Ascribe to Yahweh, you sons of the mighty, ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength.
Parallel Translations
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Ascribe to Yahweh, you sons of the mighty, ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength.
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Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength.
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A Psalm of David. Ascribe unto the LORD, O ye sons of might, ascribe unto the LORD glory and strength.
Cross-references (7)
Passages linked to Psalms 29:1 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 96:7-9 Ascribe to Yahweh, you families of nations, ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength. Ascribe to Yahweh the glory due to his name. Bring an offering, and come into his courts. Worship Yahweh in holy array. Tremble before him, all the earth.
- Revelation 5:11-14 I saw, and I heard something like a voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders. The number of them was ten thousands of ten thousands, and thousands of thousands; saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who has been killed to receive the power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and blessing!” I heard every created thing which is in heaven, on the earth, under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb be the blessing, the honor, the glory, and the dominion, forever and ever! Amen!” The four living creatures said, “Amen!” Then the elders fell down and worshiped.
- 1 Chronicles 16:28-29 Ascribe to Yahweh, you relatives of the peoples, ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength! Ascribe to Yahweh the glory due to his name. Bring an offering, and come before him. Worship Yahweh in holy array.
- Psalms 68:31-34 Princes shall come out of Egypt. Ethiopia shall hurry to stretch out her hands to God. Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth! Sing praises to the Lord! To him who rides on the heaven of heavens, which are of old; behold, he utters his voice, a mighty voice. Ascribe strength to God! His excellency is over Israel, his strength is in the skies.
- Isaiah 60:12 For that nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; yes, those nations shall be utterly wasted.
- Jeremiah 13:16-18 Give glory to Yahweh your God, before he causes darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and while you look for light, he turns it into the shadow of death, and makes it deep darkness. But if you will not hear it, my soul will weep in secret for your pride. My eye will weep bitterly, and run down with tears, because Yahweh’s flock has been taken captive. Say to the king and to the queen mother, “Humble yourselves. Sit down, for your crowns have come down, even the crown of your glory.
- Psalms 2:10-12 Now therefore be wise, you kings. Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve Yahweh with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Give sincere homage to the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish on the way, for his wrath will soon be kindled. Blessed are all those who take refuge in him.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 1. Give unto Jehovah, ye sons of the mighty.…
1. Give unto Jehovah, ye sons of the mighty. It was no doubt David’s design to lead all men to worship and reverence God; but as it is more difficult to reduce great men, who excel in rank, to order, he expressly addresses himself to them. It is obvious, that the LXX, in giving the translation, sons of rams, The entire reading of the verse in the Septuagint is, “Ενέγκατε τῷ Κυρίῳ ὑιοὶ Θεοῦ ενέγκατε τῷ Κυρίῳ ὑιοὺς κριῶν” “Bring to the Lord, ye sons of God, bring to the Lord young rams.” Thus the LXX, as is not unusual in other places, render the words for “Ye sons of the mighty” twice; first, in the vocative case, addressing them, Υιοὶ Θεου, Ye sons of God, and then in the accusative case, ὑιοὺς κριῶν, young rams, being apparently doubtful which was the correct rendering, and, therefore, putting down both. The Vulgate, Arabic, and Ethiopic, exactly follow them. Jerome also reads, “Afferte Domino filios arietum;” although he does not give a double translation of the original words. But the correct rendering, we have no doubt, is, “Ye sons of the mighty;” which is just a Hebrew idiomatic expression for “Ye mighty ones,” or, “Ye princes;” and to them the inspired writer addresses an invitation to acknowledge and worship God from the manifestation of his majesty and power in the wonders of nature.
The Hebrew word which Calvin renders “mighty,” is אלים, elym, a word which means gods. The Hebrew word אילים, eylim, which means rams, nearly resembles it, having only an additional י, yod, and this letter is often cut off in nouns.
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The Chaldee paraphrases it thus:— “The assembly of angels, sons of God,” meaning by God angels.
This translation conveys a somewhat different meaning from that of our English version; but it is supported by several critics. Green reads, “In his beautiful sanctuary;” and Fry, “Worship Jehovah with holy reverence,” or, “Worship Jehovah in the glorious places of the sanctuary.” “Where the Hebrews read בהדרת” says Hammond, “in the glory or beauty of holiness, from הדר, to honor, or beautify, the LXX. read, ἐν αὐλὣ ἁγίᾳ αὐτου, in his holy court, as if it were from, “penetrale, thalamus, area, a closet, a marriage-chamber, a court; and so the Latin and Syriac follow them, and the Arabic, in his “holy habitation.”
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He exhorteth the proud tyrants to humble themselves under…
He exhorteth the proud tyrants to humble themselves under God’s hand, and not to be inferior to brute beasts and dumb creatures.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 29:1 « A Psalm of David. » Give…
Psa 29:1 « A Psalm of David. » Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength.
Ver. 1. Give unto the Lord] Verbo et confessione, saith Kimchi. By word and confession, as Jos 7:19 Jer 13:16; acknowledge him the King immortal, invisible, &c., and yourselves his vassals; as did those three best emperors, Constantine, Theodosius, and Valentinian. Cedite, colite, step back, stoop, humble and tremble before this dread Sovereign of the world; bear an awful respect to the Divine Majesty, the high thunderer, the great wonder worker, unless you will come short of brute beasts and dumb creatures.
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O ye mighty] Heb. Ye sons of the mighty, grandees and potentates, who are readiest to rob God of his glory, and being tumoured up by their worldly wealth and greatness, to deem or rather dream themselves demi-gods, such as may do what they list, as not accountable to any mortal. The Septuagint render it, O ye sons of rams. These bellweathers should not cast their noses into the air, and carry their crest the higher, because the shepherd hath bestowed a bell upon them more than upon the rest of the flock.
Give unto the Lord] Give, give, give. This showeth how unwilling such are usually to give God his right, or to suffer a word of exhortation to this purpose.
Glory and strength] By ascribing all to him, casting down your crowns at his feet, setting up his sincere service wherever ye have to do, &c.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain O ye mighty; ye potentates and rulers of the…
O ye mighty; ye potentates and rulers of the earth. To these he addresseth his speech; partly because they are most apt to forget and contemn God, and insolently to assume a kind of deity to themselves; and partly because their conviction and conversion was likely to have a great and powerful influence upon their people.
Give unto the Lord, by a humble and thankful acknowledgment of it; for otherwise we can give nothing to God.
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Glory and strength, i.e. the glory of his strength, or power, which is the attribute set forth in this Psalm; or, his glorious strength.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain In this psalm we have,
In this psalm we have,
I. A demand of the homage of the great men of the earth to be paid to the great God. Every clap of thunder David interpreted as a call to himself and other princes to give glory to the great God. Observe, 1. Who they are that are called to this duty: "O you mighty (Psa 29:1), you sons of the mighty, who have power, and on whom that power is devolved by succession and inheritance, who have royal blood running in your veins!" It is much for the honour of the great God that the men of this world should pay their homage to him; and they are bound to do it, not only because, high as they are, he is infinitely above them, and therefore they must bow to him, but because they have their power from him, and are to use it for him, and this tribute of acknowledgment they owe to him for it. 2. How often this call is repeated; Give unto the Lord, and again, and a third time, Give unto the Lord. This intimates that the mighty men are backward to this duty and are with difficulty persuaded to it, but that it is of great consequence to the interests of God's kingdom among men that princes should heartily espouse them. Jerusalem flourishes when the kings of the earth bring their glory and honour into it, Rev 21:24. 3. What they are called to do - to give unto the Lord, not as if he needed any thing, or could be benefited by any gifts of ours, nor as if we had any thing to give him that is not his own already (Who hath first given to him?), but the recognition of his glory, and of his dominion over us, he is pleased to interpret as a gift to him: "Give unto the Lord your own selves, in the first place, and then your services. Give unto the Lord glory and strength; acknowledge his glory and strength, and give praise to him as a God of infinite majesty and irresistible power; and whatever glory or strength he has by his providence entrusted you with offer it to him, to be used for his honour, in his service. Give him your crowns; let them be laid at his feet; give him your sceptres, your swords, your keys, put all into his hand, that you, in the use of them, may be to him for a name and a praise." Princes value themselves by their glory and strength; these they must ascribe to God, owning him to be infinitely more glorious and powerful than they. This demand of homage from the mighty must be looked upon as directed either to the grandees of David's own kingdom, the peers of the realm, the princes of the tribes (and it is to excite them to a more diligent and constant attendance at God's altars, in which he had observed them very remiss), or to the neighbouring kings whom he by his sword had made tributaries to Israel and now would persuade to become tributaries to the God of Israel. Crowned heads must bow before the King of kings. What is here said to the mighty is said to all: Worship God; it is the sum and substance of the everlasting gospel, Rev 14:6, Rev 14:7. Now we have here, (1.) The nature of religious worship; it is giving to the Lord the glory due to his name, Psa 29:2. God's name is that whereby he has made himself known. There is a glory due to his name. It is impossible that we should give him all the glory due to his name; when we have said and done out best for the honour of God's name, still we come infinitely short of the merit of the subject; but when we answer that revelation which he has made of himself, with suitable affections and adorations, then we give him some of that glory which is due to his name. If we would, in hearing and praying, and other acts of devotion, receive grace from God, we must make it our business to give glory to God. (2.) The rule of the performance of religious exercises; Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness, which denotes, [1.] The object of our worship; the glorious majesty of God is called the beauty of holiness, Ch2 20:21. In the worship of God we must have an eye to his beauty, and adore him, not only as infinitely awful and therefore to be feared above all, but as infinitely amiable and therefore to be loved and delighted in above all; especially we must have an eye to the beauty of his holiness; this the angels fasten upon in their praises, Rev 4:8. Or, [2.] The place of worship. The sanctuary then was the beauty of holiness, Psa 48:1, Psa 48:2; Jer 17:12. The beauty of the sanctuary was the exact agreement of the worship there performed with the divine appointment - the pattern in the mount. Now, under the gospel, solemn assemblies of Christians (which purity is the beauty of) are the places where God is to be worshipped. Or, [3.] The manner of worship. We must be holy in all our religious performances, devoted to God, and to his will and glory. There is a beauty in holiness, and it is that which puts an acceptable beauty upon all the acts of worship.
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II. Good reason given for this demand. We shall see ourselves bound to give glory to God if we consider,
1. His sufficiency in himself, intimated in his name Jehovah - I am that I am, which is repeated here no fewer than eighteen times in this short psalm, twice in every verse but three, and once in two of those three; I do not recollect that there is the like in all the book of psalms. Let the mighty ones of the earth know him by this name and give him the glory due to it.
