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1 Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name; worship the Lord in holy splendor. 3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over mighty 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 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 causes the oaks to whirl, and strips the forest bare; and in his temple all say, "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 bless his people with peace! (Psalm 29 NRSV)
Happy Thursday, Friend! May this time together bring an anointing on your life in a way that sets you on fire to go and do what you know what God has asked of you!
Jesus. Okay, it was really to be the Director of United Methodist Campus Ministry at then-Pan American University in Edinburg, Texas. I was in my second year of full-time ministry and it was one adventure after another. I did more counseling with students in that one year than I had expected to do in ten years in pastoral local church ministry. I led spiritual retreats and I taught university-level Bible courses for credit. The university collected tuition from them and I built up a Rolodex of students who could be under our ministry umbrella. My counterpart in the Baptist division was a neat young Baptist pastor who led an effective ministry for the Baptist churches of the area. He and I became friends and he stayed behind when I left for a burro-crat job in San Antonio in 1986. We failed to stay in touch and about a year or two away from Edinburg I heard that my friend had taken his own life. I could not believe it. He was a solid believer, heart full of love for Jesus and for his students and it didn't make sense. So, for about five years I carried that sadness in my heart that my friend had died in a horrible way. One day after a meeting in Dallas headed back to San Antonio, I was in the flying cattle car that is Southwest Airlines. I sat and soon began to hear a voice that I thought I recognized. This voice was sharing his faith with his flying companion and I tried to remember where I knew the voice from. I couldn't easily turn around to stare but I was convinced I had heard that voice before! When we landed I stood at the proper time as is customary in SW airlines and I looked and there was the young Baptist minister that I had for years thought had un-alived himself. I said his name and his grin grew wide. We hugged and we walked out of the aircraft together and I shared the story I had heard. He was shocked and said that he had left his campus ministry to become a denominational executive and the young man who followed him in Edinburg had been the one who took his own life. We were both sad at his memory but I could not hide my joy from seeing my friend living and among us.
During the years 1980-1986 I had the honor of being the Captain of the Good Ship Come to There are several voices that have been silenced in my life because of death. My paternal grandfather and grandmother, my Mom and my Dad. I try to replay conversations in my head and heart that I had with them before their death in order not to forget them, but it becomes harder with each passing day. I strongly believe I will once again hear those voices in Glory, I pray that my children and grandchildren will take advantage of all of these devotionals that I have shared through the years so that my voice be ever present in their lives. Today's devotional is all about God's voice. As we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord we will again see that place and event where heaven and earth connected; where divine power and human humility as the psalmist uses this psalm to celebrate the voice of the Lord that speaks with authority over creation. The psalmist beings with a call to worship by saying that we should recognize and proclaim what we know to be true about God (that's what ascribe means in this passage). And not just us, but even heavenly beings—angels, divine messengers, the celestial court—are summoned to worship. God deserves glory not just from humans but from all created beings. "Glory" (kabod) means weight, significance, honor—acknowledging who God truly is. "Strength" (oz) refers to His might and power. We're called to ascribe—to attribute, to recognize, to declare—that glory and strength belong to the Lord alone. At Jesus' baptism, the Father's voice from heaven did exactly this: "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." The Father ascribed glory to the Son, declaring His identity and worth before heaven and earth. The Baptism of the Lord is a moment when worship breaks through—the Father glorifying the Son, the Spirit descending, and creation bearing witness to God's power and presence.
Then comes the sevenfold repetition: "The voice of the Lord." Seven times this phrase appears, signifying completeness and perfection. "The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over mighty waters." Water is central to both the psalm and Jesus' baptism. At creation, God's voice spoke over the waters and brought forth life and order. At the flood, God's voice commanded the waters and brought judgment and salvation. At the Red Sea, God's voice parted the waters and delivered His people. Now at the Jordan, God's voice speaks over the waters again—not in judgment but in affirmation, not in wrath but in love. "The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty." This voice created the universe, sustains all things, and speaks reality into existence. Yet this same powerful voice declares at Jesus' baptism, "This is my beloved Son." The God of glory thunders, but He thunders not to destroy but to identify, to affirm, to commission. The voice that shakes creation speaks tenderly over the Son emerging from baptismal waters.
The psalm continues cataloging the voice's effects: "The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox." Cedars of Lebanon were the mightiest trees in the ancient world—symbols of strength, permanence, and human pride. God's voice breaks them like twigs. Mountains skip like calves—the most solid, immovable objects dance at His command. "The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord causes the oaks to whirl, and strips the forest bare; and in his temple all say, 'Glory!'" Fire, earthquake, hurricane—all respond to God's voice. The strongest trees are stripped bare. Creation itself cannot resist when God speaks. And the proper response? "In his temple all say, 'Glory!'" When we witness God's power, when we hear His voice, when we see His might—the only appropriate response is worship. At Jesus' baptism, creation responded: the heavens opened, the Spirit descended, the Father spoke. This wasn't a quiet, private moment but a cosmic declaration that all creation witnessed.
Then comes a shift—from power over creation to sovereignty over chaos: "The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits enthroned as king forever." The "flood" (mabbul) specifically refers to the Genesis flood, the waters of chaos and judgment. God sits enthroned over even the most destructive forces. He's not threatened by chaos, not overwhelmed by disorder, not defeated by destruction. He reigns as king forever—eternal, unshakeable, sovereign. This is crucial for understanding Jesus' baptism. John's baptism was about repentance, about cleansing from sin, about preparing for judgment. Yet Jesus—sinless, pure, righteous—enters these waters. Why? Because He's identifying with sinners, standing in solidarity with those who need cleansing, positioning Himself to take on the chaos and judgment that we deserve. God enthroned over the flood is God in Christ entering the flood, submitting to the waters of judgment on our behalf, and emerging victorious to demonstrate that He has conquered sin, death, and chaos itself.
The psalm concludes with blessing: "May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace!" After demonstrating His power over creation and His sovereignty over chaos, God turns His attention to His people. He gives strength—the same oz mentioned in verse 1 that belongs to God alone is now given to His people. We don't generate our own strength; we receive it from the Lord whose voice is powerful. He blesses with peace—shalom, comprehensive wellbeing, wholeness, right relationships, everything as it should be. This is what the Baptism of the Lord inaugurates: Jesus beginning His ministry empowered by the Spirit to bring God's strength to the weak and God's peace to the broken. The voice that thunders over the waters, that breaks cedars and shakes mountains, that sits enthroned over the flood—this same voice speaks blessing over God's people. At Jesus' baptism, we see this perfectly: the powerful voice of God declaring love over the Son, the Spirit descending to empower for mission, the Father enthroned over all yet intimately involved in redemption. And we who are baptized into Christ receive what the psalm promises: strength from the Lord and peace from the God who sits enthroned forever.
PRAYER: Lord whose voice thunders over the waters and sits enthroned over the flood, thank You for speaking at Jesus' baptism to affirm Your beloved Son and for speaking through Your Word to affirm us as Your beloved children; give us strength for our journey and bless us with Your peace, empowering us by the same Spirit who descended on Jesus to live as those who worship in holy splendor and proclaim Your glory, in Jesus' name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! OUR CALL TO ACTION: Find a quiet moment near water—whether a river, lake, ocean, or even a sink—and read Psalm 29 aloud, remembering that the same powerful voice that spoke at Jesus' baptism speaks over your life today, offering strength for your weakness and peace for your chaos.
I love you and I thank God for you! You matter to God and you matter to me. Listen to God's voice and do what God may ask of you!
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
