In Israel, politics was never just politics. The Covenant was a suzerain-vassal treaty, a very personal covenant, making Israel in effect a tributary to Jehovah Himself. Idolatry was treason, and very often treason arose from idolatry. It has been widely noted that, up until the Exile, common Israelis suffered a very typical superstition that simply could not accommodate the notion that there was but one deity. While Moses flatly declared that there was no God but Jehovah, you can be sure this was considered a political elitist pronouncement in the minds of most Israelis.
In David’s time, plenty of powerful folks, even a good number of priests, might harbor the suspicion or superstition that there were many gods and each controlled various aspects of our natural existence here on earth. Thus, in their minds this and other psalms would be viewed with some cynicism. Only with the advent of near universal education under the control of the synagogue system in Babylonian Exile did the broad element of superstition fade from Israeli life.
This psalm is widely recognized as an attack on the worship of Baals. Because the broad undercurrent of superstition and the similarity of rituals, the temptation to include Baal worship in private religious life was quite strong. So while they didn’t mind engaging rituals to appease their national god, it was very popular to cover their bets by also making offerings at ancient or private shrines to Baal. The most popular manifestation of this idolatry credited Baal with controlling storms. Thus, this psalm attempts to correct such a notion.
If David can’t get the people to realize it, he can surely get all the hosts of Heaven to declare there was but one God. They certainly knew it, so any countering notions were silly. As Creator, it’s impossible to imagine He is not also complete master of all things. So there is no competition; Jehovah owns, not just the storms, but every droplet of water on the planet. And not just the occasional squall and rain, but God could easily uproot the massive cedars of Lebanon like flowers in a garden. He make the very ground bounce like a playful calf just by His voice. With each line David calls on listeners to realize there can be no competing deity taking charge of any part of creation. Don’t fear the claims of the many false deities. If there were any other beings in the Spirit Realm like the Baals, they knew that they were no challenge to Jehovah.