2. His sovereignty over all things. Let those that rule over men know there is a God that rules over them, that rules over all. The psalmist here sets forth God's dominion,
(1.) In the kingdom of nature. In the wonderful effects of natural causes, and the operations of the powers of nature, we ought to take notice of God's glory and strength, which we are called upon to ascribe to him; in the thunder, and lightning, and rain, we may see, [1.] His glory. It is the God of glory that thunders (thunders is the noise of his voice, Job 37:2), and it declares him a God of glory, so awful is the sound of the thunder, and so bright the flash of its companion, the lightning; to the hearing and to the sight nothing is more affecting than these, as if by those two learning senses God would have such proofs of his glory to the minds of men as should leave the most stupid inexcusable. Some observe that there were then some particular reasons why thunder should be called the voice of the Lord, not only because it comes from above, is not under the direction or foresight of any man, speaks aloud, and reaches far, but because God often spoke in thunder, particularly at Mount Sinai, and by thunder discomfited the enemies of Israel. To speak it the voice of the God of glory, it is here said to be upon the water, upon many waters (Psa 29:3); it reaches over the vast ocean, the waters under the firmament; it rattles among the thick clouds, the waters above the firmament. Every one that hears the thunder (his ear being made to tingle with it) will own that the voice of the Lord is full of majesty (Psa 29:4), enough to make the highest humble (for none can thunder with a voice like him) and the proudest tremble - for, if his voice be so terrible, what is his arm? Every time we hear it thunder, let our hearts be thereby filled with great, and high, and honourable thoughts of God, in the holy adorings and admirings of whom the power of godliness does so much consist. O Lord our God! thou art very great. [2.] His power (Psa 29:4.): The voice of the Lord is powerful, as appears by the effects of it; for it works wonders. Those that write natural histories relate the prodigious effects of thunder and lightning, even out of the ordinary course of natural causes, which must be resolved into the omnipotence of the God of nature. First, Trees have been rent and split by thunderbolts, Psa 29:5, Psa 29:6. The voice of the Lord, in the thunder, often broke the cedars, even those of Lebanon, the strongest, the stateliest. Some understand it of the violent winds which shook the cedars, and sometimes tore off their aspiring tops. Earthquakes also shook the ground itself on which the trees grew, and made Lebanon and Sirion to dance; the wilderness of Kadesh also was in like manner shaken (Psa 29:8), the trees by winds, the ground by earthquakes, and both by thunders, of which I incline rather to understand it. The learned Dr. Hammond understands it of the consternations and conquest of neighbouring kingdoms that warred with Israel and opposed David, as the Syrians, whose country lay near the forest of Lebanon, the Amorites that bordered on Mount Hermon, and the Moabites and Ammonites that lay about the wilderness of Kadesh. Secondly. Fires have been kindled by lightnings and houses and churches thereby consumed; hence we read of hot thunderbolts (Psa 78:48); accordingly the voice of the Lord, in the thunder, is here said to divide the flames of fire (Psa 29:7), that is, to scatter them upon the earth, as God sees fit to direct them and do execution by them. Thirdly, The terror of thunder makes the hinds to calve sooner, and some think more easily, than otherwise they would. The hind is a timourous creature, and much affected with the noise of thunder; and no marvel, when sometimes proud and stout men have been made to tremble at it. The emperor Caligula would hide himself under his bed when it thundered. Horace, the poet, owns that he was reclaimed from atheism by the terror of thunder and lightning, which he describes somewhat like this of David, lib. 1, ode 34. The thunder is said here to discover the forest, that is, it so terrifies the wild beasts of the forest that they quit the dens and thickets in which they hid themselves are so are discovered. Or it throws down the trees, and so discovers the ground that was shaded by them. Whenever it thunders let us think of this psalm; and, whenever we sing this psalm, let us think of the dreadful thunder-claps we have sometimes heard, and thus bring God's words and his works together, that by both we may be directed and quickened to give unto him the glory due unto his name; and let us bless him that there is another voice of his besides this dreadful one, by which God now speaks to us, even the still small voice of his gospel, the terror of which shall not make us afraid.
(2.) In the kingdom of providence, Psa 29:10. God is to be praised as the governor of the world of mankind. He sits upon the flood; he sits King for ever. He not only sits at rest in the enjoyment of himself, but he sits as King in the throne which he has prepared in the heavens (Psa 103:19), where he takes cognizance of, and gives orders about, all the affairs of the children of men, and does all according to his will, according to the counsel of his will. Observe, [1.] The power of his kingdom: He sits upon the flood. As he has founded the earth, so he has founded his own throne, upon the floods, Psa 24:2. The ebbings and flowings of this lower world, and the agitations and revolutions of the affairs in it, give not the least shake to the repose nor to the counsels of the Eternal Mind. The opposition of his enemies is compared to the flood (Psa 93:3, Psa 93:4); but the Lord sits upon it; he crushes it, conquers it, and completes his own purposes in despite of all the devices that are in men's hearts. The word here translated the flood is never used but concerning Noah's flood; and therefore some think it is that which is here spoken of. God did sit upon that flood as a Judge executing the sentence of his justice upon the world of the ungodly that was swept away by it. And he still sits upon the flood, restraining the waters of Noah, that they turn not again to cover the earth, according to his promise never to destroy the earth any more by a flood, Gen 9:11; Isa 54:9. [2.] The perpetuity of his kingdom; He sits King for ever; no period can, or shall, be put to his government. The administration of his kingdom is consonant to his counsels from eternity and pursuant to his designs for eternity.
(3.) In the kingdom of grace. Here his glory shines most brightly, [1.] In the adorations he receives from the subjects of that kingdom (Psa 29:9). In his temple, where people attend his discoveries of himself and his mind and attend him with their praises, every one speaks of his glory. In the world every man sees it, or at least may behold it afar off (Job 36:25); but it is only in the temple, in the church, that it is spoken of to his honour. All his works do praise him (that is, they minister matter for praise), but his saints only do bless him, and speak of his glory of his works, Psa 145:10. [2.] In the favours he bestows upon the subjects of that kingdom, Psa 29:11. First, He will qualify them for his service: He will give strength to his people, to fortify them against every evil work and to furnish them for every good work; out of weakness they shall be made strong; nay, he will perfect strength in weakness. Secondly, He will encourage them in his service: He will bless his people with peace. Peace is a blessing of inestimable value, which God designs for all his people. The work of righteousness is peace (great peace have those that love thy law); but much more the crown of righteousness: the end of righteousness is peace; it is endless peace. When the thunder of God's wrath shall make sinners tremble the saints shall lift up their heads with joy.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty,.... The Targum…
Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty,.... The Targum refers this to the angels,
"give praise before the Lord, ye companies of angels, sons of the Mighty;''
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these are mighty ones, and excel all other creatures in strength; and are the sons of the Mighty, or of God; it is their duty and their business to glorify and to worship him and his Son Jesus Christ, as they do continually; but rather the princes and great men of the earth are here meant, who are so called, Psa 82:1; and these, as they receive much honour and glory, both from God and man; and because they are apt to seek their own glory, and ascribe too much to themselves, are called upon particularly to give glory to God; and the more, inasmuch as they may be the means of engaging their subjects, by their influence and example, to do the same, and who may be included in them; for this is not to be understood of them exclusive of others, as appears from Psa 96:7; moreover, all the saints and people of God may be intended, who are all princes and kings; and may be said to be mighty, especially those who are strong in faith; and these are they who give most glory to God;
give unto the Lord glory and strength; give glory to Jehovah the Father, by celebrating the perfections of his nature; by commending the works of his hands, the works of creation; by acquiescing in his providential dispensations; by returning thanks to him for mercies received, temporal and spiritual; particularly for salvation by Christ, and, above all, for Christ himself; by exercising faith in him as a promising God; by living becoming his Gospel, and to the honour of his name: give glory to the Son of God, by ascribing all divine perfections to him, by attributing salvation to him, and by trusting in him alone for it: give glory to the Spirit of God, by asserting his deity, by referring the work of grace and conversion to him, and by depending upon him for thee performance of the good work begun: give "strength" to each person, by acknowledging that power belongs to them, which is seen in creation, redemption, and the effectual calling; or else strength may mean the same thing as praise and glory; see Psa 8:2, compared with Mat 21:16; and both may design strong praise and glory, expressed in the strongest and with the greatest vigour and vehemency of spirit.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain It is probable David wrote this psalm, during a…
It is probable David wrote this psalm, during a storm of thunder, lightning, and rain; as that he wrote the eighth in a moon- shining night, and the nineteenth in a sun-shining morning. He calls on the great to give glory to God, ver. 1, 2. Observes his power in thunder and lightning, Ver. 3-9. His dominion over the world and care over the church, ver. 10, 11. A psalm of David.
Ye - Ye potentates and rulers of the earth. Glory - By an humble and thankful acknowledgment of it.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain The psalmist calls upon the great and mighty to…
PSALM XXIX
The psalmist calls upon the great and mighty to give thanks
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unto God, and to worship him in the beauty of holiness, on
account of a tempest that had taken place, 1, 2.
He shouts the wonders produced by a thunderstorm, which he
calls the voice of God, 3-9.
Speaks of the majesty of God, 10;
and points out the good he will do to his people, 11.
NOTES ON PSALM XXIX
In the Hebrew, this is called A Psalm for David. The Vulgate says, "A Psalm of David, when the tabernacle was completed." The Septuagint says: "A Psalm of David, at the going out or exodus of the tabernacle." The Arabic states it to be "A prophecy concerning the incarnation; and concerning the ark and the tent." Nu 5:12. The Syriac, "A Psalm of David, concerning oblation." The Psalm was probably written to commemorate the abundant rain which fell in the days of David, after the heavens had been shut up for three years; 2Sa 21:1-10.
Verse 1. O ye mighty] בני אלים beney elim, "sons of the strong ones," or "sons of rams." The Chaldee has, "Ye hosts of angels, sons of God." The Vulgate has, "Offer to the Lord, ye sons of God; offer to the Lord the sons of rams;" in this rendering agree the Septuagint, AEthiopic, Arabic, and Anglo-Saxon. The old Psalter has, Bringes til Lord ye goddes sonnes; brynges til Lord sonnes of wether: which it paraphrases thus: that es, yourself, sonnes of apostles, that war leders of goddes folk; qwam ye study to folow.
Glory and strength.] Ascribe all excellence and might to him.
The whole Psalm is employed in describing the effects produced by a thunder-storm which had lately taken place.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 29:1-2. Give unto the Lord, ye mighty —…
Psa 29:1-2. Give unto the Lord, ye mighty — Hebrew, בני אלים, benee eelim, ye sons of the mighty, or of gods: ye potentates and rulers of the earth. To these he addresses his speech, 1st, Because they are very apt to forget and contemn God, and insolently to assume a kind of deity to themselves: and, 2d, Because their conviction and conversion were likely to have a great and powerful influence upon their people, and therefore it was much for the honour of God that they should acknowledge his divine majesty, and do homage to him. Give unto the Lord — By an humble and thankful acknowledgment; for in any other way we can give nothing to God; glory and strength — That is, the glory of his strength or power, which is the attribute set forth in this Psalm; or, his glorious strength. Give unto the Lord — It is repeated a third time, perhaps to intimate that great men are very backward to this duty, and are hardly persuaded to practise it; and, on account of its great consequence to the interest of the kingdom of God among men, that they should comply with it; the glory due to his name — That is, the honour which he deserves and claims, namely, to prefer him before all other gods, and to forsake all others, and to own him as the Almighty, and only true God. Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness — In worshipping the Lord we ought to have an eye to his beauty; to adore him, not only as infinitely awful, and therefore to be feared above all beings, but as infinitely amiable, and therefore to be loved and delighted in above all; especially we must have an eye to the beauty of his holiness, which the angels particularly celebrate in their praises, Rev 4:8. Some, however, prefer rendering the words, the beauty of the sanctuary, for קדשׁ, kodesh, is often put for the sanctuary, or holy place, as קדשׁ קדשׁים, kodesh kodeshim, is for the holy of holies, or most holy. Thus the temple is termed, Isa 64:11, God’s holy and beautiful house. The chief beauty of the sanctuary was the exact agreement of the worship there performed with the divine appointment, the pattern shown in the mount. Now, in this holy place, says the psalmist, worship Jehovah; here, and only here, will he accept your prayers, praises, and oblations. So he exhorts them to turn proselytes to the Jewish religion; which was their duty and interest. Or he speaks of the manner of worship. We must be holy in all our religious performances, that is, devoted to God, and to his will and glory. There is a beauty in holiness, and it is that which puts an acceptable beauty upon all the acts of worship.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Give unto the Lord - Ascribe unto Yahweh; or,…
Give unto the Lord - Ascribe unto Yahweh; or, recognize Him as entitled to what is here ascribed to Him. The word cannot be understood, as it is commonly with us, to denote the imparting to another, or granting to another what he does not now possess - for God is always in possession of what is here ascribed to Him.
