PSALM 29
A PSALM FOR THOSE WHO FEEL BULLIED
REVISED MAY 9, 2006
This morning I want to talk especially to men and boys about bullying and intimidation. It seems to me that many Christian men think that bullying and intimidation are appropriate in the Christian church. Often these men do
the bullying and intimidation as a form of humor, unaware of the hurt that they are causing people. Some time ago I picked up a book of humor designed especially for Christian readers. At least 25% of the book was composed of what are called cold cuts, humor which intimidates or bullies.
An example would be: I know you are not two-faced, because if you had another face, you would wear it. I am glad that since that book was written,
another more important book has been written by Larry Crabb entitled "Encouragement". And if you are the kind of person whose sense of humor leads easily to cold cuts, I suggest that you read Larry Crabb’s book.
You see, bullying and intimidating are a form of pride, and that kind of pride has no place in the believer’s life and conduct. Rather than address those who may at times consciously or unconsciously bully and/or intimidate, I should like to encourage those who sometimes feel bullied and/or intimidated.
The Bible tells us of a time when a whole nation of God’s people, all except one man, felt intimidated. The man who was not intimidated was David.
David became a great psalmist. This morning I want us to look at a psalm which he may have written against bullies and intimidators. I trust that our study of it will encourage those who sometimes feel bullied and intimidated to realize afresh that our strength is not in ourselves, but in the Lord; and I trust that you will increasingly find the strength in the Lord not to be intimidated by non-Christian bullies. I trust that you will also find the strength to develop the kind of relationships with Christian brothers who act macho to rebuke them when they wittingly or unwittingly intimidate or bully.
When my wife was a student at Moody Bible Institute she had a roommate named Barbara, who in my opinion looked a little bit like Elizabeth Taylor,
when Elizabeth Taylor was much younger and much more innocent. Barbara
married a macho type man named Jim, who after he came out of the U.S.
Air Force became a pilot for United Airlines. He retired as a captain who flew jets and flew 747’s all over the United States.
Barbara and Jim have three grown daughters, one of whom is named Pam who writes beautiful poetry, some of which is very humorous.
About thirty years ago, when Pam was a teenager living in the Chicago area,
I would visit her and her parents.
One of the highlights of those visits was to read some of Pam’s poems.
One poem which I really enjoyed was called “The Incredible Hulk.” It is addressed to a macho type of teenage boy whose legs really impressed the
girls. The last stanza of the poem says poetically: I guess you would like to know my identity, the identity of your secret admirer. You’ll never know.
Perhaps there is some father here today who if he were honest would say:
I wish I were more macho. I wish that when I was a teenager some girl would have thought of me as an incredible hulk. But I was a little runt, and everybody
bullied me. This morning I want to tell you that if you know God, you don’t need to be macho, because the Lord will be your strength.
We shall first consider the time when the whole nation of Israel, all except David, felt intimidated; and then we shall look at Psalm 29.
(1 Sam 17:1 NIV) Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Socoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah.
(1 Sam 17:2 NIV) Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines.
(1 Sam 17:3 NIV) The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them.
(1 Sam 17:4 NIV) A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet tall.
(1 Sam 17:5 NIV) He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels ;
(1 Sam 17:6 NIV) on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back.
(1 Sam 17:7 NIV) His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him.
(1 Sam 17:8 NIV) Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, "Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me.
(1 Sam 17:9 NIV) If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us."
(1 Sam 17:10 NIV) Then the Philistine said, "This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other."
(1 Sam 17:11 NIV) On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.
(1 Sam 17:12 NIV) Now David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul’s time he was old and well advanced in years.
(1 Sam 17:13 NIV) Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war: The firstborn was Eliab; the second, Abinadab; and the third, Shammah.
(1 Sam 17:14 NIV) David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul,
(1 Sam 17:15 NIV) but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.
(1 Sam 17:16 NIV) For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.
(1 Sam 17:17 NIV) Now Jesse said to his son David, "Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp.
(1 Sam 17:18 NIV) Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance from them.
(1 Sam 17:19 NIV) They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines."
(1 Sam 17:20 NIV) Early in the morning David left the flock with a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry.
(1 Sam 17:21 NIV) Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other.
(1 Sam 17:22 NIV) David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and greeted his brothers.
(1 Sam 17:23 NIV) As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion
from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David
heard it.
(1 Sam 17:24 NIV) When the Israelites saw the man, they all ran from him in
great fear.
(1 Sam 17:25 NIV) Now the Israelites had been saying, "Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his father’s family from taxes in Israel."
(1 Sam 17:26 NIV) David asked the men standing near him, "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?"
(1 Sam 17:27 NIV) They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, "This is what will be done for the man who kills him."
(1 Sam 17:28 NIV) When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, "Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle."
(1 Sam 17:29 NIV) "Now what have I done?" said David. "Can’t I even speak?"
(1 Sam 17:30 NIV) He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before.
(1 Sam 17:31 NIV) What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him.
(1 Sam 17:32 NIV) David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him."
(1 Sam 17:33 NIV) Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth."
(1 Sam 17:34 NIV) But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock,
(1 Sam 17:35 NIV) I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.
(1 Sam 17:36 NIV) Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.
(1 Sam 17:37 NIV) The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."
