A THUNDERSTORM OR THE VOICE OF THE LORD On this psalm, a feeling of the authority of the Lord prevails. It starts by a heavenly scene, in which the high creatures offer glory, in harmony with the sound of violent thunder, emerging from the natural elements. Its occasion: According to the Septuagint version, this psalm was sung on the occasion of the holy feast of the tabernacles, during which the people rejoiced in the harvest (particularly of olives and grapes); And praying to the Lord to send rain to break down the season of draught (Zechariah 14: 16 – 18). The ‘Telmud’ binds psalm 29 to the feast of the Pentecost, or of the Weeks. According to some scholars, the prophet David wrote this psalm after setting the tabernacle of the meeting. … And according to St. Athanasius the apostolic, what came in the title of this psalm: “On the way of the tabernacle”, symbolically refers to the Jews who ministered in the tabernacle, and through the shadow – of the law and the prophesies – until they came out of it, for the Gentiles to enter into faith instead of them. … And according to ‘Theodorus’, the tabernacle here, is the body, in which the soul dwells; and coming out of it refers to the departure from this mortal world. This psalm, therefore, teaches us to be prepared to depart to our heavenly home. … And according to St. Augustine, this psalm refers to the purification of the church, and to keeping her holy in this world, until she departs from it. We therefore, see how the fathers see this psalm as being the psalm of the glorious work pf God, who, by His Holy Spirit, blows like a thunderstorm that shakes the depths of the soul, and prepares her to depart from this world, with a holy life that glorifies God; https://coptic-treasures.com/ … It is the psalm of God’ glory, working in His people, to bring them forth to the fellowship of His glories. The prophet David could have been watching a terrifying thunderstorm that came all of a sudden, from the mountains of Lebanon, down to the wilderness of Kadesh in the south, all the terror and horror it brought by its fierce thunder and lightening, and the damage of the fires it caused to possessions. … Yet, it would not stop at the external natural signs and consequences; but it should be understood as a self-testimony about God, of the history of salvation. Psalm 29, therefore roars together with the sounds of the terrifying winter storms, through the circumstances experienced by the people, who perceived that God is like a thunderstorm that dwells, not only on nature, but would sweep through the soul. He dwells in our souls, even during the inner thunderstorms of temptations. The prophet David, being a man of extremely tender senses and feelings; knows how to play on the strings of his heart a melody of love to God, under any circumstances…. Under a clear sky, he would say: “Heavens speak of the glory of God”…. and in every thunder or lightening, during a thunderstorm, he senses the active voice of God in human life. …. If he enters into an affliction, he gets in touch with God, his Savior; … And if he gets comfort, he would enjoy the deposit of the heavenly joy. … In case he is chased and driven out by enemies, he searches for the city of God, whose gates are open with love; … And in case he returns to his people, he sings a praise for the beauty of the house of God. The active voice of the Lord: In this psalm we find “the voce of the Lord” repeated seven times, like seven consequent waves of thunder; portraying the power and activity of the Divine Word in the life of men. The “Voice of the Lord” is the incarnate Word who descended to the world to set out of His disciples, “the sons of thunder”, as active tools to enjoy the new https://coptic-treasures.com/ evangelic life; when their old nature is shaken, falls down, and replaced by a new nature, bearing the image of Christ the Word; to enjoy the blessing, the honor, and the glory. “God is in the thunderstorm”; not only in nature, but in the thunderstorm of the inner soul, as well. In our depths He proclaims Himself through the thunderstorms that sweep through our inner nature. The Word of God came to enter into the soul, and to stir up in her an inner revolution against evil; to destroy in her the ancient man, and to grant us the new man. It is also a thunderstorm that dwells upon the congregation as a whole, through which God proclaims His covenant with His people, not set upon putting a new cloth on an old garment; but upon a complete and a renewable change; Hence the name of God ‘Jehovah’, His special name concerning His relationship with His people, appears 18 times in this short psalm. This title proclaims His presence among His people; truly glorified, not only through His might