O ye mighty - Margin, as in Hebrew, “ye sons of the mighty.” The Hebrew word used here - אלים 'Êliym - is the plural form of one of the names of God - אל 'Êl. The word means properly “strong, mighty, a mighty one, a hero;” then, “strength, might, power;” and then it is applied to God as “the Mighty One,” the Almighty. (“Gesenius.”) In the plural form, the word means “mighty ones, heroes, gods:” Exo 15:11; Exo 18:11; Dan 11:36. The phrase “sons of the mighty” is used only here and in Psa 89:6. The allusion is undoubtedly to the angels as being in an eminent sense the sons of God, or of the mighty ones; and they are referred to here under that appellation as being themselves endowed with power or strength. Compare Psa 103:20, “Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength;” margin: “mighty in strength.” In view of the wonderful exhibitions of God’s power in the storm - exhibitions far above the power of the most exalted of His creatures, the psalmist calls upon the angels, the most exalted of them, to acknowledge the existence of a power so much beyond their own.
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Glory and strength - Majesty and might. Acknowledge Him as the God of glory; as endowed with power. That is, learn from the manifestations of the power evinced in the storm how great is the power and the glory of God.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain Psalms 29
Psalms 29
A Psalm of David
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1 Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty,
Give unto the Lord glory and strength.
2 Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name;
Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
3 The voice of the Lord is upon the waters:
The God of glory thundereth:
The Lord is upon many waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful;
The voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
5 The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars;
Yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He maketh them also to skip like a calf;
Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.
7 The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire.
8 The voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness;
The Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve,
And discovereth the forests:
And in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.
10 The Lord sitteth upon the flood;
Yea, the Lord sitteth King forever.
11 The Lord will give strength unto his people;
The Lord will bless his people with peace.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Its Contents and Aim.—After calling upon the heavenly beings to praise the power and glory of Jehovah, and to worship Him with solemnity (Psa_29:1-2), there is a picturesque description of a storm (Psa_29:3-9) advancing from the Mediterranean to the mountains of Dan towards the South (J. D. Mich.), in the fearful sublimity of its appearance, and its effects upon nature; and that passes over into a reference to the royal majesty of Jehovah at the flood, the greatest of the disturbances of nature in the ancient world, and it exalts Him as ever abiding above, which will likewise be for the historical and saving good of His people (Psa_29:10-11). The Psalm has therefore not merely a poetic character and aim, interwoven with general religious considerations, but it is of a historical and redemptive character. Its essential character is not that of a lyrical description of a magnificent tempest, which has become a hymn (Hupf.), from which finally an application is made; but on the occasion of a storm and under the impression of its power of commotion and destruction, the host of the heavenly servants of God are called upon to worship (not Elohim, but) Jehovah, and His people to trust in Him. There is no trace of any particular historical circumstance, whether of the carrying of the Ark of the Covenant to Mt. Zion (Ruding) or of trouble from external enemies, as Psalms 28 from internal enemies (Hengst.). But this does not give the right of an allegorical reference of this Psalm to the giving of the Law at Sinai (the Rabbins previous to Kimchi), or of its prophetical reference to the Messiah, and His judgment of the nations (Kimchi), or to Christ and the power of His word, to whom magistrates are called upon to submit themselves in homage and worship (Geier, Seb. Schmidt, et al.). The following suppositions are likewise unfounded; that the Psalm has no personal reference, but is sung from the souls of the people in order to edify the congregation (Hengst.); or that it has for its foundation only the general idea of Jehovah as the God of thunder and the God of the nation (De Wette), or that it has as its object, by describing the fearful power of God in the frightful phenomena of nature, to awaken the sleeping conscience, and particularly to arouse the proud rulers from their security, and warn them to submit to the sovereignty of God (Calvin). The sevenfold repetition of the thunder as the voice of Jehovah has become typical of Rev_10:1 sq., and is to be regarded as a holy number (Geier), whilst the repetition pictures the thunder as sounding clap upon clap. The kindling flash of lightning is only mentioned once (Psa_29:7). Hengstenberg however presses this symbolism of number too far with reference to the use of the name of Jehovah in this and the preceding Psalms 13—In the Septuagint we find an addition to the title, ἐξοδίου σκηνῆς (Vulg., incorrectly, in consummatione tabernaculi), which then seems to imply, that it was then sung (Delitzsch) on the closing day (Lev_23:26) of the feast of tabernacles (Shemini Azereth). In the middle ages it was used as a prayer during storms as a prevention of strokes of lightning.—The pretended resemblances with the prophet Jeremiah are very weak.14
Str. I. Psa_29:1. Sons of Gods.—[A. V., O ye mighty]. It is grammatically and etymologically admissible to translate, sons of the mighty = mighty ones, rulers, princes, (the Rabbins and many ancient interpreters); so likewise sons of idols = servants of idols (J. D. Mich., Döderlein, Muntinghe). But Psa_29:9 c. is against these translations, for those who are addressed are in heaven above. Now Elîm never occurs in the usage of the language, as plur. majest. with a singular meaning, but constantly, as plural, designates the gods of the heathen, Exo_15:11; Exo_18:11; Psa_95:3; Psa_96:4; Psa_97:9, the θεὸι λεγόμενοι, 1Co_8:5, in contrast with whom the true God Jehovah is called El Elîm (Dan_11:36) or indeed El Elohîm (Jos_22:22; Psa_50:1), El haêlohîm (Deu_10:17) Elohê haêlohim (Psa_136:2), because these gods have likewise the name of Elohim (Psa_86:8). Therefore we cannot translate at once, sons or children of God (Sept. et al.), justify the plural Elîm by reference to the grammatical form (Gesen. Gramm., § 106, 3; Ewald ausf. Lehrbuch, § 270 c) of an attraction in composition as Exo_1:11, 1Ch_7:5 (De Wette), or by the supposition that it is a plural of ben al., formed after the analogy of Isa_42:22, compared with Psa_29:7; Isa_51:9, compared with Gen_9:12; Jer_42:8 compared with 2Sa_24:4 (Hitzig). But if neither the heathen gods nor their sons are addressed here, but manifestly the angels, then these constitute the heavenly company surrounding God (Job_1:6; Job_2:1); the heavenly host (1Ki_22:19; Neh_9:6), whose duty it is to praise God (Psa_89:6; Psa_103:20; Job_38:7, comp. Isa_6:3). These are called, usually, sons of Elohim (Gen_6:2, and in the passage cited from Job) when not named maleâchim with special reference to their duty of declaring and executing the will of God. They are likewise designated as the host of the holy ones (kedoshîm) Job_5:1; Job_15:15, which surround Jehovah, Psa_89:6; Psa_89:8, and entirely parallel with them, Psa_89:7, the benê Elîm, so that there can be no doubt of the sense (Psalms 82, on which Hupfeld lays great stress, is not appropriate here). The Chald. likewise on this passage has the paraphrase, hosts of angels. The form of the expression is explained by the fact that the word Elim as well as Elohim has a general meaning (Psa_8:6) and was applied to various beings of supernatural power, who might be the objects of religious reverence, and that the expression ben, benê did not always express the physical derivation through generation, but partly physical and partly moral dependence, and included those who were thus designated in one body. There is another translation in the Sept., Vulg., Syr., Jerome, “sons of rams,” as a figurative designation of the sacrifice. These translations lead to the reading אילים, which 5 codd. Kennic., and 4 de Rossi have, but it is improperly explained, since this reading is often found, Exo_15:15; Job_41:17; Eze_31:11 (singular); Psa_32:11, where this fundamental meaning of strength is very ancient, 2Ki_24:15, even in the form אוליס.—Give to Jehovah glory and strength.—This is not to be changed into “honor and praise,” but the giving is a tribuere, an offering of the tribute due to the glory and strength of God; recognizing it in words and deeds, a δοῦναι δόξαν (Act_12:23; Luk_17:18; Rom_4:20).
Psa_29:2. In holy attire.—This is the priestly attire used at festivals in the service of God (most interpreters since Luther), Psa_96:9; 1Ch_16:29, in which priests and Levites likewise marched before the Lord with music when they went forth to battle (2Ch_20:21). Hupfeld concludes from the last passage, where חדר is construed with ל, and from Pro_14:28, that the reference is here likewise to the Divine majesty and glory (so Aquil., Symm., Chald., Jerome, Kimchi), and that the construction with ב includes perhaps the idea of the place, where it was revealed, that is, the sanctuary. Calvin, Ruding., Cleric., after the Sept. and Syriac, adopt the latter view at once.—The reading in Psa_110:3 is not entirely certain.15
Str. II. Psa_29:3. The voice of Jehovah.—[Hupfeld: “This is not every audible declaration of God in nature, which speaks to us at the same time (Hengst., Hofm.), but is only a poetical and childlike name of thunder (comp. Psa_18:14), that is the murmuring and scolding of wrath (compare Psa_18:14; Psa_104:7), with which, in contrast with the creative word, the interference of God in nature is connected, which restrains and destroys.”—C. A. B.]—The great waters are naturally not an allegorical designation of the colluvies gentium (J. H. Mich.), nor hardly the waters which were above the vault of heaven according to Gen_1:7, comp. Psa_148:4 (Umbreit, Maurer), but either those of the Mediterranean Sea (J. D. Mich., Munt.), or corresponding with the beginning of the description, those of the lowering clouds. Psa_18:11; Psa_104:3; Jer_10:13 (most interpreters).
[Psa_29:4. The voice of Jehovah in power! The voice of Jehovah in majesty!—Alexander: “In power, in majesty, i.e. invested with these attributes, a stronger expression than the corresponding adjectives, strong and majestic would be, and certainly more natural and consonant to usage than the construction which makes in a mere sign of that in which something else consists.”—C. A. B.]
Str. III. Psa_29:5. Breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.—The cedars and mountains are not allegorical designations of the great ones of the earth, particularly of heathen princes (the Rabbins and many ancient interpreters), and the cedars of Lebanon are no more poetical designations of the highest and strongest cedars (Geier, Rosenm., Hengst.), than the mountains of Lebanon and Sirion and the desert of Kadesh are a poetical use of individuals for the whole class (Hupfeld).
