How Great is Our God!

Verse: Psalm 29:1-5
Praise the Lord, you angels;
praise the Lord’s glory and power.
2 Praise the Lord for the glory of his name;
worship the Lord because he is holy.
3 The Lord’s voice is heard over the sea.
The glorious God thunders;
the Lord thunders over the ocean.
4 The Lord’s voice is powerful;
the Lord’s voice is majestic.
5 The Lord’s voice breaks the trees;
the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.

Devotion
When I think about God, I mostly think of him as my friend and my Savior – I think of him as someone who loves me and is close to me. I think a lot about relationship and closeness. And all of that is biblical and good. Jesus calls us his friends. He emphasizes that he wants us to know his love, the same love that he and the Father have shared for eternity. Scripture tells us that he is near to us and will never leave us.

However it is also true that God is awesome. He is stronger than strong, bigger than big, vaster than vast, wiser than all the wisdom in the world put together, knowing all, seeing all, and more powerful than we can comprehend. Our movies that depict “gods” or “superhero’s” can’t even come close to capturing how completely awesome and powerful God is.

Sometimes I read Psalms like this just to remember. To connect with this truth that God is great. He is holy. He is untouched by sin, or any evil. He is never worried. He is never afraid. The words in this Psalm are the author’s best attempt to capture this truth. But words fail. And still he calls all beings (including the angels!) to praise God because he alone is worthy of our praise.

Think about this. When we gather on Sundays, why do we worship? It’s not a just part of our religious practice. It is because he alone is worthy. We worship him because he is holy, he is powerful, he is full of love and grace. His voice destroys our enemies, and brings us life. There is a humility when we come before God that should fill our hearts when we recognize the magnitude of the person we are worshiping.

Today, take a moment to reflect on the AWE of God. What does it mean to you? How does that encourage you? Why is that comforting? And how can you worship him “for the glory of his name”?

Author: Christian Dunn