning." "He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." Who is King? "The Lord sat as King at the flood." (J. H. Jowett, M. A.) Homilist. This psalm shows the influence of Godliness upon the intellectual faculties, the social sympathies, and the religious instincts of human nature. The text gives us: —I. A TURBULENT SCENE. "A flood." A flood suggests — 1. Commotion. The moral domain is all commotion. Look at it spiritually: "There is no peace, saith my God," etc. Look at it socially, — nationally. Souls are all in commotion here. 2. Innovation. It was broken down barriers, etc. So have souls. 3. Distress. It is furious and violent, etc. The moral world is not like a river, flowing on peacefully in its channel. Nor like the ocean, moving, even when most tumultuous, within its own proper boundaries. It is a "flood." II. A TRANQUIL GOD. "The Lord sitteth." This implies on His part — 1. A consciousness of His right to reign. If He had any moral misgivings He would not be at ease. An usurper could not be tranquil over such a tumultuous empire. 2. A consciousness of a supremacy of power to reign. He has no feeling of incapacity, lie can control with consummate ease the whole. We rejoice in His supremacy over the flood. (Homilist.) People David, PsalmistPlaces JerusalemTopics Age, Deluge, Enthroned, Flood, Forever, Sat, Seat, Seated, Sits, Sitteth, Waters, Yea, YesOutline 1. David exhorts princes to give glory to God3. by reason of is power 11. and protection of his people Dictionary of Bible Themes Psalm 29:10 1130 God, sovereignty Library March 25. "The Beauty of Holiness" (Ps. xxix. 2). "The beauty of holiness" (Ps. xxix. 2). Some one remarked once that he did not know more disagreeable people than sanctified Christians. He probably meant people that only profess sanctification. There is an angular, hard, unlovely type of Christian character that is not true holiness; at least, not the highest type of it. It is the skeleton without the flesh covering; it is the naked rock without the vines and foliage that cushion its rugged sides. Jesus was not only virtuous and pure, but He was … Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth Note C. The Holiness of God. The Majestic Voice A Song of the Temple Of Meditation Upon the Hidden Judgments of God, that we May not be Lifted up Because of Our Well-Doing Appendix xvi. On the Jewish views About Demons' and the Demonised,' Together with Some Notes on the Intercourse Between Jews and Jewish Christians in the First Centuries. How the Preacher, when He Has Accomplished all Aright, Should Return to Himself, Lest Either his Life or his Preaching Lift Him Up. Period ii. The Church from the Permanent Division of the Empire Until the Collapse of the Western Empire and the First Schism Between the East and the West, or Until About A. D. 500 The History Books Exegetic. Man's Chief End The Acceptable Sacrifice; Peace Among the People, and with the Pharisees Psalms Links Psalm 29:10 NIVPsalm 29:10 NLT Psalm 29:10 ESV Psalm 29:10 NASB Psalm 29:10 KJV Psalm 29:10 Bible Apps Psalm 29:10 Parallel Psalm 29:10 Biblia Paralela Psalm 29:10 Chinese Bible Psalm 29:10 French Bible Psalm 29:10 German Bible Psalm 29:10 Commentaries Bible Hub |
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