in nature, but rather in His presence among His children. Its relationship to psalm 28: This psalm comes in its right position after psalm 28, in which the psalmist cries out: “To You I will cry, O Lord my Rock, Do not be silent to me, lest if You are silent to me, I become like those who come down to the pit” (Psalm 28: 1); to which God responded, and granted him His active voice as a thunderstorm that swept through his depths, and changed his nature. The two psalms are alike in their ends; granting His people strength (honor), and blessing them with peace. Its general frame: https://coptic-treasures.com/ 1- A call to worship 1 - 2 2- The thunderstorm and the goodness of God3 - 9 3- God, the eternal King 10 4- God’s graces upon His church 11 1- A CALL TO WORSHIP: (1 – 2) “Give unto the Lord, O you mighty ones; Give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” (1, 2) Every strike of thunder was interpreted by David as a call to him, as well as to others, to give glory and honor to God. Who are the mighty ones? a- According to some scholars, it refers to the holy heavenly beings, counted as the children of God; and refers, as well, to those who ministered in the temple in Jerusalem, being a shadow of the heavenly kingdom. b- According to fathers of the church, it refers to the Christians who came from all the nations and tribes to present their life a sacrifice of love to God; those whom the Lord commanded to call God their Father, saying: “Our Father in heaven” (Matthew 6: 9). The psalmist (according to the Arabic language version) calls upon the mighty children of God to “give unto the Lord the little sons of sheep”, as glory and strength to his name. Those are the believers who have got the adoption to the Mighty One by baptism, and have got the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of glory and strength. What can the heavenly beings or the believers, give God except their life as a sign of love to Him, as a response to His love for them, being His beloved children!. https://coptic-treasures.com/ God’s children give Him glory and honor, namely, the enjoyment of God’s unique beauty, which is His holiness, and the proclamation of our conquest over sin by the strength of His grace. If God is the whole Holiness, we cannot glorify Him except by our holy life, by a fellowship with the divine nature, and by the experience of the work of His exalted grace. + Present yourselves to the Lord, O you who are begotten by the apostles through the gospel “1 Corinthians 4: 15). Worship the Lord in holy hearts, with love for everyone; for you, yourselves, are His holy royal dwelling place. (St. Augustine) + Give unto the Lord, O you mighty ones; Give unto the Lord (the sons of sheep); namely, the offering of the apostles, and the offering of the believers. Let us follow the lead of our Savior who called Himself “the Shepherd”, “the Lamb”, that was slain for our sake in the land of Egypt (Exodus 12: 6), and “the ram” that “was caught in the thicket by its horns” (Genesis 22: 13), as a ransom for Isaac. Let us say together with David: “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want; He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters” (Psalm 23: 1, 2). (St. Jerome) We can glorify God by approaching Him as living sacrifices, following the lead of our Savior who, in His love, while being the Shepherd, has become the slain Lamb for our sake; and by delivering our life a sacrifice, so that He would care for us, to be in need of nothing. https://coptic-treasures.com/ King David used to offer himself to his God, and to refer his strength, conquest, and honor to God. … He used to put his crown, the scepter of his kingdom, his sword, and his flute, in God’s hand; … He used to put all his possibilities, and his gifts, for the glory and the praise of God. What does he mean by saying: “Give unto the Lord the little sons of sheep”? This verse could not be literally interpreted, but it bears a prophecy about the Christian faith. For, having been born to fathers who worshipped idols of sheep and other animals; we -- the sons of sheep -- have become by faith the sons of God; Having forsaken the worship of sheep, and believing in the true living God. We, the sons of the Gentiles have become the sons of God; according to the words of the psalmist: “Instead of your fathers shall be your sons” (Psalm 45: 16). According to some, “the (male) sons of sheep”, could not be literally interpreted; For a single male sheep can produce a multitude of offspring; so that a newborn sheep could not be referred to a certain father sheep, but could only be referred to the she-goat that gave it birth; for the entire flock usually would not have more than two or three male sheep among a multitude of she-goats. … According to St. Basil: [The male sheep, which precedes the flock, and leads them to pastures, water sources, and folds, symbolizes the overseers over the flock of the Lord Christ, by whose teachings, they lead their flocks to the spiritual pastures and water sources; are ready to stab their enemies by the two horns of the Old and the New Testaments, and to draw them by the Word of God to the good godly life. By turning them into their sons, they would present them to God, saying: “Here am I and the children whom God has given me… “ (Hebrew 2: 13). 