All Cry “Glory!” (Psalm 29:9)

 


Tuesday, 11 November, 2025


Psalms 28; 29

2 Kings 16

Matthew 23:1-15


Observances: Martin, bishop of Tours (d. c. 387); Remembrance Day


All Cry “Glory!” (Psalm 29:9)


The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth
    and strips the forests bare,
    and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”


I am a big fan of Sunday School Theology. It is a term I have just invented now; maybe it will catch on. The idea is this: if you grew up in the church, chances are that you received some sort of Christian teaching targeted towards younger minds. And if this teaching was any good, it usually revolved around a few central themes: God is really big, God loves you, and Jesus is God.


They say the classics are classic for a reason. And nothing is more classic than these three ideas. Today’s second Psalm, the twenty-ninth, holds them all, focusing especially on the first.


God is really big, and we start really big: the heavenly beings, those spiritual entities which are not God, are told three times across two verses to give glory to God. We are then taken on a whirlwind (quite literally) throughout creation, getting front-row seats of the effects of God’s bigness on the material universe.


Having collected up everything in heaven, and then on earth, we are brought back into the temple of God, and the only thing left to say after this spectacular extravaganza is “Glory!”


The final two verses leave us with more comforting meditations, and they become more wonderful when we remember that the King referred to in the Psalms is Jesus: he sits enthroned over the flood; he sits as king forever; he gives strength to his people; he blesses his people with peace.


How would a reflection on Jesus as God bless you with strength and peace?


Jesus our King, whose voice transforms the very nature of reality: bless us with your peace and strength, that we may be awakened to your glory, and live in your light forever.

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