Psa_29:6. Maketh them skip like a calf.—[Hupfeld: “This is a poetical hyperbole of the shaking of the earth, as afterwards of the desert, Psa_29:8, like an earthquake occasioned by the thunder; a standing feature of Theophanies (vid.Psa_18:7 sq.). So of mountains, Psa_114:4; Psa_114:6, with a similar comparison with rams and lambs. The suffix, them (יֵם), refers not primarily to the mountains of Lebanon, which are mentioned in the second clause, as many interpreters (even Ewald, Olsh.) suppose, but to the cedars mentioned in the previous verse (Geier, De Wette, Maurer, Hengst., Hitzig, Delitzsch); certainly only in consequence of the skipping of the mountains on which they stand, and therefore they are mentioned themselves in the second member.”—C. A. B.].—Sirion like a young buffalo.16—Sirion (either=glimmer, or coat of mail) is the ancient Sidonian name of Mt. Hermon, according to Deu_3:9, the highest peak of the eastern range of Lebanon.
Psa_29:7. Cleaveth the flames of fire.—This is a poetical expression of forked lightning. So Syriac, Chald., Vatabl., Ruding., J. D. Mich. and most recent interpreters. The meaning of the word is rendered certain by Isa_10:15, where the reference is to cleaving timber.17 The usual meaning: hew out, particularly stones and from stones (Sept.), is possible here, namely in the sense, that the flames are beaten out of the clouds, as sparks out of the flint (Calvin). But the usual ancient translation, hew as flames of fire (Luther), or with flames of fire (Geier, Hengst. [Alexander]) is against the language. And the interpretation: to cut out the flames of fire (von Hofmann), that is, that the storm wind gives direction and form to the blazing flames, affords a monstrous figure.
Str. IV. Psa_29:8. The wilderness of Kadesh.—Kadesh, literally=set apart. This was that part of the Arabic desert west of the granite and porphyry mountains of Edom, which was a part of the great desert (Deu_1:19; Deu_11:24; Jer_2:6), and which was covered with hills of chalk and drift sand. Comp. Gen_20:4; Num_13:26.
Str. V. Psa_29:9. Maketh the hinds to calve.—Instead of אַיָּלוֹת the Syriac read אֵילוֹת, oaks, or terebinths, and some interpreters (Lowth, Venema, Munting.) have adopted it. But Job_39:1 sq. decides for the usual reading, and is not in favor of the view that the reference is to the severe labor of the hinds in calving in the month of May, which is rendered easier by the storm (Bochart, Hieroz. I., lib. 3, cap. 17, after the Rabbins), but of a premature delivery, brought on by fright, as 1Sa_4:19 sq., in the case of the wife of Phinehas. This is brought about, according to Pliny (Hist. Nat., VIII, 47), by the thunder even with solitary sheep, and, according to Ewald, is likewise mentioned by Arabic authors with reference to hinds.—And strippeth forests.—This is not of laying bare the roots of the trees, or of the forest by the wind (many of the older interpreters), so not of stripping the trees of their leaves and boughs by the storm (Calv., Delitzsch), or by the shower (Hitzig), but the peeling off of the bark (Joe_1:7) by the lightning (Hupf.), since the word properly means “discover” (Sept., Jerome, Isaki, Luther [A. V.]).—And in His temple speaks every one: glory!—The palace of God is not the earthly temple (Rabbins), or the Church (Calvin and most older interpreters), so likewise not the world (Cleric.) in which sense it is improperly translated “in His entire palace” (Rosenm.), but heaven (Chald., Geier, et al.). The participle ômer expresses the simultaneousness of the praise with the terrors (Ewald,18 von Hofm., Hupfeld). The suffix in כלו is correctly rendered by the Chald. in the paraphrase: all His servants. It is used in reference to the preceding “in His palace” (Hitzig), but not in direct reference to the palace itself=its totality (Hengstenberg, [Alexander]), or to the sons of Gods, Psa_29:1 (De Wette), but to an indefinite general subject (Hupfeld)=πᾶς τις (Sept., Syr.), which receives its more specific meaning from the context. [Delitzsch: “It happens as the poet desired in Psa_29:1-2. Jehovah receives back the glory displayed in the world in a thousandfold echo of worship.”—C. A. B.]
Str. VI. Psa_29:10. Jehovah has sat enthroned above the Flood.—The reference to the Flood is decided partly by the article, partly by the word mabul (Syr. momul), Genesis 6-11, which is used only with this reference. And this is not a mere recollection of the flood (Ewald, Kurtz), comparing it with the overflowings effected by the rain-storm (Ruding., J. D. Mich., Köster, Olsh., Hitz.), or to the heavenly ocean (Maurer), upon which (ל used as in Psa_9:4, approved likewise by Baur in De Wette’s commentary) Jehovah sits enthroned. Since ישׁב indicates not only the royal sitting of Jehovah, but likewise His judicial sitting (Psa_9:7; Psa_122:5), it is better to regard the ל either as of the purpose=of producing it (von Hofm., Delitzsch) as Köster, Olsh., Hitzig take it, with a generalizing of the Flood; or in the sense of על=above, Psa_7:7 (Hupfeld), since the Divine judgment includes likewise a deliverance (Chald.), and both references are here mentioned. The supposition of a mere reference to time=at (Baihing., Hengst. [Alexander]), weakens the sense. The Vulgate does this still more in its rendering, which as the Sept. in some codd. reads: Jehovah inhabits the flood; in others reads: makes to inhabit.—And so will Jehovah sit as King forever.—The future with vav is in a significant contrast with the preterite of Psa_29:10 a, and is not to be regarded as a preterite, לְעוֹלָם being translated, in primitive time (Sachs); but it cannot be explained too specifically either of the coming Messianic judgment (Rabbins), or with reference to a coming flood of fire and brimstone (Ephræm Syr., J. H. Mich.), or to the saving water of Baptism, with reference to 1Pe_3:21 (Luther, Seb. Schmidt et al.). “Whilst we still hear the voice of the Lord in the rushing of the storm through the forests stripped of their leaves, the poet snatches us away at once from the tumult of earth and places us amid the choirs of the heavenly temple, which above in holy silence sing glory and praise to the Eternal” (Umbreit).
[Psa_29:11. Jehovah will bless His people with peace.—Delitzsch: “How impressive the closing word of this Psalm! It is arched as a rainbow above it. The beginning of the Psalm shows us the heavens open and the throne of God in the midst of angelic songs of praise, and the close of the Psalm shows us on earth, in the midst of the angry voice of Jehovah shaking all things, His people victorious and blessed with peace. Gloria in excelsis is the beginning and pax in terris the end.”—C. A. B.]
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. God has a glory and a power which are peculiar to His nature, and He gives them to be known likewise on earth and in heaven, so that He may be named after them and yet His name not be an arbitrary title, but an expression of His nature. On the ground of this and in consequence of it, He will have in heaven and on earth the recognition to which He is entitled. He insists upon His glory and demands the tribute due to it, whilst He calls attention to His acts as well as to His works.
2. Even in nature God declares Himself in its commotions as its Lord and Master. That which transpires in the phenomena of nature is not a play of hidden powers; and we have to trace in them not the motions of the world-spirit, not the operation of the gods of nature, not the rushing of the spirits of the elements, but the scolding and government of Jehovah, the God of historical revelation; and, therefore, we need not fear them although all creatures tremble and quake. For Jehovah makes nature the servant of His ends in the government and redemption of the world, and He is not only a King in the kingdom of heaven and over His chosen people, but He is the Almighty and Eternal ruler of all things.
3. When the voice of Jehovah is heard in the thunder, the conscience may be awakened and with the remembrance of the judgment of God thoughts, especially of the Flood, may be excited in the heart in connection with storms and showers, earthquakes and floods. But the same God who at the Flood made known His royal dominion in judging the world and delivering a seed of His people, now likewise, when He purifies the air by a storm, bestows refreshment to the land, fruitfulness and the blessings of the harvest, and acts in the same manner in the life of the people and in the history of the world. Hence His people have every reason, when there are such declarations of the power of God in nature and above nature, which are praised in heaven as revelations of His glory, to strengthen their faith in His help and their hope in His blessing in stormy times and amidst the commotions of life, by a remembrance of the analogous government of God in history. Many ancient interpreters, misunderstanding this connection and internal advance of the thought, have fallen upon a mere allegorical explanation and symbolical interpretation of the entire Psalm, and have then partly understood, not only by the sons of God, but likewise by the cedars of Lebanon, the great ones of the earth, and so likewise by the palace the temple at Jerusalem, and indeed by Jehovah’s voice the preaching of the Divine word; and partly have regarded Lebanon, Sirion, the desert as symbolical designations of historical relations or indeed of spiritual conditions. Roman Catholic interpreters have often found a particular reason for this in the circumstance, that Psa_29:5 b in the Sept. and Vulg. reads: “and the beloved (is) as a young unicorn,” and Psa_29:5 a in the Vulg., differing there from the Sept., “and will crush them as calves of Lebanon.” Even Schegg brings this verse into direct connection with the words of the title of the Sept., and Vulg. referring to the feast of the dedication of the tabernacle, and interprets it of the election of Judah the beloved (or even of Zion, Psa_68:16), which resembles the unicorn in freshness of life and strength, in contrast with the rejection of Ephraim, Psa_78:67, the calf of Lebanon crushed by the Lord (Isa_8:9), with reference to the comparison of Joseph with a bullock (Deu_33:17), and to the places of the worship of the calf in the kingdom of Israel, in the South at Bethel, in the North at Dan in Lebanon. The desert is then said to indicate man’s renouncing all his earthly advantages and merits, and the shaking of it to mean its fructification and transformation (Psa_107:35; Isa_51:3), which is to be expected when the sevenfold flame of the Holy Spirit pours itself, in the Sacraments, over the soul shaken by the preaching of the Gospel. This is sufficient to bring to mind the arbitrariness and danger of the allegorical interpretation of Scripture and to clearly show its essential difference from the interpretation of the language of nature speaking by signs and a practical use of it for the edification of the congregation. “The voice of God sounds at first in the thunder of the song causing all things to shake; but at the end it vanishes softly away in the quickening drops of the words: He blesses His people with peace” (Umbreit).
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Many who are now cold and careless in praising God and celebrating His holy name, would give honor to the Lord, if they were mindful of His glory.—From the Almighty God comes the blessing of peace upon His worshipping people.—The manifestation of the omnipotence of God should lead us, 1) to praise His glory with adoration, 2) to shun His judgment, 3) to resign ourselves to His protection.—God will have the honor due Him at first in heaven, but afterwards on earth; all His manifestations in nature as well as in history should remind us of this.—What a consolation it is, that God Isaiah 1) the Almighty Lord of all things, 2) the righteous Judge of all the world, 3) the King of His people, bestowing blessings.—All the manifestations of the power of God are likewise revelations of His glory and His royal government, which is ever the same.—When a storm reminds us of the Flood and the Flood of the Divine judgment we should not forget that it is one and the same God, who in the storm, the flood and the judgment brings to light not only the terrors, but likewise the blessings of His royal glory.—In the phenomena of nature as well as the events of the world, God speaks to men; it is well for those who hearken to God’s voice, take heed to God’s government and worship God as the Lord of glory in holy attire.—It is revealed amidst the terrors, destructions and dangers in the world, what we know of God, think of Him and expect from Him.—The particular exhibitions of the Divine majesty on earth are transient, the majesty and power itself remain to this King forever.
