Give praise to the Beloved, O heavenly hosts,
Sing of Love’s glory and strength.
Exalt the glory of Love’s Name; Adore the Beloved in holy splendor.
The voice of the Beloved is upon the waters;
Love’s voice echoes over the oceans and seas.
The voice of Love is powerful, majestic is the heart of Love.
The mercy of the Beloved breaks the bonds of oppression,
shatters the chains of injustice.
Love invites all to the dance of freedom, to sing the Beloved’s song of truth.
The voice of Love strikes with fire upon the hearts of stone.
The voice of Love uproots the thorns of fear,
Love uproots fear in every open heart.
The voice of Love is heard in every storm, and strips the ego bare;
And in the heart’s chapel, all cry, “Peace and Glory forever!”
The Beloved lives in our hearts; Love dwells with us forever.
You who awaken to the Light of universal Oneness will know the blessed joy
of serving in the great Work of Love.
Nan C. Merrill Psalms for Praying
Reflection:
Psalm 29 is one of the oldest psalms. Scholars have noted that the language of this psalm is similar to a poem from the Canaanite religion about Baal. Some say that psalmist simply replaced Baal with YHWH. Others (Alter, see notes below) would point to borrowed language and terms that would have been a typical description of a deity in ancient religion (including Canaanite) so it is no surprise that the psalmist chose to use these words and phrases. This means, we could talk about religion’s role in colonization when we talk about how this enthronement psalm came to be in our psalter. And, we can talk about shared language among people of different religious backgrounds.
I value relationships with people who believe differently than me. Religion isn’t about right or wrong, but an expression of the individual’s relationship to the divine. I love to listen to people talk about God or pray, especially when they have a perspective that is different than mine. Their experiences broaden my view of the holy mysterious and deepen my relationship with God.
I try to look for what is good and true about God that all of us can hold onto (no matter which God we may think this psalm is about). For me, that means seeing in Psalm 29 the God who chooses to use power to strengthen the weak and to bring peace. I love Nan Merrill’s versions of the psalms because of her use of inclusive language and the way she gets at the heart of the meaning of the psalm. In Psalm 29, she captures the power of God’s love, which works to free all from oppression and injustice, and invites all of us to join in that great work of Love. That’s the God I want to be connected with. My desire is to participate in the work of Love.
Check out other psalm reflections in the links below or find more of my writing published in Presbyterian Outlook or listen to my experiments in podcasting on the Period Pastor Podcast. Follow me @periodpastor
Past reflection links:
Psalm 29 Year C 2024-2025
Psalm 29 Year B 2023-2024 after Epiphany
Psalm 29 Year B 2023-2024 after Pentecost
Psalm 29 Year C 2021-2022
Psalm 29 Year B 2020-2021 after Epiphany
Psalm 29 Year B 2020-2021 after Pentecost
I began writing Psalm reflections during Lent of 2020. Shortly after, we decided to close the church building, work from home, and worship via zoom. Many churches use the Revised Common Lectionary (RLC) that rotates scripture on a three-year cycle (A, B, and C). Starting in Advent 2019, the church decided to worship with the texts from Year D, which is still not circulated as are years A, B, and C. Year D was created with the goal of including scriptures that were left out or not used as frequently as others. While we were using Psalms in year D, most other lectionary followers were using Year A. In Advent of 2020 we rejoined those who use the lectionary in year B. Advent of 2021 year C. When we returned to in person worship, we took the psalm reflections out of the order of worship. I continued to write them for the blog. Advent of 2022 year A. I left church work in July of 2023 but continued the practice of writing psalm reflections. Advent of 2023 year B. Advent of 2024 year C. I finished year C early, so I began work on psalms I missed: Psalm 119, Year D and others not in the lectionary. By the end of 2025, I have written a reflection for each psalm.
Advent of 2025 year A.
I use the Vanderbilt Divinity Library’s resource for lectionary readings and the PCUSA planning calendar to make text selections.
