God’s Throne Room
Have you ever wondered what God’s throne room in heaven might be like? The Bible gives amazing glimpses of God as exalted King on His throne. God’s throne room is awe-inspiring, full of bright light, amazing beings, singing, shouting and worship. It’s also a very noisy place. The prophet Isaiah, who saw God on His throne, says that as the seraphim (angels or “burning ones”) around God’s throne shouted their worship, “the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke” (Isa 6:1-4).
Ezekiel the priest described God’s throne in terms of fire and brilliant light (Ezek 1:26-28). He says that from afar, it looked like a windstorm – “an immense cloud with flashing lightening and surrounded by brilliant light” (Ezek 1:4). The sound of the wings of the four living creatures around the throne was “like the roar of rushing waters, like the voice of the Almighty, like the tumult of an army” (Ezek 1:24).
The Apostle John says that from God’s throne comes “flashes of lightening, rumblings and peals of thunder” (Rev 4:5). God’s majesty is so awe-inspiring that it is actually terrifying. It’s no wonder Ezekiel and John fell down prostrate before God, and Isaiah cried out “Woe is me!”
An Invitation
Psalm 29 invites us into this heavenly realm, to comprehend something of the majesty and power of our God. To shift our perspective to the One who rules and reigns.
Isaiah and John both hear the living creatures around God’s throne worshipping God and calling out “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isa 6:3; Rev 4:8). I wonder if the psalmist saw this too. At the beginning of the psalm, he seems to be caught up in a similar heavenly vision of the beauty and splendour of God’s holy presence, that he can’t help but join in the urging the “mighty ones” (ie. heavenly beings) around God’s throne to give (ascribe) glory and praise to God.
Ascribe to the Lord, O mighty ones,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.
Psalm 29:1-2
Have you ever been overwhelmed like this by a sense of God’s holy presence? Think about what it might have felt like for Isaiah, Ezekiel, John and the psalmist when they saw God seated on the throne as Lord and King, with every living creature around Him totally focused on Him.
You might like to spend a few minutes worshipping God alongside the heavenly beings by singing or speaking out “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of your glory,” holding nothing back from Him. He deserves everything we have to give!
From Heaven to Earth
With verse 3, the psalm moves from the heavenly realm to earth. The awesome majesty and power of God is portrayed as a massive overwhelming thunderstorm, and nothing on earth can withstand its might. The sound of God’s voice is so powerful it shakes the earth and causes the whole of nature to respond.
The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is majestic.
The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
Psalm 29:3-5
God’s voice thunders in complete power and utter resplendent majesty (v. 4). Nothing can stand in the way when God speaks. There is nothing in all creation that can stop His word from coming to pass. No wonder the living creatures around God’s throne are continually crying out in praise and worship!
Verse 5 pictures God’s voice as breaking into pieces and utterly destroying the tallest and strongest trees in the then-known world – the cedars in Lebanon. Even the biggest and strongest things we face on earth are as nothing compared to our God.
Stepping into God’s World
The picture the psalmist is painting here is unmistakable. He is reminding us of who our God is as absolute Lord and King. And sometimes we do need reminding, don’t we? We often ask God to step into “our” world and provide whatever it is we are needing. This psalm provokes us to change our perspective. Could it be that we are required to step into “God’s” world instead?
Stepping into God’s world is not something mystical or overly spiritual. It simply means learning how to continually walk in the Spirit rather than in our natural flesh (Rom 8). To recognise that because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we are now seated with Him in heavenly places (Eph 2:6). To make a commitment to truly have Jesus as Lord and King in every area of our lives.
I just wonder if Jesus had Psalm 29 in mind when He told the disciples to pray:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Matt 6:9-10
You might like to take some time today to think about what this means for you and respond to God in whatever way He is prompting you.
We’ll continue our study of Psalm 29 in the next post.