Starke: He who perceives and experiences the power of the voice of the Lord, may likewise experience in his soul the glory of God.—If the voice of the Lord goes with such power and strength in the physical thunder storm, what will be said of the wonderful, penetrating power of the thunder of His word which is yet to be heard on all waters among all nations?—The Lord sits in judgment over all those who refuse to obey His voice, as at the time of the Flood He judged His first world.—Osiander: God has no pleasure in splendid and costly attire and ornaments, which are highly esteemed by the world, but He is pleased with spiritual attire, when the heart is purified within by faith and is adorned with all kinds of Christian virtues.—Fritsch: The greatest honor of a prince, court, city, land is, that God’s honor dwells there.—Renschel: Take heed of the voice of the Lord; this shows thee His power and takes away from thee thy pride.—Rieger: We cannot give the Lord anything; but it is our business to know and confess His name.—Tholuck: If the saints already on earth as soon as the storms of God roar, worship in priestly reverence, how much more those in heaven.—Von Gerlach: Those things which among men are for the most part far apart, are united in God’s works, infinite power and symmetrical beauty.
[Matth. Henry: If we would in hearing and praying, and other acts of devotion, receive grace from God, we must make it our business to give glory to God.—Whenever it thunders let us think of this Psalm; and whenever we sing this Psalm let us think of the dreadful thunderclaps we have sometimes heard, and thus bring God’s word and His works together, that by both we may be directed and quickened to give unto Him the glory due unto His name; and let us bless Him that there is another voice of His besides this dreadful one, by which God now speaks to us, even the still small voice of His Gospel, the terror of which shall not make us afraid.—When the thunder of God’s wrath shall make sinners tremble, the saints shall lift up their heads with joy.—Spurgeon: Just as the eighth Psalm is to be read by moonlight when the stars are bright, as the nineteenth needs the rays of the rising sun to bring out its beauty, so this can be best rehearsed beneath the black wing of tempest, by the glare of the lightning, or amid that dubious dusk which heralds the war of elements.—The call to worship chimes in with the loud pealing thunder, which is the church bell of the universe ringing kings and angels, and all the sons of earth to their devotions.—His voice, whether in nature or revelation, shakes both earth and heaven; see that ye refuse not Him that speaketh. If His voice be thus mighty, what must His hand be! beware lest ye provoke a blow.—C. A. B.]
Footnotes:
[13][Hengstenberg regards the use of the name of Jehovah ten times in the main part of the Psalm, as important (Psa_29:3-9), as signifying completeness and finish.—Ewald divides the Psalm into five parts, the introduction and conclusion being alike of four lines, the body of the Psalm consisting of three parts of five lines each, the whole being thus highly artistic. The storm is described in three stages. “At first it is heard in the extreme distance of the highest heavens (Psa_29:3-4), then in rapidly increasing power it covers the whole visible heavens (Psa_29:5-7), finally coming from the north and descending constantly lower it passes away in the far south.” Perowne: “The structure of the whole is highly artificial, and elaborated with a symmetry of which no more perfect specimen exists in Hebrew. But this evidently artificial mode of composition is no check to the force and fire of the Poet’s genius, which kindles, and glows, and sweeps along with all the freedom and majesty of the storm; the whole Psalm being one continued strain of triumphant exultation.”—C. A. B.]
[14][Wordsworth on this Psalm indulges in a series of fanciful interpretations. I will give a general specimen here which will do for the whole Psalm. “The voice of the thunder, and the flash of the lightning spoke to the Psalmist of the manifestations of God’s glory on Mount. Sinai, amid thunders and lightnings, at the giving of the Law (Exo_19:16). Then the ‘voice of the Lord’ was heard, as Moses describes, with exceeding power (see Exo_19:19; Exo_20:18), and it sounded forth in the thunders of the Decalogue. Hence the Hebrew Church connected this Psalm with Pentcost, the Feast of the Giving of the Law; and in the Christian Church this Psalm, used in a large portion of Christendom at the Epiphany, and falling, as it does, in the series of the octaves of the Ascension, may raise the thoughts to the glory of the Creator and Redeemer, manifested in love as well as in power upon earth, and showing His glory and power by riding upon the clouds, and by sending down the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, from heaven at Pentecost, with the sound of a rushing mighty wind, and in flames of fire (Act_2:2), to strengthen and comfort His Church.”—C. A. B.]
[15][Perowne: “In holy vestments, heaven being thought of as one great temple, and all the worshippers therein as clothed in priestly garments, and doing perpetual service.”—C. A. B.]
[16][A. V. translates young unicorn—vid. notes on Psa_22:12.—C. A. B.]
[17][Perowne: “With every thunder-peal comes the terrible forked lightning, so striking in tropical and eastern lands. Its vivid, zig-zag, serpent-like flash is given in a few words.”—C. A. B.]
[18][Ewald translates at once: “whilst in His palace—all speaks ‘glory.’ ”—C. A. B.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 1, 2. These verses open the scene with a…
1, 2. These verses open the scene with a call upon celestial beings to praise and glorify Jehovah.
O ye mighty—Hebrew, sons of God; angels and archangels. See Job chap. Psa_38:7, and note on Psa_89:6.
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Glory and strength—It was fit that beings in heaven should take the lead in praising Him who alone rideth upon the storm, and maketh the clouds his chariot. Psa_18:13-15; Psa_104:3.
Beauty of holiness—The Septuagint reads “holy court,” (αυλη αγια,) and is followed by the Vulgate, as if the splendour of the sanctuary or of the high priest’s vestments was referred to. But it had better be understood of moral beauty; that beauty or ornament which is “produced by or consists in holiness.”—Alexander. Comp. 1Pe_3:3-5. It can hardly be taken here, as some do, for holy or ornamental vestments, such as the priests wore. See note on Psa_96:9; Psa_110:3
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 1. O ye mighty] The phrase bnç çlîm admits…
1. O ye mighty] The phrase bnç çlîm admits of three renderings.
(1) O ye sons of the mighty (R.V.), which may mean either powerful nobles, or mighty celestial beings. (2) O ye sons of the gods (R.V. marg.), meaning either beings “belonging to the class of superhuman, heavenly powers” (Cheyne); or the nations who “had forgotten their true parentage, and ranged themselves under the protection of deified heroes or invented gods, and are now invited to remember themselves and return to the Lord.” (Kay). Cp. Psa_96:7; Jer_2:27. (3) O ye sons of God (R.V. marg., taking bnç elim as a doubly formed plural of ben çl); i.e. angels, who are called bnç elôhîm, ‘sons of God,’ in Job_1:6; Job_2:1; Job_38:7. The last rendering is the best; but whichever rendering is adopted, the use of the phrase in Psa_89:6 (comp. Psa_29:5; Psa_29:7) is decisive for the meaning angels. The spiritual beings which surround God’s throne in heaven are called upon to render Him their tribute of adoration. Cp. Psa_103:20 f.; Psa_148:1 f.; Job_38:7. The special occasion of the summons is the manifestation of His glory upon earth which the Psalmist describes in Psa_29:3-9. So the Seraphic chorus in Isa_6:3 recognise the earth as “full of Jehovah’s glory.”
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Give] i.e. ascribe, attribute. Recognise by your confession and proclamation those attributes of glory and strength which are supremely His. Cp. Deu_32:3; Psa_68:34; Luk_17:18; Rom_4:20; Rev_14:7.
The P.B.V., Bring unto the Lord, O ye mighty, bring young rams unto the Lord, comes from the LXX through the Vulg. In the present text of the LXX, the first line of the verse is doubly represented. Elîm may mean rams, and an alternative rendering of bnç çlîm as young rams, originally placed in the margin, has found its way into the text.
1, 2. Prelude, calling upon the angels to celebrate Jehovah’s glory. Cp. Psa_96:7-9, where however the words are differently applied.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (1) Ye mighty.—Heb., benê-elîm. Literally, sons of gods (not…
(1) Ye mighty.—Heb., benê-elîm. Literally, sons of gods (not sons of God, since elîm is never used by itself like Elohîm for God). If, however, which is possible, it is used in a general sense for beings of supernatural power, but inferior to God, the expression benê-elîm for angels would be intelligible, i.e., for angels (comp. Job_1:6; Isa_6:3) in the widest sense as ministers of God, and so including the lightning and storm. (Comp. Psa_104:4.) The poet calls on the grand forces of nature themselves to offer praise to their Divine Master, for the glory which they have been commissioned to reveal. It is they who at the beginning and end alike of the psalm sing the praises of Him, who summoned them to speak to men in His name, and make His voice to be heard. The Prayer Book version, “bring young rams,” comes from the LXX. and Vulg. The reading probably arose from a marginal gloss. It is the reading of five MSS. of Kennicott and five of De Rossi.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain THIS is a psalm of praise to God, and…
THIS is a psalm of praise to God, and at the same time one intended to comfort and cheer his people. It consists of three parts:
(1) An introduction (vers. 1, 2), in which "the sons of the mighty" are called upon to praise and worship God;
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(2) a main body, in which the might of God is set forth by the description of a thunderstorm (vers. 3-9); and
(3) an application (vers. 10, 11), in which the people are called upon to see in the power and majesty of God, as placed before them, a ground for confidence in his ability to save and protect them. The authorship of David is not questioned. The psalm forms a portion of the synagogue service on the first day of the Feast of Pentecost.
Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty; literally, ye sons of the mighty. It is disputed who are meant. Most commentators suggest the holy angels (Rosenmuller, Hengstenberg, "Speaker"s Commentary," "Four Friends," Professor Alexander, Cheyne, etc.); but some think the heathen (Michaelis, Kay); and others, the mighty ones of the earth generally (Koster), to be meant. Give unto the Lord glory and strength; i.e. praise his Name, ascribe to him glory and strength and every other excellency.
HOMILIES BY C. CLEMANCE Vers. 1-11. The glorious sceptre of universal power.
There are many productions of poets and poetesses, celebrating the grandeur of nature, and the glory of God as manifested in the works of his hands; but there are none which, even in a poetical point of view, surpass those in Job 26 Job 28 Job 38 Isa 40 Ps 104 Ps 19 Ps 147, and that in the psalm before us now, which rises to the very noblest heights of Hebrew poetry, in its symmetry and grandeur. Bishop Perowne (who acknowledges his obligations to Ewald therein) has a most interesting introduction to this psalm, in which he points out the beauty of its structure, as in its grand description of a tempest it shows the storm at its height of majesty, and then in its subsidence to comparative calm. And, verily, even on this lower ground of poetic beauty, he would be by no means to be envied who could read it without a strange commingling of rapture, wonder, and awe. We seem to hear the roll of the ocean, to listen to the pealing thunder, to watch the flash of the lightning, the crashing of the trees of the forest, the heaving of the mountains, as if they were loosed from their foundations by an earthquake, Lebanon and Sirion leaping as wild creatures free from all restraint. But while it is to the descriptions of all this grandeur and majesty that some expositors chiefly call our attention, neither nature"s grandeur nor majesty is the main topic of the psalm. By no means; but rather the glory of HIM whose dominion extendeth over all! In the eye of the psalmist, all the forces of nature are under one sceptre; that sceptre is wielded by one hand; that hand is moved by one heart, even that of our redeeming God. Such is the theme before us.
I HERE POWER IN VARIED MANIFESTATIONS IS TRACED TO ONE SOURCE. There are five thoughts which are presented cumulatively.
1. Power in nature"s works and wonders specially as shown in storm and tempest, lightning and thunder, earthquake and mountain wave. Note: The larger our knowledge of natural science, the more capable shall we be of discoursing with interest, delight, and profit to others on these "wonderful works of God.