2: In the Septuagint version, the expression: “Give unto the Lord” is repeated four times, then followed by saying: “Worship the Lord in (His holy sanctuary)” (2); by which the psalmist calls upon the believers, wherever they are in the four corners of the world https://coptic-treasures.com/ (North, South, East, and West), to present their life as an offering of love to God, without disregarding the holiness of being gathered together in the presence of the Lord in His holy sanctuary, or His holy house. Wherever we are, and under any circumstances, we should be connected to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ; to offer our life delivered for the sake of God and men. Let us worship God in His holy sanctuary … According to St Basil the Great, God’s holy sanctuary is the One holy church, and not the synagogue of the Jews, whose house, because of their sin, is left for them desolate (Luke 13: 35), to be replaced by the church where we encounter God and worship Him by the Spirit and the Truth. … Yet, according to St. Basil, many in the church who pray while their minds are preoccupied with vanities, would not be in God’s holy sanctuary. According to St. Augustine, God’s holy sanctuary is heaven, to which our heart is lifted up, while still being on earth. This could not be realized except by the work of the Holy Spirit in us, who, alone, can bear our inner man to heaven, to say: “He raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2: 6).. Hence, in the third hour of prayers in the Agpeya, recalling the dwelling of the Holy Spirit on the church, we say: [Whenever we stand in Your holy sanctuary, we are indeed considered as being in heaven]. 2- THE THUNDERSTORM AND THE GOODNESS OF GOD: (3 – 9) The thunderstorm may refer to the prophecies of the Old Testament, through which the voice of God is heard. The words “The voice of the Lord” are repeated her seven times. A- “The voice of the Lord is over the waters; The God of glory thunders; The Lord is over many waters” (3) Commenting on these words, St. Hypolitus the Roman says: [What voice is this? It is “You are My beloved Son; In You I am well pleased” (Luke 3: 22). On the https://coptic-treasures.com/ waters of baptism, we listen to the voice of the Mighty God proclaiming our sonship to Him. That is why this psalm is read in the rite of the liturgy of baptism, when the priest stirs the water by the cross after pouring the ‘Meron’ in the baptismal font. According to St. Augustine, those waters are the Gentiles who received the voice of the Lord; saying: [When our Lord Jesus Christ made His voice heard through the Gentiles, filled with awe, He turned them to His statutes, and made His dwelling place among them]. Speaking of those “many waters”, the prophet Isaiah says: “Woe to the multitude of many people who make a noise like the roar of the seas, and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters. The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters; But God will rebuke them, and they will flee far away, and be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, like the rolling thing before the whirlwind. Then behold, at eventide, trouble! And before the morning, he is no more. This is the portion of those who plunder us, and the lot of those who rob us” (Isaiah 17: 12 – 14). The Lord rebuked those “many waters” by thundering with His voice on the nations who flew away. Having been heathen peoples, they became no more; but came back as a strong and glorious church, carrying not the whirlwinds of the seas, nor their torrent currents, or their salty waters; But came as a church bearing the obedience, meekness, and gentility of Christ. The “many waters” refer as well to the sufferings and afflictions that dwell upon the believer, almost to swallow him; about which the psalmist says: “Rescue me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of foreigners” (Psalm 144: 7). The voice of the Lord thunders on them to turn our sufferings into glories, to become a fellowship with Him in His passions and crucifixion, and a way to enjoy the strength of His resurrection and glory (Romans 8: 17). https://coptic-treasures.com/ The “many waters” may refer as well to our energies and possibilities, of emotions, feelings, motives, and gifts … which we corrupted to become like the salty waters of the seas, surrounding and drowning our souls. But through the Word of God, they turned into a river of fresh water that brings pleasure to the city of God, namely, our hearts. … The prophet Jonah says: ”You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the floods surrounded me” (Jonah 2: 3). Left to his human possibilities, which are a divine gift corrupted by man, Jonah was cast into the heart of the seas, and was about to drown in the deep salty waters; … But the Word of God turned those energies to his edification, and the seas turned into a fresh water river, not to surround him, but to water his land by heavenly sweetness, turning the dryness of his soul into a fruitful paradise. Instead of moaning because of the water, he said together with David: “Save me, O God, for the water has come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me” (Psalm 69: 1, 2); he exultantly praised God for the sake of the rivers running from his heart, according to the words of the Lord Christ: “He who believes in me, as the Scripture said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7: 38); and said together with the psalmist: “There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God” (Psalm 46: 4). Pouring the ‘Meron’ on the water in the font of baptism, the priest stirs the water with the cross, uttering the words we mentioned, to proclaim that the voice of the Father is set forever receiving the newly baptized, those who become members of the body of His beloved Son, to enjoy the fellowship of His glories. + God, the Father of glory, thundered, testifying to His Son, saying: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3: 17). (St. Jerome) https://coptic-treasures.com/ B- “The voice of the Lord is powerful; The voice of the Lord is full of majesty” (4) When the divine Word came, He, by weakness, proclaimed what is greater than strength; He was raised by the body on the cross, bearing our reproach, to make us bear His strength and majesty, working in our life. The Word of God, or the voice of the Lord also proclaimed His dwelling in His church, when he performed many wonders through the hands of His apostles; and powerfully spoke by them to draw the Gentiles from corruption to a new glorious life, a joyful evangelic life, a holy life in the Lord. The psalmist, after speaking of God’s work in “the many waters”. exults in the powerful and glorious voice of the Lord, And the believer, with great strength and majesty, experiences the voice of the Lord in his daily life, after entering into the water of baptism, to receive sonhood in God and the gift of His Holy Spirit, who renews his life to make it according to the image of God. + This is our renewal; making us according to the image of God anew, through the washing of renewal and the Holy Spirit, to make us the children of God, a new creation by the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, taking away everything old from it.. (St. Basil the Great) + Baptism cleanses us from every blemish; makes us the holy temple of God; and brings us back to the fellowship of the divine nature by the Holy Spirit. (St. Clement of Alexandria) https://coptic-treasures.com/ “The voice of the Lord over the waters” terrifies the demons, gives strength and authority to believers; destroys the energies of darkness; and grants us the enlightenment, to live by the Spirit of strength and inner glory, not by the spirit of failure and despair. C- “The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; yes the Lord splinters the cedars of Lebanon. He makes them also skip like a calf of Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild ox ( the beloved, like the son of the Unicorn) ” (5, 6) The voice of the Lord in thunder breaks the cedars, the cedars of Lebanon, the strongest of the cedar trees. The strong tempest sometimes uproots them and brings their high and mighty tops down to the ground. These cedars represent the self-boasting haughty souls. The voice of the Lord or the incarnate Word of God, came to bring these souls forth to the life of humility, through the grief of repentance. “God has chosen the weak of the world to put to shame those who are mighty” (1 Corinthians 1: 27)… for the weak to enjoy the Mighty One who has taken for their sake the image of weakness.. + “The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars”. By repentance God breaks those who boast the honor of their temporal origin; who are put to shame when they see how He has chosen the lowly ones to show in them His divine strength. (St. Augustine) According to some, the