Psalm 29:10-11

“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.”

This Psalm is supposed to have been written on the occasion of a thunder-storm. It represents God as uttering his voice in those terrific sounds, whereby the very mountains are made to shake, yes and “skip, as it were, like a calf or a young wild ox.” That there is a transition to the Messiah, and his offices, is clear; for he is expressly declared to be King in Zion. And this declaration stands in immediate connection with the floods and tumults by which, in appearance, he was for a season overwhelmed, “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One. “Let us break their chains,” they say, “and throw off their fetters.” The One enthroned in Heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, “I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill.” Psalm 2:1-6.”

He is also called Jehovah; as it is written, “This is the name whereby he shall be called, “The Lord our Righteousness! Jeremiah 23:6.” And I rather think, that, in order the more strongly to mark his divine character, the name Jehovah is here so often repeated. It is repeated no less than eighteen times in these eleven verses; and it is the same person who is spoken of throughout the whole. The same person of whom the Psalmist says, in the first five verses, “Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones, 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. The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD thunders over the mighty waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is majestic. The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.”

Of that same person does he say in my text, “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.”

That my text refers to him, there can be no doubt; for he is “that Mighty One, upon whom the help of his people is laid;” and he is, “The Prince of Peace,” from whom all their peace must flow. We may therefore proceed to consider the Lord Jesus.

I. As a God of Providence.

The Lord Jesus “is the Creator of all things,” and “by Him all things are held together;” nor does anything occur which is not decreed by him. We speak of things as accidental; but there is nothing really accidental—not even “the falling of a sparrow,” or the loss of “a hair of our head.”

It is true that creatures make their own plans—and often with an express desire to oppose the will of God. But they are all unconscious agents in His hands! “Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed. They did what Your power and will had decided beforehand should happen!”

The envy of the Jewish priests,

the treachery of Judas,

the timidity of Pilate,

the cruelty of the Roman soldiers,

were all subservient to God’s designs, and all fulfilled His inscrutable purposes! They followed the dictates of their own minds; but in all their actions, “God’s counsel stood,” and He accomplished His own sovereign and eternal will through them!

Behold our blessed Lord in every change of situation, from His arrest, to the grave—who would suppose that these were successive steps to the throne of Heaven, and the means ordained for the salvation of His people? Yet this was really the case; and by all these events a multitude of conflicting prophecies were fulfilled. He sat at the helm, and directed all the storm!

And precisely thus He does at this time also. The occurrences of every successive day seem as if they arose randomly, and pass away without any particular effect. But He who sees all things from the beginning, has ordained that a sleepless night, an opening of a book, a casting of a lot—shall all as certainly effect His ends—as any event, however great, or however manifestly connected with His designs! Esther 3:7; Esther 6:1-2

The history of Joseph, whose elevation to a throne was promoted by events which, to the eye of sense, would appear most calculated to counteract it. In the outcome, Joseph said to his treacherous brothers, “You planned evil against me; God planned it for good, to bring about the present result—the survival of many people!” Genesis 50:20

Be the storm ever so tempestuous, “He sits upon the flood;” and be our enemies ever so mighty, “he sits as King forever,” to control their efforts, and overrule them for our good.

But let us contemplate him,

II. As a God of grace.

The Lord Jesus Christ, on his ascension to Heaven, was constituted “head over all things to his Church;” and a fullness was treasured up in him, for the use of his believing people in all ages. From this fullness he is ever ready to impart unto them:

1. Strength.

Great, exceeding great, is the work which they have to perform, as are also the trials which they have to sustain. But, through him, the weakest of his people shall be able “to do all things, Philippians 4:13,” and to suffer all things, Colossians 1:11-12, as circumstances may require. Whatever their situation may be, “their strength shall be according to their day, Deuteronomy 33:25;” and, however weak they may be in themselves, “his strength shall be perfected in their weakness, 2 Corinthians 12:9.” So seasonable shall be his supplies of grace to their souls, and so sufficient for all their necessities.

2. Peace.

In a storm which threatened their destruction, the disciples were alarmed. But our blessed Lord reproved them for not having a more entire trust in him, Mark 4:37-41. Whatever confederacies of men or devils may be against us, we should dismiss all fear, and “sanctify him in our hearts,” as all-sufficient for our protection! Isaiah 8:12-14. It is said of all his people, “He will keep them in perfect peace, because they trust in him, Isaiah 26:3.” And well may they be in peace; for, being accepted by God, they may possess an assured peace with him, Romans 5:1, and, being upheld in his arms, they may laugh at all the assaults of their enemies; for, “if He is for them—then who can be against them Romans 8:31.” And this peace is a “blessing” of the highest order; for, as it is the exclusive privilege of the Lord’s redeemed people, Isaiah 57:1, so is it, both in its nature and operations, more excellent than can be adequately conceived; it truly “surpasses all understanding! Philippians 4:7.”

APPLICATION.

1. Give him, then, the glory due unto his name.

We should get into the very spirit of the Psalmist, and have our minds filled with a sense of our Savior’s power and grace; and praise him, not by words only, but by that perfect trust which he calls for at your hands; and which is necessary, in order that you may obtain the blessings he is exalted to bestow.

2. Let his voice control every emotion of your souls.

He speaks by thunders and lightnings, and he also speaks by his Word. By thunders and lightnings he displays his power, and by his Word he reveals his grace. Notice particularly how, in the Psalm before us, everything is ascribed to his voice. And I am sure that, if you will listen to the still small voice of his Word, there is not a blessing which you can possibly need, but it shall be imparted in the richest abundance to your souls.

Charles Simeon