2. Power in providential administration. (Ver. 10) "The Lord sat enthroned at the flood." This word rendered "flood" is the one applied to the Deluge of Noah, and only so applied. Hence it seems to include the specific thought that over and above all merely natural disclosures of power, there is a moral enthronement, whereby natural phenomena are made subservient to moral ends. Not only is every atom kept in harness, but the collocation of atoms is subsidiary to the discipline of souls.
3. There is gracious loving-kindness towards his own people. (Ver. 11) "His people." There are those in the world marked off from the rest by tokens known to God alone. They are his, having "made a covenant with him by sacrifice". (Psa_50:5) And with reference to them, there is a grace marvellous in its tenderness. The same Being who can thunder most loudly can also whisper most sweetly, and can also give out blessings to his own.
(1) Strength. (cf. Isa_40:31 2Co_12:9 Psa_27:14)
(2) Peace. While the fiercest storm is raging without, God can and does give us peace within; a peace which becomes richer and fuller, till it is exceedingly abundant "above all we can ask or think." It is "the peace of God, passing all understanding". (Joh_14:27 Php_4:6, 7 Rom_5:1 Eph_2:14)
4. He who thus rules in nature, providence, grace, is the everlasting King. (Ver. 10) "King for ever! "The sceptre of universal power will never drop from his hands, nor will he ever transfer it to another. (Psa_97:1) The hand that upholds all will never become weary. The eye that watches all will never droop with fatigue. The arms that clasp believers in their embrace will never relax their hold. The voice that whispers, "Peace!" will never be stilled in death. The love that enriches with blessing will never be chilled. King for ever!
5. He who is this everlasting King is our redeeming God. The usual term for God as the God of nature is "Elohim". (Gen_1:1) But here we are reminded that the God who thunders in the heavens and controls the swelling seas; that he who guides the forked lightning, is "Jehovah," the "I am that I am," the Lord who has thus revealed himself to his people as their God. And the great Ruler of nature is he who exercises loving-kindness, righteousness, and judgment in the earth, in order that he that glorieth may glory in the Lord.
II SUCH THOUGHTS OF GOD MAY WELL EVOKE GRATEFUL SONG. They know not how much of gladness and inspiration they lose who cannot see God everywhere. To see law everywhere and God nowhere would be enough to crush us. To see God everywhere working by law inspires rest and joy: our "Father is at the helm." Note: Since we have such disclosures of God, we have:
1. Unity in diversity. The seemingly complicated question of "the origin of force" is settled once for all by the man who sees God. And this privilege is reserved for "the pure in heart". (Mat_5:8)
2. Since one God is over all, natural phenomena as well as providential incident may be made fuel for the religious life. A thunderstorm may aid worship.
3. Since one Being is the Origin of all kinds of force, prayer for natural blessings and temporal mercies is perfectly reasonable; e.g. prayer for rain. It is quite true that prayer and rain lie in totally distinct spheres. (f5) But since the same Being who hears one sends the other, the spheres find their unity at his throne.
4. Since the God who governs all is One whom we know, we may read and sing of glory under all circumstances and everywhere. (Ver. 9) "In his temple every whir of it uttereth glory; "or, "In his temple every one says, Glory!" Yes; we may triumph everywhere since our God is "King for ever!
5. Holy awe may well combine with triumph, and loyalty with praise. For God "sits enthroned such is the sublime figure suggested here. And "his people" though we are by grace, his absolute sovereignty must never be forgotten by us (ver. 2); ever must we give unto the Lord "the glory due unto his Name," and "worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness in holy attire, even in the "fine linen which is the righteousness of saints", (Rev_19:8) "having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water". (Heb_10:22)
6. Amid all natural convulsions and national upheavings, let confidence and hope remain undisturbed. King for ever!" Then, however gloomy the outlook of events, nothing can happen beyond the bounds of Divine control, nothing which he cannot make subservient to the in bringing of his everlasting kingdom. "Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea". C. (Psa_46:2)
HOMILIES BY W. FORSYTH Vers. 1-11. The works and the Word of God should not be separated.
They are both revelations, and the one is necessary to the right interpretation of the other. If we study God"s works by themselves, we are apt to forget God"s Word, and so forget God himself. If, on the other hand, we confine ourselves to God"s Word, we are in danger of falling into a similar error that of forgetting God"s presence in his works, and so turning the world without us into a world without God. The psalmist shows us a more excellent way. "The occasion of this psalm is a thunderstorm; but it does not limit itself to the external natural phenomenon, but in it perceives the self-attestation of the God of redemptive history" (Delitzsch). If Ps 8 should be read at night when the sky is bright with stars, and Ps 19 by day when the sun is high in the heavens, this should be studied in the gloom of the storm, when the lightnings flash and the thunders roll, and the terrors of the Lord are on every side. It is then we can realize its deep grandeur and beauty, and feel its power to bring us nearer God.
1. The first thing is that we should take the right standpoint. "Not to the earth confined ascend to heaven." We must rise above the things seen, above the various forces working around us, above the mere reasonings and imaginations of our own hearts. We must take our place by the side of the highest, "the God-like ones," "the sons of the mighty the angels, who are in truest sympathy with God. It is as we hear with their ears, and see with their eyes, and enter into fellowship with them in mind and spirit, that we can truly behold Jehovah"s glory, and fitly sing his praise (ver. 1).
2. The true spirit with which to contemplate the magnificent spectacle is reverence and trust (ver. 2). Thus prepared, we are able to recognize Gods presence. A "voice" implies a speaker. Behind all the glory of visible and natural things there is the glory of God. He is the Force of all forces, and the Life of all life. The man of science may see nothing in the thunderstorm but cold material law, and the savage may recognize only a mysterious power which fills his soul with fear and trembling; but if we are of the same spirit as the psalmist, we can rise from the seen to the unseen, and acknowledge the presence and the glory of God.
3. Further, we are able to confess with humility and awe the supreme majesty of God. The storm in progress witnesses to his eternal power and Godhead. We behold his glory as the Lord of heaven and earth. We see him not only as the Lord of the "waters," but of the dry land; not only of "the cedars," but of all living creatures; not only of the children of men, but of all the host of heaven (vers. 3-9).
4. Lastly, we are able to rejoice in God as our God, the supreme Object of our fear and love. The psalm ends as it began, with God. At the beginning we are raised from earth to heaven, and in the close we have heaven brought down to earth. It is as we ascend with Christ to God that God will descend with Christ to us. Thus we are enabled to confide in God as our almighty King and our gracious Redeemer. "The Lord will give strength unto his people." These are the two great blessings of salvation. "Strength" we have lost through sin; but it is recovered through Christ. God"s people are strong to do, to suffer, and to endure, to overcome evil and daily to perform their vows in the service or" their Lord. (Php_4:13) God"s people have "peace that inner harmony and calm which results from oneness with God. Amidst all the stress and struggle of life, though there should come wars and famines and pestilences, when men"s hearts are failing them for fear, they are able to say "It is the Lord!" He will keep us from evil; he will bless us with strength and with peace. W.F.
HOMILIES BY C. SHORT Vers. 1-11. The thunderstorm.
Compare this with the nineteenth and eighth psalms all nature psalms. This is a wonderful description of a thunderstorm.
I THE OMNIPOTENCE OF GOD IN NATURE INSPIRES THE DEVOUT MIND WITH THE SPIRIT OF WORSHIP. Inspires the common mind with fear. The scientific mind with inquiry. Inflames the imagination of the poetic mind. But fills the devout mind with the spirit of worship of the great invisible Creator. "Give unto the Lord the honour or, "glory due unto his Name." Every manifestation of God is interesting to the religious man.
II THAT THE DEVOUT MAN SEEKS FOR SYMPATHY AND FELLOWSHIP IN HIS WORSHIP. (Vers. 1, 2) He calls upon the whole invisible world of the sons of God to give glory to God in the "beauty of holiness," or in holy apparel, i.e. dressed as priests in spotless attire.
1. Human praise is poor and inadequate. And he would have the angelic choir give full-voiced utterance to God"s glory in higher strains than he could reach.
2. The spirit of worship brings man into closer sympathy with his fellowman. Hence the necessity of public worship, because all our best emotions become deepened when shared with others. We are made for fellowship in all the highest good of life.
III THE GOD WHO IS MIGHTY IN NATURE WILL GIVE STRENGTH UNTO HIS PEOPLE. The crashing thunderstorm which awakens fear in ordinary minds awakens trust and confidence in the devout mind.
1. He who by his might raises the storm will give strength to the weak and persecuted. He sits above the storm, is Master and King over it; and he sits above the storms of the mind and heart, to control them.
2. lie who quells the storm is able to quell the tumults of the mind, and to give us peace. Christ gave his peace to the disciples; and "the peace of God which passeth all understanding is able to keep guard our hearts and minds." It is inward trust and rest, and not outward tranquillity. S.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Title. A Psalm of David. The title affords us…
Title. A Psalm of David. The title affords us no information beyond the fact that David is the author of this sublime song.
Subject. It seems to be the general opinion of modern annotators, that this Psalm is meant to express the glory of God as heard in the pealing thunder, and seen in the equinoctial tornado. Just as the eighth Psalm is to be read by moonlight, when the stars are bright, as the nineteenth needs the rays of the rising sun to bring out its beauty, so this can be best rehearsed beneath the black wing of tempest, by the glare of the lightning, or amid that dubious dusk which heralds the war of elements. The verses march to the tune of thunderbolts. God is everywhere conspicuous, and all the earth is hushed by the majesty of his presence. The word of God in the law and gospel is here also depicted in its majesty of power. True ministers are sons of thunder, and the voice of God in Christ Jesus is full of majesty. Thus we have God's works and God's word joined together: let no man put them asunder by a false idea that theology and science can by any possibility oppose each other. We may, perhaps, by a prophetic glance, behold in this Psalm the dread tempests of the latter days, and the security of the elect people.
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Division. The first two verses are a call to adoration. From Ps 29:3-10 the path of the tempest is traced, the attributes of God's word are rehearsed, and God magnified in all the terrible grandeur of his power; and the last verse sweetly closes the scene with the assurance that the omnipotent Jehovah will give both strength and peace to his people. Let heaven and earth pass away, the Lord will surely bless his people.
Ver. 1. Give, i.e., ascribe. Neither men nor angels can confer anything upon Jehovah, but they should recognise his glory and might, and ascribe it to him in their songs and in their hearts. Unto the Lord, and unto him alone, must honour be given. Natural causes, as men call them, are God in action, and we must not ascribe power to them, but to the infinite Invisible who is the true source of all. O ye mighty. Ye great ones of earth and of heaven, kings and angels, join in rendering worship to the blessed and only Potentate; ye lords among men need thus to be reminded, for ye often fail where humbler men are ardent; but fail no longer, bow your heads at once, and loyally do homage to the King of kings. How frequently do grandees and potentates think it beneath them to fear the Lord; but, when they have been led to extol Jehovah, their piety has been the greatest jewel in their crowns. Give unto the Lord glory and strength, both of which men are too apt to claim for themselves, although they are the exclusive prerogatives of the self existent God. Let crowns and swords acknowledge their dependence upon God. Not to your arms, O kings, give ye the glory, nor look for strength to your hosts of warriors, for all your pomp is but as a fading flower, and your might is as a shadow which declineth. When shall the day arrive when kings and princes shall count it their delight to glorify their God? "All worship be to God only, "let this be emblazoned on every coat of arms.