Year A Psalms
1st Sunday in Advent Psalm 122, 2nd Sunday in Advent Psalm 72, 3rd Sunday in Advent Psalm 146, 4th Sunday in Advent Psalm 80, Christmas Psalm 96, Psalm 97, Psalm 98, 1st Sunday after Christmas Psalm 148, 2nd Sunday after Christmas Psalm 147, 1st Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 29, 2nd Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 40, 3rd Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 27, 4th Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 15, 5th Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 112, Transfiguration Sunday Psalm 2 or Psalm 99.
Ash Wednesday Psalm 51, 1st Sunday in Lent Psalm 32, 2nd Sunday in Lent Psalm 121, 3rdSunday in Lent Psalm 95, 4th Sunday in Lent Psalm 23, 5th Sunday in Lent Psalm 130, 6th Sunday in Lent Psalm 118 or Psalm 31.
Holy Week: Monday Psalm 36, Tuesday Psalm 71, Wednesday Psalm 70, Thursday Psalm 116, Friday Psalm 22, Saturday Psalm 31.
Easter Psalm 118 or Psalm 114, 2nd Sunday of Easter Psalm 16, 3rd Sunday of Easter Psalm 116, 4th Sunday of Easter Psalm 23, 5th Sunday of Easter Psalm 31, 6th Sunday of Easter Psalm 66, Ascension of the Lord Psalm 47 or Psalm 93, 7th Sunday of Easter Psalm 68, Pentecost Psalm 104.
1st Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 8, 2nd Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 33 or Psalm 50, 3rd Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 116 or Psalm 100, 4th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 86 or Psalm 69, 5th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 13 or Psalm 89, 6th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 45 or Psalm 145, 7th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 119 or Psalm 65, 8th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 139 or Psalm 86, 9th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 105 or Psalm 119, 10th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 17 or Psalm 145, 11th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 105 or Psalm 85, 12th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 133 or Psalm 67, 13th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 124 or Psalm 138, 14th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 105 or Psalm 26, 15thSunday after Pentecost Psalm 149 or Psalm 119, 16th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 114 or Psalm 103, 17th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 105 or Psalm 145, 18th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 78 or Psalm 25, 19th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 19 or Psalm 80, 20th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 106 or Psalm 23, 21st Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 99 or Psalm 96, 22nd Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 90 or Psalm 1, 23rd Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 107 or Psalm 43, 24th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 78 or Psalm 70, 25th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 123 or Psalm 90, 26th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 100 or Psalm 95.
Sources and notes:
“Psalm 29 is an Old Testament doxology in praise of the LORD as sovereign of the universe. The kingdom, power, and glory are its themes.” Mays p. 135
“…everyone in the temple, both the heavenly palace and the earthly sanctuary, is saying “Glory” in recognition of what the proclamation means (v. 9).” Mays p. 136
“The voice of the LORD is the active agent that produces every effect described in the proclamation; it is heard, seen, and felt.” Mays p. 136
“Psalm 29 is the only text in the Old Testament in which the glory of the LORD is so extensively and directly said to be manifested in what we moderns call natural phenomena.” Mays p. 137
“In the history of Hebrew religion, it is clear that one of the hard lessons for the Hebrews to learn was that their God was not only Lord of History, but also Lord of Nature. The prophets constantly harangued their people for resorting to the religion of Baal (e.g. Hos 1-3), and such deviations from the path of religion reflected a deeper lack of faith concerning the Lord’s real control of the world of nature, specifically of the forces of storm and rain which were so fundamental to harvest and survival.” WBC p. 249
“Psalm 29 is one of the most distinctive affirmations in the Bible, not only that God was Lord of Nature, but also that all the forces of nature so commonly attributed to Baal by the persons living in and around the Promised Land were actually attributes of the Lord. The language and imagery of the psalm not only transfer all attributes of weather control from Baal to the Lord, but also by implication mock the supposed powers attributed to Baal.” WBC p. 249