cedar here refers to idol-worship with their huge temples and statutes, yet, like the mighty cedar trees, with no spiritual fruit or benefit. The https://coptic-treasures.com/ incarnate Word of God came to uproot the idol-worship and to turn the Gentiles to His kingdom, the kingdom of joyful and fruitful meekness. Nothing would break the pride of man’s heart, or take away the love of the world (idol-worship), and every sin, other than the voice of the Lord, namely, the enjoyment of the Lord Christ, the Word of God, hidden in the words of the Holy Book. Let us then seek and enjoy Him in His gospel, to set His kingdom in us, that no enemy can approach, nor sin partake. The voice of the Lord crushes the cedar trees “like the calf of Lebanon”; as Moses crushed the golden calf which the children of Israel made and worshipped (Exodus 32: 20). Instead of that heathen god (the golden calf), the believer enjoys “the beloved like the son of the Unicorn”; namely, the Lord Christ the strong and mighty only begotten beloved Son (the corn or horn refers to the ability to give salvation). Entering into the water of baptism, we encounter the voice of the Lord who breaks in us the haughtiness of our old man, namely, the work of the arrogant devil; the cedar of Lebanon planted inside us; crushes the golden calf; namely, every temporal covetousness and worship; and sets in us the only begotten Word of God, in our new inner man. + “The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars”, For the Lord Christ was baptized; while the haughty and proud demons have been destroyed and broken in the pit of perdition; broken by the Lord like the cedars and the calf of Lebanon, scattering in the air their bits and pieces away. + About the Savior, the psalm says: “The beloved, like the son of the Unicorn”. Our beloved Savior Lord is the Son of the Unicorn, namely, the Son of the cross to which the prophet Habakkuk sings, saying: “His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise; His brightness https://coptic-treasures.com/ was like the light; He had rays flashing from His hand, and there His power was hidden” (Habakkuk 3: 3, 4)..After that beloved was crucified, the prophecy that came in the psalm was realized, saying: “The voice of the Lord divides the flames of fire” (7); For when Christ purified us, the fire of Hades (in us) was quenched. (St. Jerome) + By the holy baptism man is set free from the authority of the devil, and becomes born without seed, just like the Manhood of Christ; He would be sanctified from the birth of seed by the Holy Spirit; that the devil would have no authority on him, as long as the Spirit of Christ is in him. (Abba Svirus, bishop of El-Ashmonin) + Whoever is baptized for Christ, will not only be born from God, but will be clothed by Christ as well (Galatians 3: 27). … Do not take this by its literate meaning, as being a work of love, but it is the truth; For the incarnation made our union with Christ and our fellowship in the divinity an actual fact. (St. John Chrysostom) Connecting between the Lord Christ, “the beloved Son of the Unicorn”, and the saints as being unicorns, St. Ambrose says: [The saints are called unicorns… For these kinds of beasts are counted as have reached the climax of maturity through the appearance of a corn on their head. Therefore, once a corn starts to appear (on the head of the soul), she would seem to have reached a great level of maturity in virtues, and continue growing to reach perfection. https://coptic-treasures.com/ By that corn, the Lord Jesus crushed the fantasies of the Gentiles, and granted them salvation; saying: “I wound and I heal” (Deuteronomy 32: 39). That is why, according to the statutes, the clean animals are those with horns, for the divine law is spiritual; Those who drive the seductions of the world away by the Word of God, and by keeping the virtue, are as though armed by horns on their heads.] Our Christ is a Unicorn, By His cross He destroyed the evil of the Gentiles and acquired them as members in His body. We, as well, are unicorns, we destroy evil by the Holy Spirit, and by the strength granted to us by our Lord Jesus Christ, to live perfect in Him. D- “The voice of the Lord divides the flames of fire” (7) The strong tempests, sometimes cause fires in the forests; and sometimes, by their rain, quench those fires. By His Holy Spirit, the voice of the Lord ignites the fire of divine love, saying: “I have come to send fire on the earth” (Luke 12: 49). This fire swallows and divides the fire of lust in us. As, according to St. John Chrysostom: [By fire, fire is quenched; By the fire of the Spirit, the fire of lust are quenched]. According to St. Basil the Great, the voice of the Lord on the great day of