Psalm 29 Renewal and Glorification

In order to glorify the Lord, we must understand God. This is a difficult concept to convey in words because typically when we think of understanding, it implies some intellectual or analytical exercise. Spiritual understanding does not have this connotation.

The magnificence of God is substantial; the scope of God’s nature is beyond our intellectual capabilities. We often attribute human characteristics to God, in an attempt to make God something that we can comprehend with our limited minds. Spiritual understanding on the other hand comes from the heart. When we let go of all of those limited descriptions of God and just experience the blending of our mind with God-Mind, we glorify God.

The Presence of the Christ within each of us is of God. In that lies all glory and strength. God’s character is that of oneness, wholeness, and love. When we bestow our love on and surrender to God, we must do so in the understanding that we are made in God’s image and likeness. Then and only then can we perceive God’s presence in all things and in each other. This spiritual perspective is attained simply through the regeneration of the mind.

The renewing of the mind is an arduous process, which can only be achieved when we allow Spirit to create the ideal manifestation of us through us. The voice of the Lord is over the waters (the active power of Spirit),  God’s power and presence must guide this regeneration. In this context, thunder characterizes the physical and mental changes that we go through as Spirit does its cleansing and building work in our consciousness. It is a powerful process, in which deeply rooted thought and emotional centers are dramatically transformed (break the cedars).

The quickening action of Spirit causes our consciousness dance into action with newness of life (skip like a calf). Our mind is flooded with pure thoughts, which lead us to a deeper and more steadfast understanding of God, our armor. This process shakes the undisciplined thoughts (wilderness) out of our consciousness through the process of discernment. Spirit removes deep rooted thoughts and ideas (strips the forest bare) and replaces them with spiritual awareness. All of this “chaos“ happens in order that we can be brought into balance and raised up in all aspects of our lives. Cleansing is necessary to make room for new awareness. So in all of the turmoil, we can shout glory because we know that at the end there will be a heightened understanding of the Divine.

The voice of the Lord sounds forth seven times in this poem. Seven represents perfection, the work of the Spirit that proceeds spiritual awareness. This is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, through which our mortal mind is renewed.

And so it is! Amen!