“Psalm 29 is most often thought to be a very old hymn that was originally a hymn of praise to the Canaanite god, Baal. Only now, in its Israelite context, the divine name has been altered to YHWH. As a result, this hymn of praise to YHWH is at once an affirmation of YHWH and a polemic agains Baal: a determined effort to displace the name and marking of Baal with the name and marking of YHWH. In a context of fierce contestation (which is where the church most often lives), hymns may be vigorous assertive polemical acts to insist on this God and this faith claim against all other competitors. In this light, the singing of praise is never innocent–it is always deeply fraught, heavily contested.” Brueggemann, Walter. 2014. From Whom No Secrets Are Hid: Introducing the Psalms. Edited by Brent A. Strawn. 1st ed. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press. p. 37
“Psalm 29 concludes in verse 11 with an edict from the newly enthroned God who declares that the people who worship YHWH (Israel!) will live with strength and well-being in a zone of shalom. Worship ends in shalom when the rule of YHWH is established and acknowledged. The psalm is thus a lyrical performance of the way in which the theological claim of HYWH contracts and construes an order world of stability and well-being. The implicit polemic is that Baal–or any other rival–has no capacity to do such world making. Psalm 29 exhibits the way in which Israel’s liturgical imagination can utilize the old Canaanite lyric for its own conventional world making.” Brueggemann, Walter. 2014. From Whom No Secrets Are Hid: Introducing the Psalms. Edited by Brent A. Strawn. 1st ed. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press. p. 39
“This psalm, more clearly than Psalm 114, is an enthronement psalm. It utilizes a very different set of metaphors. Here there is nothing to connect the poem to the saving recital of Israel’s creed. Indeed, it is the scholarly consensus that this an older Canaanite psalm, taken over by Israel, wherein only the name of the deity has been changed. Thus it reflects Canaanite mythology and rhetorical structures. This may therefore be one of the oldest of the psalms, showing Israel most directly related to the religious articulations of its cultural context.” Brueggemann, Walter. (1984). The Message of the Psalms: A Theological Commentary. Minneapolis: Augsburg. p. 142
“These two psalms together (Israel’s faith memory in Psalm 114; Israel’s common inheritance among the nations in Psalm 29) provide the basis for new life and for hope in the governance of God. The new life is based in the new kingship of Yahweh, wrought either over the historical enemies of Egypt or over the chaotic threats present in creation. As a liturgical piece, Psalm 29 is a concrete enactment of kingship. The new order requires the honoring of God, but it also requires the capacity and power to reorder life. That is the cause for singing, on earth, as in heaven.” Brueggemann, Walter. (1984). The Message of the Psalms: A Theological Commentary. Minneapolis: Augsburg. p. 143
“1. O sons of God. This is the first clue of many the that led a whole line of scholars (H.L. Ginsberg, Moshe Held, Mitchell Dahood, Theodore Gaster) to see this psalm as a translation or close adaptation of a Canaanite psalm. It has been variously claimed that in the original text, it was Baal as thunder-god, not YHWH, who imposed this awesome voice over the whole world. None of these arguments is entirely convincing. Though there are parallels to certain wordings her sin Ugaritic poetry (the one cache of Syro-Palestinian poetry, several centuries prior to the Bible, that has physically survived), that scarcely proves that this pen is a translation. The same is true of the proposed linguistic a prosodic evidence (too technical to take up here) that has been put forth to support the same claim. Canaanite poetry was the literary tradition that constituted the most immediate background for biblical poetry. It would be surprising if the biblical poets did not make use of images, phrasing, and even mythological elements from the antecedent tradition with which they and their audience were acquainted. The relation of this psalm, and a good many others, to the Syro-Palestinian tradition is roughly like that of Paradise Lost to the Aeneid and the Iliad. Virgil and Homer gave Milton a model, and a repertory of devices than topoi, with which he could frame a cosmic epic from his own monotheistic perspective, but he was not merely “transposing” the pagan epic poetic into English. As to the address to the “sons of God” at the beginning of the palm, it should be noted that these celestial creatures appear not infrequently elsewhere in the Bible (here they are beney’elim; more commonly, they appear as beney’elohim). They are best thought of as the flickering literal afterlife of a polytheistic mythology–God’s royal entourage on high, His famalia, as Rashi called them, invoking a Latin term that had entered Hebrew during the time of the Roman empire. Literal belief in them may have survived in popular religion but is unlikely to have been shared by the scribal circles that produced Psalms.” Alter pp. 98-99