judgment divides the flames of fire in the righteous, but its light remain; Whereas in the wicked, what remains is its burning heat, yet with no light. The word “divides” here, means discerns or (separates) the righteous from the wicked in the day of judgment, that the righteous, blessed by the Father, would enjoy the glorious inheritance, whereas the wicked would be cast in the fire set for the devil and his angels. https://coptic-treasures.com/ + I believe that the fire set for the punishment of Satan and his angels is divided by the voice of the Lord. There would be two kinds of capabilities: one to burn, and another to give light. The firm power of the former waits for those worthy of being burnt; while its radiation, grantor of enlightenment, is kept for the joyful to enjoy. (St. Basil the Great) E- “The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness. The Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh” (8) In verses 5 – 7 the psalmist talked about the tempest that blows on the mountains of Lebanon, extending hundred of miles north and south in two separate regions: In the north where the valuable cedar trees that were used by king Solomon in His construction projects (1 Kings 5: 6-10; 6: 15; 7: 1-3, 11-12); trees that symbolize haughtiness (Isaiah 10: 33-34; Zechariah 11: 2). Now in Psalm 29: 8 and 9, the tempest crawls toward the wilderness of the Arabian desert, east of the mountain bordering Lebanon, and shakes the whole wilderness. The word “shakes” in Hebrew, makes an analogy to a woman in labor. The divine Word – the voice of the Lord – came to the world that was like a barren and fruitless wilderness, to shake its depths, to become like a woman in the pain of labor, then rejoices by giving birth to an infant who brings happiness to her life. The prophet Isaiah, by the spirit of prophecy, seeing how the world as a wilderness enjoyed the Messianic era, as an era of living water that turned it into a fruitful garden, says: “The wilderness becomes a fruitful field; … then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteous will remain in the fruitful field; … My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places” (Isaiah 32: 15 – 17). https://coptic-treasures.com/ “The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh” (8). The wilderness of Kadesh through which the people of God passed before reaching the promised land, refers to man before enjoying the divine promise, and entering into the church of the new covenant, the land of peace. Such a man needs the Word of God to dwell in him by faith, to turn him from being the wilderness of Kadesh to the new Canaan. + The voice of the Lord shakes the faith of the Gentiles, who were before with no hope, with no God in the world (Ephesians 2: 11), with no prophet, nor a preacher of the Word of God; as though in a barren lifeless wilderness. The voice of the Lord came to shake the wilderness of Kadesh, to make the Word of His Holy Book known, the Word that was forsaken by the Jews who did not understand it. (St. Augustine) + “The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness” … The wilderness here, refers to the church, which has been before childless, then, by preaching Christ, the wilderness was shaken, the time of its labor came to give birth in a single day, to a whole nation (Isaiah 66: 7). After been called the wilderness of Kadesh; it became the wilderness of holiness, carrying virtues, and giving birth to deer, namely, to saints in groups and multitudes, to kill the serpents on earth, despising their venom, while roaming around preaching the gospel of Christ, all saying: “Glory be to God”. (St. Jerome) F- “The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth, and strips the forest bare” (9) https://coptic-treasures.com/ According to the Hebrew text, it is as though the violence of the tempest so terrifies the deer to give birth prematurely; Whereas, according to the Septuagint version, it came as “Calms down the deer”; the Incarnate Word came to calm our disturbed psyches down, and to restore to us our inner peace. “The voice of the Lord strips the forest bare” (9). By the coming of the Incarnate, the secrets of the divine Scriptures were revealed to us, which were before hidden in the shadows. At the time of tempest, the dense shadows of the forests disappear before the shining of lightning, and the dark caves are exposed, that no man can hide. When the voice of the Lord came to the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve could not hide behind trees, nor their nakedness covered by the olive leaves, even before themselves. .. The Word of God – the Lord Christ -- shines on us by His Holy Spirit, to bare our life before our eyes, and to rebuke our