The Weight of Glory and the Duty of Angels Text: Psalm 29:1-2
Introduction: The Unbearable Lightness of Modern Worship
We live in an age that has domesticated God. Our modern worship, in many quarters, has transformed the fearsome lion of Judah into a tame housecat, a therapeutic buddy who exists primarily to affirm our feelings and boost our self-esteem. We have exchanged the weight of glory for the unbearable lightness of being entertained. We approach the throne of the universe as though it were a comfortable recliner, and we speak to the King of ages as though He were a sympathetic guidance counselor.
But the Scriptures will not have it. The Bible consistently presents us with a God who is terrifying in His holiness, majestic in His power, and glorious in His being. To encounter this God is not to be coddled; it is to be undone. It is to fall on your face like Ezekiel, to cry "Woe is me!" like Isaiah, to be struck dumb like Zacharias. And it is only after being undone that we can be truly remade. It is only after seeing His terrible holiness that we can truly appreciate His tender mercy.
Psalm 29 is a psalm that aims to correct our low and paltry thoughts of God. It is a thunderstorm of a psalm. It begins in the heavenly courts, calling on the highest beings to render to God what is due, and it moves to the earth, describing the raw, untamable power of the voice of Yahweh as it thunders over the waters, breaks the cedars of Lebanon, and shakes the wilderness. This is not a God who can be managed, manipulated, or marketed. This is the God who is.
David, a man after God's own heart, understood this. He begins this psalm not with a gentle invitation but with a thunderous command, a threefold summons directed to the highest echelons of creation. He is telling us that the first and most fundamental duty of all existence, from the highest angel to the lowliest man, is to give God the glory He is due. If we get this wrong, everything else will be wrong. If our worship is not rightly ordered, our lives will be disordered, our families will be disordered, and our society will be disordered. Worship is the axle on which the entire world turns. Let us therefore attend to this summons.
The Text
Ascribe to Yahweh, O sons of the mighty,
Ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength.
Ascribe to Yahweh the glory of His name;
Worship Yahweh in the splendor of holiness.
(Psalm 29:1-2)
A Scription for the Sons of God (v. 1)
We begin with the first command, a summons to the heavenly council.
"Ascribe to Yahweh, O sons of the mighty, Ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength." (Psalm 29:1)
The command is "ascribe." The Hebrew word means to give, to attribute, to assign. It is a command to recognize what is already there and to declare it. We do not create God's glory; we confess it. We do not add to His strength; we acknowledge it. You cannot give a billionaire a dollar and pretend you are enriching him. In the same way, we do not augment God's glory by our worship. Rather, our worship is the only sane and rational response to the reality of who He is. To fail to ascribe glory to God is not just a moral failing; it is a form of intellectual insanity. It is to look at the sun and declare it to be a twenty-watt bulb.
And who is being commanded here? "O sons of the mighty." This is a reference to the angelic beings, the heavenly court that surrounds the throne of God. David begins his call to worship at the top of the org chart. He is saying that even the most powerful, glorious, and mighty created beings in the universe have one primary, all-consuming duty: to ascribe glory and strength to Yahweh. If these celestial princes, who are flames of fire and ministering spirits, must orient their entire existence around the worship of God, then what does that say about us, who are but dust?
This is a direct polemic against all idolatry. The ancient world was filled with people who worshipped these "sons of the mighty." They worshipped angels, spirits, and the host of heaven. But David pulls back the curtain and shows us that the beings the pagans worship are themselves worshippers. The gods of the nations are on their faces before the God of Israel. They are not the source of power; they are creatures who are commanded to acknowledge the source of all power.
Notice what they are to ascribe: "glory and strength." Glory is the manifested weight of God's infinite worth. It is the outshining of His perfections. Strength is His omnipotence, His raw, sovereign power to do all His holy will. These two attributes are inseparable. His power is a glorious power, and His glory is a powerful glory. This is the God we serve. He is not a weak but well-meaning deity. He is not an abstract philosophical principle. He is the all-glorious, all-powerful King of Heaven, and the angels themselves are commanded to say so.
The Glory Due His Name (v. 2a)
The summons is repeated and intensified in the first part of verse two.
"Ascribe to Yahweh the glory of His name..." (Psalm 29:2a)
David repeats the command "ascribe" for the third time. This is for emphasis. This is the central duty of all creation. But here he specifies what is to be glorified: "the glory of His name." In Scripture, a name is not merely a label. A name represents the character, the reputation, and the very being of a person. God's name, Yahweh, is the name He revealed to Moses at the burning bush. It means "I AM WHO I AM." It speaks of His absolute self-existence, His eternal being, His covenant faithfulness. To ascribe glory to His name is to acknowledge the supreme worth and reality of who He has revealed Himself to be.