“Grant to the LORD. The verb for “grant” or “give,” y-h-b, is a relatively rare synonym (though the standard term in Aramaic) for the more common n-t-n. Perhaps it may actually have been called out in its imperative form, havu, as here, on ceremonial occasions, having something to the effect of “hail!” The use of the whole phrase at the beginning of the psalm in a pattern of incremental repetition may be evidence of the antiquity of the poem because incremental repetition is a device favored in the oldest stratum of biblical poetry (as, notably, in the Song of Deborah, which might date back as far as 1100 BCE).” Alter p. 99
“3. The LORD’s voice is over the waters. Though the image is a naturalistic one of thunder–often imagined by the Hebrew poets as God’s voice–rumbling over the sea, the line registers a recollection of old Canaanite myths, in which creation is effected through the conquest of a primordial sea monster by the god who rules the land. In the incremental repetition here, the phrase “the mighty waters” has an especially mythological resonance in the Hebrew.” Alter p. 99
“5. the Lebanon cedars. Throughout biblical poetry, these trees are the great emblem of around loftiness. An excessive literalism has led some interpreters to see the mention of the northern mountains of Lebanon and Syria as evidence of a Syrian provenance for the poem. These name places appear equally in the late and distinctly un-Canaanite Song of Songs. Lebanon is not only a place of towering forests but also the northern border of Israel. In verse 8, God’s thunder rakes the Wilderness of Kadesh, presumably in the eastern half of the Sinai, so the plot imagines God’s power sweeping over the whole land of Israel and beyond from north to south.” Alter p. 99
“10. The LORD was enthroned at the flood. The mention of the primordial Flood is not only a measure of the eternity of God’s reign but also of His supreme dominion over the forces of nature. It is, of course, in a storm that the plot imagined God’s power in this psalm.” Alter p. 100
“11. May the LORD give strength to His people. Whether or not this line is a stock coda added by an editor, it does pick up a verbal motif from the beginning, as Israeli scholar Yitzhak Avishur has noted. The palm starts with a verb meaning “to give” or “to grant,” an act to be directed from the divine entourage to God, and concludes with the more common synonym for the act of giving, now directed from God to Israel.” Alter p. 101
This reflection comes from Spong, M. (Ed.). (2020). The words of her mouth: Psalms for the struggle. Cleveland, OH: The Pilgrim Press.
The reflection for Psalm 29 is by Katie Mulligan.
Over the murmur of the stream, over the crashing of the ocean, over the shattered scatter of the rain, over the stillness of the morning lake before the wind:the wind, the Spirit. Over the rushing of blood through my body, thudding my head, breaking my heart, aching my feet: the voice of the LORD over the waters, stirring up trouble, calling my name. I hold my hands over my ears, I play music to drown the voice, I shut the doors and windows on the hottest day, I crawl under the blanket and curl into myself, and still the voice of the Lord calls over the waters, whispering to my trembling, hidden self, a shivering lump wrapped in my grandmother’s quilt. They say, “Come child, let us play.” From under the quilt I worship the Lord in holy splendor. They have given me strength! They have blessed me with Peace! Glory!
This reflection comes from: DAFLER, J. (2021). PSOBRIETY: A journey of recovery through the psalms. Louisville, KY: WESTMINSTER JOHN KNOX. p. 35
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.
For much of my life, I had a belief in a powerless god, when I had any belief at all. I believed that this god might have been the source of the Big Bang that set the universe in motion, but he was otherwise a “hands-off” god who played no further role in the world of human affairs. Having arrived at a concept of a god who exercised no power, it was easy for me to ignore him altogether and grant myself license to try to control my life and those of the people around me.
Psalm 29 sings praise to an all-powerful God, different from the one many of us may have imagined. This is the God who speaks like thunder and rules over the mighty forces of nature. This is the God who gives his people strength and peace. This is also the God who hears our simple cry fro help when our disease has stripped us of all other hope.
This God who “shakes the wilderness” (v.8) hears our plea and answers our prayers! He removes from us our obsession oath alcohol or drugs and sets us on a new path. This path of sobriety–God’s path–brings us ever more hope, freedom, and joy.