sins, to approach Him as sick seeking to be healed, soul and body. + The soul is in need of the divine Lamp; namely, the Holy Spirit, to give light to the dark house; and of the shining Sun of Righteousness to shine and give light to the heart; and is in need of the weapons by which to conquer in the battle. (St. Maccari the Great) It is also said that the thunder, reveals the beasts of the forest which hasten in terror to forsake their dens and hiding places, and become easily seen and hunted… The voice of the Lord, that reveals the secrets of the Holy Scripture, and proclaims to us our hidden depths, will reveal, as well, the evil enemy (the wild beasts), and give us the strength to fight him. https://coptic-treasures.com/ 3- GOD, THE ETERNAL KING: (10) “In His temple everyone says: ‘Glory’. The Lord sat enthroned at the flood, and the Lord sits as King forever” (9, 10) The incarnate Word of God, having dwelt in the wilderness of this world, to set out of the sons of sheep, “sons of God” (1); to turn the many salty waters into fresh water river; namely, to turn the heathen Gentile congregation into His holy church (3); to destroy the haughtiness of man (the cedar of Lebanon); to divide the flame of the fire of the temporal lusts; to shake the barren wilderness to give us the spirit of humility by the fire of His Holy Spirit, to turn it from the barrenness of the wilderness to a fruitful paradise (8); to calm down our wild deer; to reveal our disturbed depths, to grant us His peace, and to give us an understanding of His divine secrets (9); ….He now turns our life into His holy temple that utters His exalted glories: “In His temple everyone says: ‘Glory’”. This temple is nothing but the holy church of Christ, gathered together from all the Gentile nations, full of reproach, to become in glory. There, the Lord reigns over the souls of His believers: “The Lord sat enthroned at the flood”; namely, dwelt in the water of baptism, to dwell in the hearts of those who gain the baptism, being the holy temple of God. + “In His temple everyone says ‘Glory’” (9). In His church, all those who have got the renewal in the hope of eternal life, bless God, each of them according to the gift given to him by the Holy Spirit. + The Lord first dwells in the flood of this world through His presence in the saints whom He keeps in the church as though in an ark (Genesis 7). “The Lord sits as King forever” (10); enthroned on His elect forever. (St. Augustine) https://coptic-treasures.com/ 4- GOD’S GRACES UPON HIS CHURCH: (11) “The Lord will give strength to His people; The Lord will bless His people with peace” (11) If the voice of the Lord came to proclaim its activity in the life of mankind, to turn the barrenness of the world into the paradise of His church; He came for our sake, His people to gain His strength, blessing, and peace. + The Lord will give strength to His people”. He grants His people the strength to wrestle against the tempests and volcanoes of this life; even though He did not promise them tranquility in this lowly world. “The Lord will bless His people with peace” (11), Blessing His people, the Lord Himself grants them peace in Him, saying: “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you’ (John 14: 27) (St. Augustine) This psalm ends with a confirmation to us that the tempest will have to come to an end, for God the King to be glorified, He who confirms His love for His church in time of affliction, granting her strength, blessing, and peace, if she delivers her life in His hand, and uses the voice of the Lord and His promises as a support and salvation to her. ------------------------ AN INSPIRATION FROM PSALM 29 HOW AMAZING YOU ARE, O WORD OF GOD https://coptic-treasures.com/ + O divine Word; You who set out of us, the sons of sheep, sons of God; Receive our glorification, praise, and life, as a sacrifice of thanksgiving to You. + How amazing You are, O divine Word of God; You turn the destructive many salty waters of my sins, and the torrent currents of my lusts into peaceful fresh water; You thunder upon the water of baptism by Your Holy Spirit, to grant me Your dwelling in me; You grant me Your strength, and pour Your peace in me; You destroy my haughtiness (the cedar of Lebanon), and grant me Your meekness You divide the flame of fire of my sins by the fire of Your divine Spirit You shake the barrenness of my depths, to set Your paradise in me; You grant peace and edification to my depths, to calm down my deer (the disturbed thoughts and energies of my soul); You shine on me, to discover my weakness, and to enjoy Your grace through my repentance. + Sit enthroned in my heart, and grant me strength, blessing, and peace; Come to me, O King, and carry me to You.
Welcome