Whole Psalm. In this Psalm, the strength of Jehovah is celebrated; and the exemplification of it is evidently taken from a thunderstorm in Lebanon. The Psalm seems to be addressed to the angels. See Ps 89:7. It thus begins:
"Render unto Jehovah, ye sons of the mighty,
Render unto Jehovah glory and strength;
Render to Jehovah the glory of his name;
Bow down to Jehovah in the majesty of holiness!"
Immediately follows the description of the thunderstorm, in which it does not seem fanciful to observe the historical progression which is usual on such occasions. The first lines seem to describe only the noise of the thunder, the description growing more intense as the rumbling draws nearer.
"The voice of Jehovah is above the waters;
The God of glory thundereth,
Jehovah is louder than many waters,
The voice of Jehovah in strength,
The voice of Jehovah in majesty!"
But now the effects become visible; the storm has descended on the mountains and forests:
"The voice of Jehovah shivers the cedars,
Even shivers Jehovah the cedars of Lebanon;
And makes them to skip, like a calf;
Lebanon and Sirion, like a young buffalo,
The voice of Jehovah forks the lightning's flash!"
From the mountains the storm sweeps down into the plains, where, however, it effects are not so fearful as on the mountains
"The voice of Jehovah causeth the desert to tremble
The voice of Jehovah causeth to tremble the desert of Kadesh
The voice of Jehovah causeth the oaks to tremble,
And lays bare the forests!
Therefore, in his temple every one speaks of his glory."
The description of the swollen torrents closes the scene
"Jehovah upon the rain torrent sitteth.
Yea, sitteth Jehovah a king for ever."
And the moral of application of the whole is
"Jehovah to his people will give strength,
Jehovah will bless his people with peace."
Robert Murray Macheyne, 1813-1843.
Whole Psalm. There is no phenomenon in nature so awful as a thunderstorm, and almost every poet from Homer and Virgil down to Dante and Milton, or rather down to Grahame and Pollok, has described it. In the Bible, too, we have a thunderstorm, the twenty-ninth Psalmthe description of a tempest, which, rising from the Mediterranean, and travelling by Lebanon and along the inland mountains, reaches Jerusalem, and sends the people into the temple porticoes for refuge; and; besides those touches of terror in which the geographical progress of the tornado is described, it derives a sacred vitality and power from the presence of Jehovah in each successive peal. James Hamilton, D.D., in "The Literary Attractions of the Bible, " 1849.
Whole Psalm. A glorious Psalm of praise sung during a tempest, the majesty of which shakes universal nature, so much so that the greatness of the power of the Lord is felt by all in heaven and on earth. This Lord is the God of his people, who blesses them with strength and peace. To rightly appreciate the feelings of the bard, one ought to realise an Oriental storm, especially in the mountainous regions of Palestine, which, accompanied by the terrific echoes of the encircling mountains, by torrents of rain like waterspouts, often scatters terror on man and beast, destruction on cities and fields. Wilson, the traveller, describes such a tempest in the neighbourhood of Baalbek: "I was overtaken by a storm, as if the floodgates of heaven had burst; it came on in a moment, and raged with a power which suggested the end of the world. Solemn darkness covered the earth: the rain descended in torrents, and sweeping down the mountain side, became by the fearful power of the storm transmuted into thick clouds of fog." Compare also our Lord's parable, taken from life, in Mt 7:27. Augustus F. Tholuck, in loc.
Ver. 1. Give unto the Lord. Give, give, give. This showeth how unwilling such are usually to give God his right, or to suffer a word of exhortation to this purpose. John Trapp.
Ver. 1. O ye mighty. The Septuagint renders it, O ye sons of rams! These bell wethers should not cast their noses into the air, and carry their crest the higher, because the shepherd hath bestowed a bell upon them, more than upon the rest of the flock. John Trapp.
Ver. 1-2. There are three gives in these two verses: Give unto the Lord, give unto the Lord, give unto the Lord the glory that is due unto his name. Glory is God's right, and he stands upon his right; and this the sincere Christian knows, and therefore he gives him his right, he gives him the honour and the glory that is due unto his name. But pray do not mistake me. I do not say that such as are really sincere do actually eye the glory of Christ in all their actions. Oh, no! This is a happiness desirable on earth, but shall never be attained till we come to heaven. Bye and base ends and aims will be still ready to creep into the best hearts, but all sincere hearts sigh and groan under them. They complain to God of them, and they cry out for justice, justice upon them; and it is the earnest desire and daily endeavours of their souls to be rid of them; and therefore they shall not be imputed to them, nor keep good things from them. But now take a sincere Christian in his ordinary, usual, and habitual course, and you shall find that his aims and ends in all his actions and undertakings are to glorify God, to exalt God, and to lift up God in the world. If the hypocrite did in good earnest aim at the glory of God in what he does, then the glory of God would swallow up his bye aims and carnal ends, as Aaron's rod swallowed up the magician's rods. Ex 7:10-12. Look, as the sun puts out the light of the fire, so the glory of God, where it is aimed at, will put out and consume all bye and base ends. This is most certain, that which is a man's great end, that will work out all other ends. He that sets up the glory of God as his chief end, will find that his chief end will by degrees eat out all low and base ends. Look, as Pharaoh's lean kine ate up the fat Ge 31:4, so the glory of God will eat up all those fat and worldly ends that crowd in upon the soul in religious work. Where the glory of God is kept up as a man's greatest end, there all bye and base ends will be kept at an under. Thomas Brooks.
Ver. 1. The duty of ascribing our strength and the honour of it to God; the penalty of neglecting to do so; the pleasure of so doing.
Ver. 1. National glorying should be in the Lord.
Psalms 29:2*
Ver. 1-2. See Psalms on "Ps 29:1" for further information.
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Give unto the Lord glory and strength.
Psa_29:1-11
Give unto the Lord glory and strength.
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The glory of Gods government in the natural world
This psalm has been explained, but without sufficient reason, as telling of the power and progress of the Gospel in the latter days. But it is intended to represent the majesty of God, the aids we may expect from Him, and the homage we ought to render to Him. It begins with a summons to the chiefs of the nations, especially the chiefs of Israel, to give Unto the Lord glory and strength, that is, the glory of all their victories; and to do this in the holy sanctuary--worship and praise Him there. There comes the description of the thunder which is declared to be the voice of God, as it rolls and resounds through the vast expanse on high. Beneath its deep-toned peals and reverberations, all living nature shrinks and trembles. It breaketh the cedars; the thunderbolt which in a moment rends and shatters the Strongest trees, such as were the cedars; or the tempest, which overwhelms and lays them prostrate in a moment. The earthquake is next described. He maketh Lebanon and Sirion also to skip like a calf. That is, the Mamir mountains are shaken and made, as it were, to dance, so that the cedars whirl as the plaything of a child. Not the thunder or the tempest would accomplish this, but the earthquake, which shakes the solid fabric of the globe, and tells so emphatically of the majesty and power of God. The lightning blaze is told of next. The voice of the Lord divides the flames of fire, bidding them either shine under the whole heaven, or retire into its chamber, so that all becomes dark again. He gives to the coruscations of the lightning its beautiful forms and tints, or causes it to descend from the sky in one continuous stream. The wondrous accompaniments of the giving of the law at Sinai--the wilderness of Kadesh--are referred to next (Psa_68:7-8). The last circumstance introduced seems to be derived from the effect of all. The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve. In their terror the pains of parturition come upon them prematurely, and the hurricane makes bare the forests, penetrates their thick array, discloses their dark recesses, strips and scatters their leaves, and lays their twining honours low. The beasts of prey are driven forth from their hiding-places, and their covert is concealed no longer.. But over all this wild war, as it seems, God rules, and from all receives homage, and His power is for His people. (John Mitchell, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain Psalms 29
Psalms 29
THE core of this psalm is the magnificent description of the thunderstorm rolling over the whole length of the land. That picture is framed by two verses of introduction and two of conclusion, which are connected, inasmuch as the one deals with the "glory to God in the highest" which is the echo of the tempest in angels praises, and the other with the "peace on earth" in which its thunders die away.
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The invocation in Psa_29:1-2 is addressed to angels, whatever may be the exact rendering of the remarkable title by which they are summoned in Psa_29:1. It is all but unique, and the only other instance of its use {Psa_89:6} establishes its meaning, since "holy ones" is there given as synonymous in the verses preceding and following. The most probable explanation of the peculiar phrase (Bne Elim) is that of Gesenius, Ewald, Delitzsch, and Riehm in his edition of Hupfelds Commentary: that it is a double plural, both members of the compound phrase being inflected. Similarly "mighty men of valour" {1Ch_7:5} has the second noun in the plural. This seems more probable than the rendering "sons of the gods." The psalmist summons these lofty beings to "give" glory and strength to Jehovah; that is, to ascribe to Him the attributes manifested in His acts, or, as Psa_29:2 puts it, "the glory of His name," i.e., belonging to His character as thus revealed. The worship of earth is regarded as a type of that of heaven, and as here, so there, they who bow before Him are to be clothed in "holy attire." The thought underlying this ringing summons is that even angels learn the character of God from the exhibitions of His power in the Creation, and as they sang together for joy at first, still attend its manifestations with adoration. The contrast of their praise with the tumult and terror on earth, while the thunder growls in the sky, is surely not unintended. It suggests the different aspects of Gods dread deeds as seen by them and by men, and carries a tacit lesson true of all calamities and convulsions. The thundercloud hangs boding in its piled blue blackness to those who from beneath watch the slow crumbling away of its torn edges and the ominous movements in its sullen heart or hear the crashes from its depths, but, seen from above, it is transfigured by the light that falls on its upper surface; and it stretches placid before the throne, like the sea of glass mingled with fire. Whatever may be earths terror, heavens echo of Gods thunders is praise.
Then the storm bursts. We can hear it rolling in the short periods, mostly uniform in structure and grouped in verses of two clauses each, the second of which echoes the first, like the long-drawn roll that pauses, slackens, and yet persists. Seven times "the voice of Jehovah" is heard, like the apocalyptic "seven thunders before the throne." The poets eye travels with the swift tempest, and his picture is full of motion, sweeping from the waters above the firmament to earth and from the northern boundary of the land to the far south. First we hear the mutterings in the sky (Psa_29:3). If we understood "the waters" as meaning the Mediterranean, we should have the picture of the storm working up from the sea; but it is better to take the expression as referring to the super-terrestrial reservoirs or the rain flood stored in the thunderclouds. Up there the peals roll before their fury shakes the earth. It was not enough in the poets mind to call the thunder the voice of Jehovah, but it must be brought into still closer connection with Him by the plain statement that it is He who "thunders" and who rides on the storm clouds as they hurry across the sky. To catch tones of a Divine voice, full of power and majesty, in a noise so entirely explicable as a thunderclap, is, no doubt, unscientific; but the Hebrew contemplation of nature is occupied with another set of ideas than scientific, and is entirely unaffected by these. The psalmist had no notion of the physical cause of thunder, but there is no reason why a man who can make as much electricity as he wants by the grinding of a dynamo and then use it to carry his trivial messages should not repeat the psalmists devout assertion. We can assimilate all that physicists can tell us, and then, passing into another region, can hear Jehovah speaking in thunder. The psalm begins where science leaves off.