The God of Psalm 29 is the God of miracles, the Higher Power who has the strength to save us from death and destruction . Let us stand alongside his children in the temple and shout, “Glory!”
Glory be to you, oh God, who causes the mountains to tremble and saves us from our long suffering! Please use your mighty power to keep us sober today.
Alter, Robert. 2007. The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary New York: W. W. Norton & Company
WBC Allen, Leslie C. 1983. Word Biblical Commentary: Psalms 101-150. Vol. 21. Waco, TX: Word Books, Publisher.
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. 1974. Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible. 8th ed. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Press.
Bourgeault, C. (2006). Chanting the psalms: A practical guide Audio Book. New Seeds.
Brueggemann, Walter. 2007. Praying the Psalms: Engaging Scripture and the Life of the Spirit. 2nd ed. Eugene, OR: Cascade.
Brueggemann, Walter. 2014. From Whom No Secrets Are Hid: Introducing the Psalms. Edited by Brent A. Strawn. 1st ed. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.
Brueggemann, Walter. Davis Hanskins, Editor. 2022. Our Hearts Wait: Worshiping Through Praise and Lament in the Psalms Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville KY.
Brueggemann, Walter. (2002). Spirituality of the psalms. Augsburg Pub. House.
Brueggemann, Walter. (1984). The Message of the Psalms: A Theological Commentary. Minneapolis: Augsburg.
Chilson, Richard, ed. You Shall Not Want: A Spiritual Journey Based on the Psalms. Ave Maria Press, 2009.
Chittister, Joan. (2011). Songs of the heart: reflections on the psalms. John Garratt Publishing.
Cudjoe-Wilkes and Wilkes Cudjoe-Wilkes, G., Wilkes, A. J., & Moss, O. (2022). Psalms for black lives: Reflections for the work of Liberation. Upper Room Books.
WBC Craigie, Peter C. 1983. Psalms 1-50–Word Biblical Commentary. Vol. 19. Waco, TX: Word Books.
Creach, Jerome Frederick Davis. 1998. Psalms: Interpretation Bible Studies. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.
DAFLER, J. (2021). PSOBRIETY: A journey of recovery through the psalms. Louisville, KY: WESTMINSTER JOHN KNOX.
W de Claisse-Walford, Nancy L. WISDOM COMMENTARY: Psalms Bks. 4-5. Edited by Barbara E. Reid. Vol. 22. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 2020.
Green, Barbara. 1997. Like a Tree Planted: An Exploration of Psalms and Parables Through Metaphor. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press.
W Hopkins, Denise Dombkowski. WISDOM COMMENTARY: Psalms Bks. 2-3. Edited by Barbara E. Reid. Vol. 21. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 2016.
NIB Keck, Leander E. 2015. The New Interpreters Bible Commentary. Vol. 3. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
Lewis, C. S. (2017). Reflections on the Psalms. Harper One, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers.
Mays, James Luther. 1994. Psalms. Louisville, KY: John Knox Press.
McCann, J. C. (1993). A theological introduction to the book of Psalms: The Psalms as Torah. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
McCann, J. C., & Howell, J. C. 2001. Preaching the Psalms. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
Merrill, N. C. (2020). Psalms for praying an invitation to wholeness (10th Anniversary Edition ed.). London, England: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Miller, Patrick D. 1986. Interpreting the Psalms. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press.
Morgan, Michael. 2010. The Psalter for Christian Worship Revised Edition. Westminster John Knox Press.
Schlimm, Matthew Richard. 2018. 70 Hebrew Words Every Christian Should Know. Nashville, TN: Abington Press.
Spong, M. (Ed.). (2020). The words of her mouth: Psalms for the struggle. Cleveland, OH: The Pilgrim Press.
WBC Tate, Marvin E. 1990. Word Biblical Commentary: Psalms 51-100. Edited by David Allan. Hubbard and Glenn W. Barker. Vol. 20. Waco, TX: Word.
Weems, Ann. 1995. Psalm of Lament. Westminster John Knox Pres
OTL Weiser, Artur. 1998. Old Testament Library: Psalms. Translated by Herbert Hartwell. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Manchester University Press.
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