He preached his first public sermon at the age of twelve, and has been preaching regularly since 1970, serving churches in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, and Missouri.

He completed ten years as a missionary to Taiwan (1982-1992), and in addition, has preached the gospel in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Australia, Canada, Eritrea, Germany, Philippines, and China.  He has served as Coordinator of Chinese Programming with TRUTH FOR THE WORLD since October, 1992.  He produces audio, video, and printed materials in Chinese that are being used all over the world.  He also writes articles in English for the Simple English Teaching Paper.  

He is married to the former Jacqueline Jean Wyatt (Jacqi) and they have four children.  Andrew (25) is married to the former Emily Fishel and is a student at Indiana University in Indianapolis, majoring in East Asian studies.  They have one daughter, Meghan, born in June, 1999.  Daniel (22) is in the United States Air Force and stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.  He married the former Anna Blair in June of this year.  Samuel (19) is a freshman at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, IN, majoring in education.  Libby (10) is in the fourth grade.  John and Jacqi were married June 26, 1971.  
 
They are looking forward to moving to Duluth to continue the work of helping to carry the gospel to the whole world.
 
 (We’ll “meet” another Truth for the World family next week.  Let’s keep these families and their work in our prayers.)
 
 

Psalm 29:  The Voice of Jehovah Shows Glory and Strength  
“And in His temple everyone says ‘Glory!’”

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 (vv. 1,2)
“Give, give, give!”  The first three lines of this psalm begin with “Give.”  In this case, Davis is calling people to “give” God that which He deserves in worship.  He deserves an offering of glory and strength, He deserves what is due to Him, and He deserves to have His worshippers approach Him in the beauty of holiness (“sacred adornment”; Berkeley Version).
In verse 1, he calls the “mighty ones” to give this glory to God.  It is so easy for us to think of some reason to honor one another, even to give the ascription of “mighty one” to a mere human being.  But, how seldom do we give God that which He is due?  How often do we think about the great differences there are between sinful human beings and the Lord of the universe?  In light of this, David will now list at least nine ways that we can see the glory of the “voice of Jehovah.”  And once we begin to “see” this point, we can offer the proper response in the beauty of holiness:  
“In His temple, everyone says, ‘Glory!’” 
(verse 9).

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!" (vv. 3-9).
This major section of Psalm 29 has two purposes.  First, it describes the voice of Jehovah in nine ways (vv. 3-9b).  Second, it encourages the proper response to His voice (v. 9c).
Let us note the nine descriptions of His voice.
It is over (upon) the waters:  This is a picture of the waters that are above the earth in the form of clouds (Psalm 18:9-12; 104:3).
It thunders:  The mighty sound of thunder is a clear, attention-getting force.  Note how this point ties in with the actual spoken voice of God in John 12:27-32, where some confused His voice with the sound of thunder.
It is powerful:  Power is a feature of His voice.  The Hebrew word here comes form a root which means “to be firm, vigor.”  what voice could be more vigorous than One that can create and oversee a universe??
It is full of majesty:  This word adds beauty and honor to this strong, attention-getting voice—a very impressive and wonderful feature indeed!
It breaks the cedars:  The cedars that are referred to often in the Bible were no mere twigs.  They were mighty and majestic—but the voice of the Lord could easily use them as twigs.  This places Him far above them.
It divides (splits) the flames of fire:  This takes us back up to the clouds and points us to His power over the streaks of lightning.
It shakes the wilderness:  As a storm or an earthquake can dramatically affect the earth, so the voice of the Lord can use any force He desires to shake the very foundations of our lives—let us look to Him for a better foundation than earthly things provide (Matthew 6:25-34; 7:24-27).
It makes the deer give birth:  Closer to “home,” and in a different sphere than clouds, lightning, plants and the earth, the voice of the Lord is a part of the existence and lives of the animals He created (see Psalm 8 as a way to reflect on this point).
It strips the forests bare:  He can eliminate bark, branches, trees, and the very life of a forest by the sheer exercise of His “voice.”
Now, let us meditate upon the proper response to all of this. The last phrase of verse 9 says, “And in His temple everyone says, ‘Glory!’”  Our first encounter with the voice of Jehovah is in the first chapter of the Bible, where Moses repeatedly wrote, “And God said.”  The power of His voice was used in creating, organizing, commanding, and communicating.  The voice of the Lord is so strong and so important that Psalm 33:6,9 reminds us: 
“By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.
For He spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.”
Yes, even if we only view the physical universe, we should regularly exclaim, “Glory to His name” (see Psalm 19:1-6).  But beyond this, in light of His spiritual provisions for our sins, souls, and salvation—we should EXCLAIM— “GLORY TO HIS NAME!!”
And we should do this in the beauty of holiness...

The LORD sat enthroned at the Flood, and the LORD sits as King forever.  The LORD will give strength to His people; the LORD will bless His
 people with peace (vv. 10,11).
The conclusion of this remarkable poem comes before us by teaching that worshipping Jehovah (in His own appointed way) is good for us.
In verse 10, the sitting of the Lord seems to be saying that the flood of Genesis is an example of the Lord’s power and control over all; and that if such an event (and such an evil generation) could not unseat Him or silence His glorious voice, then we ought to glorify His voice by obeying His statutes.
In verse 11, the same VOICE that can do the nine things we noted above can give us strength to serve Him and peace to be comforted in Him. 
So, let us learn about the voice of Jehovah.  Let us remember that it is through His Son that He speaks today (Matthew 17:5; Hebrews 1:1,2).  Let us glorify Him in “His temple” (Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Peter 2:1-9).

-Skip Andrews-
 
 

  
Next Week:
Psalm 30:

Happy thanksgiving
for deliverance
from death
 
 
 
 
 

Verse of the Week: 
“My zeal hath consumed me,
because mine enemies have
forgotten thy words” 
(Psalm 119:139).
 
 

VOLUME 1:30        SEPTEMBER 26, 1999