Musings and Contemplations

Filling the Earth with His Glory

Psalm 29:3-9 NKJV
The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders; the Lord is over many waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars, yes, the Lord splinters the cedars of Lebanon. He makes them also skip like a calf, Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild ox.
The voice of the Lord divides the flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare; and in His temple everyone says, “Glory!”

Acts 9:1-9 NKJV
Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he journeyed, he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” So, he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened, he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

Psalm 29:3-9
T. M. Moore
Over the waters, over thunder’s roll,
God’s voice creation’s mighty powers controls!
Cedars collapse at His majestic Word;
Nations are shaken by our mighty Lord!
God speaks and lightning streaks across the sky;
By His decree He shakes the desert dry.
Speak, Lord, and lift to beasts and men is given.
Forests dissolve, and glory rings in heaven.[1]

God Rewards the Passionate Heart
Chrysostom
That is, God calls and attracts him to the truth. Can you see Paul? He was more vehement than anyone in warring and persecuting. Yet because he led an irreproachable life and did these things not through human passion, he was both received and reached a mark beyond all.[2]

Warren Wiersbe
[Paul’s] conversion experience can be summarized in these statements: (1) He saw a light; (2) He heard a voice; (3) He obeyed a call. Every sinner is in the dark until the light of the Gospel shines on him. Paul heard the voice of the Lord through the Word of God, although Paul heard Christ speak audibly. (The men with him heard sounds but did not hear the words.) How Christ humbled Paul! He “fell” not only physically but in his heart as well; for unless we fall in humility we cannot be saved.^[3]

The Gospel Way Catechism Question 2
How do we see God and come to know him?
We see God by the light of his revelation, not by our imagination. God reveals his character and purposes through his Word and works.[4]

Make us glad, O God, in recounting your mercies and adoring your holiness, and let it be our chief joy to glorify your holy name. Almighty and everlasting God, the brightness of faithful souls, who brought the Gentiles to your light and made known to them him who is the true Light, and the bright and morning Star: fill, we ask you, the world with your glory, and show yourself by the radiance of your light to all nations.[5]

Speak, O Lord

[1] The Ailbe Psalter, Psalm 29, p. 34.
[2] Ancient Christian Devotional Year A, p. 44.
^[3] Warren W. Wiersbe, Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1992), 299.
[4] Trevin Wax and Thomas West, The Gospel Way Catechism, 2025, p. 17
[5] The Gregorian Sacramentary, in Ancient Christian Devotional Year A, p. 41.