This means our worship must be grounded in revelation. We cannot just worship a generic, vague "higher power." We are not permitted to invent a god of our own liking and then attach the name of Yahweh to it. We must worship the God who is there, the God who has spoken, the God who has revealed His character and His works in the Holy Scriptures. The glory is due to His name, not the name we have fashioned for Him in our own image. This is why the first three of the Ten Commandments are all about protecting the name and worship of God. We are to have no other gods, make no idols, and not take His name in vain. Why? Because there is a specific glory that is due to His specific name.
When we pray "Hallowed be Thy name," as our Lord taught us, we are praying this verse. We are asking that the Father's name would be treated as holy, that it would be glorified, honored, and treasured above all things, first in our own hearts, and then throughout the entire world. This is the ultimate goal of all things: the glory of the triune God.
The Proper Posture of Worship (v. 2b)
Having established the what and the who of worship, David now turns to the how. What is the proper manner and setting for this ascription of glory?
"...Worship Yahweh in the splendor of holiness." (Psalm 29:2b)
The command shifts from "ascribe" to "worship." To worship is to bow down, to prostrate oneself. It is an act of submission and adoration. And this worship is to be done "in the splendor of holiness." Some translations render this "in the beauty of holiness." This phrase can refer to two things, and both are true. It can refer to the holy adornments of the priests in the temple, the beautiful garments that set them apart for the service of God. But more fundamentally, it refers to the very atmosphere of God's presence. Holiness is the ultimate splendor. Holiness is the ultimate beauty.
God's holiness is His transcendent otherness. It is the fact that He is utterly separate from sin, corruption, and all that is creaturely. It is the blazing purity of His being. And this holiness is not drab or boring; it is splendid. It is beautiful. It is glorious. The seraphim around the throne do not cry "Powerful, Powerful, Powerful!" or "Loving, Loving, Loving!" They cry, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!" (Isaiah 6:3). God's holiness is the attribute that qualifies all His other attributes. His love is a holy love. His wrath is a holy wrath. His power is a holy power.
Therefore, to worship Him in the splendor of holiness means we must approach Him on His terms. We cannot come casually or flippantly. We cannot bring our sin, our pride, or our self-righteousness into His presence. We must come clothed in a holiness that is not our own. For the Old Testament saint, this meant coming through the prescribed sacrifices and the mediating priesthood. For us, it means coming through the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our great High Priest, and His righteousness is the splendid garment that makes us acceptable in the sight of a holy God. We are "in Christ," and it is only there that we can worship in the beauty of holiness.
This also has profound implications for our corporate worship services. Our worship should reflect this holy splendor. It should be ordered, reverent, and joyful. It should be saturated with the Word of God, which is the standard of all holiness. It should be characterized by a sense of awe and wonder, not by cheap sentimentality or man-centered gimmickry. We are entering the courts of the Holy One of Israel, and our demeanor, our songs, and our prayers ought to reflect that glorious reality.
Conclusion: From Heaven to Heart
David begins in heaven, with the angels, to teach us a fundamental lesson. True worship begins with a right view of God. Before we can feel the right things about God, we must think the right things about God. We must see Him as He is: glorious, strong, and holy.
The summons that begins in the heavenly courts does not stay there. It echoes down through the ages and lands squarely in our laps this morning. You are being summoned. You are being commanded to ascribe to Yahweh the glory due His name. This is not an invitation to a casual get-together. It is a royal summons from the King of the universe.
How do you respond? Do you come with an offering of your own righteousness, your own accomplishments? That is to come in filthy rags. Or do you come acknowledging your own spiritual bankruptcy, and clinging to the righteousness of another? Do you come clothed in the splendid holiness of Jesus Christ?
The voice of Yahweh that thunders over the waters in the rest of this psalm is the same voice that speaks in the gospel. It is a voice of power. It is the voice that says, "Let there be light," not only in the first creation, but in the new creation of a sinner's heart. It is the voice that breaks the proud cedars of our rebellion. It is the voice that shakes the wilderness of our dead souls and brings forth new life.
The ultimate ascription of glory and strength was made at the cross. There, the Son of God, the highest of the "sons of the mighty," ascribed perfect glory to the Father's name by His perfect obedience. He worshipped the Father in the ultimate splendor of holiness, even unto death. And because He did, we who are in Him are now constituted a royal priesthood, called to "proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9). That is our job. That is our joy. Ascribe to the Lord, O you people of God. Ascribe to Him glory and strength. Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. For He alone is worthy.