(1 Sam 17:38 NIV) Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head.
(1 Sam 17:39 NIV) David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. "I cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them." So he took them off.
(1 Sam 17:40 NIV) Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.
(1 Sam 17:41 NIV) Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David.
(1 Sam 17:42 NIV) He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised him.
(1 Sam 17:43 NIV) He said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
(1 Sam 17:44 NIV) "Come here," he said, "and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!"
(1 Sam 17:45 NIV) David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
(1 Sam 17:46 NIV) This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.
(1 Sam 17:47 NIV) All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands."
(1 Sam 17:48 NIV) As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.
(1 Sam 17:49 NIV) Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.
(1 Sam 17:50 NIV) So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; Without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.
(1 Sam 17:51 NIV) David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the scabbard. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran.
(1 Sam 17:52 NIV) Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath and to the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.
(1 Sam 17:53 NIV) When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp.
(1 Sam 17:54 NIV) David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem, and he put the Philistine’s weapons in his own tent.
(1 Sam 17:55 NIV) As Saul watched David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, commander of the army, "Abner, whose son is that young man?" Abner replied, "As surely as you live, O king, I don’t know."
(1 Sam 17:56 NIV) The king said, "Find out whose son this young man is."
(1 Sam 17:57 NIV) As soon as David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with David still holding the Philistine’s head.
(1 Sam 17:58 NIV) "Whose son are you, young man?" Saul asked him. David said, "I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem."
(Psa 29:1 NIV) A psalm of David. Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
(Psa 29:2 NIV) Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in
the splendor of his holiness.
(Psa 29:3 NIV) The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD thunders over the mighty waters.
(Psa 29:4 NIV) The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is majestic.
(Psa 29:5 NIV) The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
(Psa 29:6 NIV) He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, Sirion like a young wild ox.
(Psa 29:7 NIV) The voice of the LORD strikes with flashes of lightning.
(Psa 29:8 NIV) The voice of the LORD shakes the desert; the LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
(Psa 29:9 NIV) The voice of the LORD twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, "Glory!"
(Psa 29:10 NIV) The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever.
(Psa 29:11 NIV) The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.
Verses 1-2
(Psa 29:1 NIV) A psalm of David. Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
(Psa 29:2 NIV) Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in
the splendor of his holiness.
In verse 1 the psalmist is addressing certain people as mighty, and saying that they should give the Lord the glory due to Him. Because there are no people who are really mighty compared to the Lord, I suggest to you that the people who are being addressed are people who think that they are mighty, or people who are thought to be mighty by others. In reality they are not mighty.
Only God is mighty. Bullies are people who think they are mighty, or who are thought to be mighty by others. o the first two verses could well be addressed to bullies, to people like Goliath, who are proud of their apparent strength.
(Psa 29:3 NIV) The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD thunders over the mighty waters.
(Psa 29:4 NIV) The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is majestic.
The power of God in a thunder storm is tremendous, but there is an even greater power of God which I enjoy witnessing, and that is the power of God to turn a macho man into a humble servant, to turn a man who thinks he has to impress people with how great he is into a man who, in his weakness, impresses people with how great God is, because God’s power is often made most manifest in our weaknesses.
In the last church which I pastored in Canada, Fellowship Baptist Church in Port Perry, Ontario, there was a macho-looking Italian man who was the owner of a number of businesses associated with the construction industry.
He had three beautiful daughters, all of whom were married to macho-type men. All three sons-in-law were big wheels in their father-in-law’s businesses.
The daughters were members of the church, but the sons-in-law had not made professions of faith, at least not publicly in baptism.
One of the sons-in-law was a son of a Baptist minister, and was somewhat antagonistic to certain Christians because when he was a teenager his father had been badly treated by macho-type deacons.
I made it a personal goal to reach out to those three boys. I had the privilege in the short time I was there to baptize two of the boys. I was virtually forced to leave after a year by a macho-type man who “controlled” the church. When I resigned from the church, the third son-in-law, who had been bitter, wept copiously, and pledged to me his support and encouragement.
The first son-in-law I baptized was named John. John was all man and all athlete. He played defence in hockey, and was known as The Bruiser; and he had the body to bruise anyone and everyone. I still remember the night I visited him and his wife when he made the decision to be baptized. Within about an hour of his making his decision, while I was still in his home, one of the men of the church called him to ask him if he would help out with the work among boys in their preteens. He became one of the most gentle, supportive, encouraging leaders I have ever seen. You see he had learned that his task as a Christian was not to prove how great and mighty he was, but to prove how great and mighty God is.
One of the burdens of John and Susan was to have a child. Beautiful Susan and big John, the bruiser, were not able to have children. So we prayed for them, and God enabled them to adopt a little girl.
Money is no object to that family. Shortly after I moved to the United States, John rented a limousine and driver and they drove to Chatham, Ontario,
about 200 miles from their beautiful home in Port Perry, to pick up this little girl.
You see John wanted to be in the back seat with his wife playing with the little
girl while they drove home from Chatham.
And if Margaret and I had been with them in the car, I am sure that we would have talked together about the mighty power of our God to change lives.
And when I think of John and Susan, and when I recall how everyone was concerned that weak little I might drop him when I baptized him, I am reminded again about how weak all we mortals are, and how powerful our all-mighty God is.
