Here’s the eighth post in my continuing series on the Psalms for All Seasons Sunday school class I co-teach with Andrew Friend. Previous posts is the series focused on Psalm 121, Psalm 122, Psalms 2/99, Psalm 72, Psalm 95, Psalm 147 and Psalm 112.)
Working our way through the Revised Common Lectionary (Year A), our class took up Psalm 29 on Oct. 20. The psalm is designated for The Baptism of Our Lord, which is next Sunday (Jan. 12).
Psalm 29 is “a meditation on the splendor of God’s voice as it speaks through creation and elicits the response of God’s people gathered for worship” (PFAS, p. 181). The centerpiece of the psalm is a description of a thunderstorm.
The first section of the psalm (vv. 1-2) is a call to worship addressed to a council of heavenly creatures. The second section (vv. 3-9) pictures a thunderstorm sweeping across northern Palestine, breaking cedars, striking with flashes of lightening, shaking the desert, and stripping forests of oak bare. The thunder is “the voice of the LORD,” a term which is used seven times. The final section (vv. 10-11) pictures the LORD enthroned above the waters giving strength to his people and blessing them with peace.
Since the Canaanite god of thunder was Baal, the psalm subverts Baal worship by ascribing thunder to the LORD. According to the Word Biblical Commentary (Craigie & Tate 2004), “the general image of the storm has been subtly transformed into a tauntlike psalm; the praise of the Lord, by virtue of being expressed in language and imagery associated with the Canaanite weather-god Baal, taunts the weak deity of the defeated foes, namely the Canaanites. Thus, the poet has deliberately utilized Canaanite-type language and imagery in order to emphasize the Lord’s strength and victory, in contrast to the weakness of the inimical Baal” (p. 246).
Connections can also be made between the psalm and the Genesis 1 creation story, the flood story, and the Song of the Sea. Looking forward, the “voice of the LORD… over the waters” brings to mind the voice from heaven speaking at Jesus’ baptism. John’s reference to the “voice of the seven thunders” (Rev. 10:3) may also be a Psalm 29 allusion.
Psalms for All Seasons includes three hymn settings for Psalm 29, two of which are also found in Lift Up Your Hearts.
“Give Glory to God, All You Heavenly Creatures” (PFAS #29C)/LUYH #114/PH87 #29/PH57 #51) is set to ARLES, which has been associated with Psalm 29 since the 1912 Psalter. The 1912 version of the hymn, “Now Unto Jehovah, Ye Sons of the Mighty,” is four stanzas with the middle two corresponding to the “voice of the LORD” section (vv. 3-9). The phrase “voice of Jehovah” appears only twice.
Calvin Seerveld rewrote the lyrics for the 1987 Psalter Hymnal. His first verse is a loose paraphrase of vv. 1-2 ending with a call to listen to the “voice of the LORD”:
Give glory to God, all you heavenly creatures; all glory and power belong to the LORD!
So drop to your knees and respect what is holy, be quiet and listen: the voice of the LORD!
Stanzas 2-4 are a more faithful paraphrase of the thunder section (vv. 3-9) with “voice of the LORD” appearing seven times. The final stanza returns to the heavenly creatures and their response to the voice of the LORD (which isn’t in the psalm) before picking up v. 11. Seerveld’s versification seems more faithful to the flow of the psalm than the version it replaced.
“Give Glory to God, All You Heavenly Creatures” has been a part of our repertoire at Trinity; a number of years ago I used it in a service featuring very old songs as Psalm 29 is thought to be one of the earliest psalms.
A newer setting of Psalm 29, but with a traditional hymn tune, is Michael Morgan’s “All on Earth and All in Heaven” (PFAS #29A/LUYH #922), which is set to the stately tune EBENEZER.
[EBENEZER is familiar to me as the tune for “Alleluia! Alleluia! Hearts to Heaven” (LUYH #179/PH87 #387). It’s also the tune for “Sing! A New Creation” (LUYH #797/SNC #241), which lent its name to the 2001 CRC hymnal; “Oh, the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus” (LUYH #796/HFW #159); “Thy Strong Word” (HFW #220) and “Jesus, Tempted in the Desert” (SNT #16).
Morgan’s hymn is a compressed paraphrase of the psalm with just two verses. The ending highlights the irony of the voice of thunder also blessing his people with peace.
But the Word which set in motion such travails can make them cease; that same voice which tumult beckons in a gentler breath speaks peace.
The performance notes suggest that at the beginning of this section to “allow the singing and accompaniment to diminish until the final measure, ending in a gentle whisper.”
The final Psalm 29 hymn in Psalms for All Seasons is “Hijos de Dios/Angels on High” (PFAS #29B), which is set to a catchy Latin tune. It consists of a short chorus (“Angels on high, and peoples on earth give glory to God, praise God’s splendor and might”) and three short stanzas. The second stanza (“Over the waters, hear the voice of God resounding with thundering power”), based on verse 3, is the only reference to the voice of God; verses 4-10 aren’t in the paraphrase.
Psalms for All Seasons includes two responsorial settings, “Your Voice, O LORD, Is a Voice of Splendor” (PFAS #29D) and an alternate, “Speak Now, O LORD, Speak Your Word of Blessing.” (According to the performance notes: “When celebrating the power and majesty of God throughout this psalm, use the first refrain. When considering the voice of peace and blessing, use the alternative refrain.”) However, Andrew chose the responsorial setting in Sing! A New Creation, “The Voice of God Goes Out to All the World” (SNC #127) for use by our class.