While the psalmist speaks the swift tempest has come down with a roar and a crash on the northern mountains, and Lebanon and "Sirion" (a Sidonian name for Hermon) reel, and the firm-boled, stately cedars are shivered. The structure of the verses already noticed, in which the second clause reduplicates, with some specialising, the thought of the first, makes it probable that in Psa_29:6 a the mountains, and not the cedars, are meant by "them." The trees are broken; the mountains shake. An emendation has been proposed, by which "Lebanon" should be transferred from Psa_29:5 to Psa_29:6 and substituted for "them" so as to bring out this meaning more smoothly, but the roughness of putting the pronoun in the first clause and the nouns to which it refers in the second is not so considerable as to require the change. The image of the mountains "skipping" sounds exaggerated to Western ears, but is not infrequent in Scripture, and in the present instance is simply a strong way of expressing the violence of the storm, which seems even to shake the steadfast mountains that keep guard over the furthest borders of the land. Nor are we to forget that here there may be some hint of a parable in nature. The heights are thunder smitten; the valleys are safe. "The day of the Lord shall be upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, and upon all the high mountains." {Isa_2:13-14} The two-claused verses are interrupted by one of a single clause (Psa_29:7), the brevity of which vividly suggests the suddenness and speed of the flash: "The voice of Jehovah cleaves [or, hews out] fire flames." The thunder is conceived of as the principal phenomenon and as creating the lightning, as if it hewed out the flash from the dark mass of cloud. A corrected accentuation of this short verse divides it into three parts, per haps representing the triple zigzag; but in any case the one solitary, sudden fork, blazing fiercely for a moment and then swallowed up in the gloom, is marvellously given. It is further to be noted that this single lightning gleam parts the description of the storm into two, the former part painting it as in the north, the latter as in the extreme south. It has swept over the whole length of the land, while we have been watching the flash. Now it is rolling over the wide plain of the southern desert. The precise position of Kadesh is keenly debated, but it was certainly in the eastern part of the desert region on the southern border. It, too, shakes, low lying as it is; and far and wide over its uninhabited levels the tempest rages, its effects there are variously understood. The parallelism of clauses and the fact that nowhere else in the picture is animal life introduced give great probability to the very slight alteration required in Psa_29:9 a, - in order to yield the rendering "pierces the oaks" (Cheyne), in stead of "makes the hinds calve" which harmonises admirably with the next clause: but, on the other hand, the premature dropping of the young of wild animals from fear is said to be an authentic fact, and gives a defensible trait to the picture, which is perhaps none the less striking for the introduction of one small piece of animated nature. In any case the next clause paints the dishevelled forest trees, with scarred bark, broken boughs, and strewn leaves, after the fierce roar and flash, wind and rain, have swept over them. The southern border must have been very unlike its present self, or the poets thoughts must have travelled eastwards, among the oaks on the other side of the Arabah, if the local colouring of Psa_29:9 is correct.
While tumult of storm and crash of thunder have been raging and rolling below, the singer hears "a deeper voice across the storm," the songs of the "sons of God" in the temple palace above, chanting the praise to which he had summoned them. "In His temple everyone is saying, Glory!" That is the issue of all storms. The clear eyes of the angels see, and their "loud uplifted trumpets" celebrate, the lustrous self-manifestation of Jehovah, who rides upon the storm, and makes the rush of the thunder minister to the fruitfulness of earth.
But what of the effects down here? The concluding strophe (Psa_29:10-11) tells. Its general sense is clear, though the first clause of Psa_29:10 is ambiguous. The source of the difficulty in rendering is twofold. The preposition may mean "for"-i.e., in order to bring about-or, according to some, "on," or "above," or "at." The word rendered "flood" is only used elsewhere in reference to the Noachic deluge, and here has the definite article, which is most naturally explained as fixing the reference to that event; but it has been objected that the allusion would be farfetched and out of place, and therefore the rendering "rain storm" has been suggested. In the absence of any instance of the words being used for anything but the Deluge, it is safest to retain that meaning here. There must, however, be combined with that rendering an allusion to the torrents of thunder rain, which closed the thunderstorm. These could scarcely be omitted. They remind the singer of the downpour that drowned the world, and his thought is that just as Jehovah "sat"-i.e., solemnly took His place as King and Judge-in order to execute that act of retribution, so, in all subsequent smaller acts of an analogous nature, He "will sit enthroned forever." The supremacy of Jehovah over all transient tempests and the judicial punitive nature of these are the thoughts which the storm has left with him. It has rolled away; God, who sent it, remains throned above nature and floods: they are His ministers.
And all ends with a sweet, calm word, assuring Jehovahs people of a share in the "strength" which spoke in the thunder, and, better still, of peace. That close is like the brightness of the glistening earth, with freshened air, and birds venturing to sing once more, and a sky of deeper blue, and the spent clouds low and harmless on the horizon. Beethoven has given the same contrast between storm and after calm in the music of the Pastoral Symphony. Faith can listen to the wildest crashing thunder in quiet confidence that angels are saying, "Glory!" as each peal rolls, and that when the last, low mutterings are hushed, earth will smile the brighter, and deeper peace will fall on trusting hearts.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain [1] Note.—Thunder is extremely rare in Palestine during summer.…
[1] Note.—Thunder is extremely rare in Palestine during summer. Hence the miracle wrought by Samuel at the time of wheat-harvest must have made the greater impression on the people (1Sa_12:17-18). Thunder is called “the voice of God” (cf. Job_37:2; Job_40:9, Psa_38:13, Isa_30:31). It is the symbol of the Divine power and vengeance (1Sa_2:10; 1Sa_7:10; 2Sa_22:14; Exo_9:28). On occasions when God has specially intimated His presence, there have been accompaniments of thunder (cf. Sinai, Exo_19:16, and Heb_12:18-24, also Joh_12:29, and Rev_4:5; Rev_8:5, &c). The poets of all lands make frequent reference to the thunder. There is a magnificent description of a thunder-storm in Job_36:27 to Job_37:5, which may be compared with that in this psalm, Æschylus, Virgil, and Lucretius (book vi.) among the ancients, and Milton, Klopstock, and others among the moderns, have passages of great sublimity and beauty, describing thunderstorms. The following extracts are from Æschylus and Milton:
“I feel in very deed
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The firm earth rock; the thunder’s deepening roar
Rolls with redoubled rage; the bickering flames
Flash thick; the eddying sands are whirl’d on high;
In dreadful opposition, the wild winds
Rend the vexed air; the boisterous billows rise,
Confounding earth and sky, the impetuous storm
Rolls all its terrible fury.”—Trans, by Potter.
“Either tropic now
‘Gan thunder, and both ends of heaven, the clouds
From many a horrid rift abortive pour’d
Fierce rain, with lightning mix’d, water with fire,
In ruin reconcil’d; nor slept the winds
Within their stony caves, but rush’d abroad
From the four hinges of the world, and fell
On the vex’d wilderness, whose tallest pines,
Though rooted deep as high, and sturdiest oaks,
Bow’d their stiff necks, laden with stormy blasts,
Or torn up sheer.”
—Paradise Regained, book iv.
INTRODUCTION
“This psalm is a magnificent description of a thunder-storm. Its mighty march from north to south, the desolation and terror which it causes, the peal of thunder, the flash of the lightning, even the gathering fury and lull of the elements, are vividly depicted. The psalm consists of five parts: a prelude, the body of the poem in three divisions, and a conclusion. The structure (‘first fully explained by Ewald’) of the whole is highly artificial, and elaborated with a symmetry of which no more perfect specimen exists in Hebrew. But this evidently artificial mode of composition is no check to the force and fire of the poet’s genius, which kindles and glows, and sweeps along with all the freedom and majesty of the storm; the whole psalm being one continued strain of triumphant exultation. I. In the prelude, the singer lifts our thoughts at once from earth to heaven, by calling on the angels, who stand around the throne of God, to praise Him who manifests His glory in the thunder and lightning which He sends upon the earth (Psa_29:1-2). II. Then follows the description of the storm in the three strophes which constitute the main body of the poem. These are so constructed, that too first (Psa_29:3-4) gives us the beginning of the storm, the low, faint muttering thunder in the distant heavens; the next (Psa_29:5-7) describes the storm at its height, when it crashes the cedars and shakes the mountains; the last (Psa_29:8-9) tells how it passes on over the plain-country to the forest of Kadesh, where it dies away. III. The conclusion consists, like the prelude, of two verses, each of two members. And here we are beautifully reminded that Jehovah, whom the angels praise, and who both rules and stills the elements in their wildest uproar, is the Jehovah who gives strength and peace to His people” (Psa_29:10-11).—Preowne.
(Psa_29:1-11.)
If Psalms 8. should be read at night, when the sky is bright with stars, and Psalms 19 by day, when the sun is high in the heavens, this ought to be studied during the gloom of the tempest, when the thunder rolls, and the lightnings flash, and the terrors of the Lord are on every side. It is then we can best realise its grandeur and beauty, and feel its power to bring us nearer God (Psa_29:1-2). First, the psalmist would raise us to the true stand-point, that side by side with the angels, “the godlike ones,” “the sons of the mighty,” and inspired like them with holy love and joy, we may sing Jehovah’s praise:
“Give unto the Lord, ye sons of the mighty,
Give unto the Lord glory and strength;
Give unto the Lord the glory of His name,
Bow down to the Lord in the beauty of holiness.”
“In the beauty of holiness.” This is rendered in the margin of our Bibles, “In His glorious sanctuary,” others translate, “in holy attire,” “in the vestments of the sanctuary,” “in the beautiful robes of the priesthood.” True holiness is of the soul. All things outwardly beautiful are but types of the beautiful in soul. The meaning seems to be that as in heaven, so on earth, God should be worshipped in the beauty of holiness. Standing with the psalmist, as it were, on the heights of Zion, let us watch the tempest, and let our hearts answer as he calls us.
I. To hear the voice of God in the thunder-storm (Psa_29:3). “The voice of the Lord.” This was heard in the garden (Gen_3:8) calling Adam; or Mount Sinai (Deu_4:12; Deu_5:22) proclaiming the ten commandments; by the prophets (Isa_6:8; Jer_26:13) announcing the invitations and warnings of the gospel; and in the thunderings with which the mountains tremble (1Sa_7:10). The inspired writers see a unity in things, and discern the voice of God in the sounds of inanimate nature, as well as in the articulate words of human speech. In the present passage, the voice of the thunder is mentioned seven times (Rev_10:3), which points to its sacred nature, and heavenly source.”—Murphy. Reason and revelation agree in their teachings. The cold scientist may see nothing in the thunder-storm but law and force, and the trembling savage may behold only a dreadful power which he cannot comprehend; but the Hebrew poet teaches us to recognise the presence and working of Jehovah. What is law, but His will; what is force, but His strength; what are all the phenomena of nature, but manifestations of His glory. A voice implies a speaker, and interprets to us his thought. Nature is to us the voice of God, and interprets to us His thoughts. We should think of Him as present not only representatively or influentially, but personally, and speaking to us, as truly by His works, as by His Word.
II. To adore the glory of God in the thunder-storm (Psa_29:3-9). Realising the presence of God, we are called to behold His strength and glory as reflected in the tempest. The description, though artificial, is in the highest degree vivid and powerful.
“i. In the first strophe, we hear the first yet distant sound of the thunder in the words, ‘The voice of Jehovah is upon the waters.’ In the next two clauses, ‘The God of glory thundereth: Jehovah is upon many waters,’ the long, loud peal grows more distinct; whilst in Psa_29:4., again, it is pitched in a lower key, as if telling us of a pause in the storm.
“ii. In the next strophe, we have again (a) first, the renewed fury of the tempest, as coming nearer yet, it falls on the glory of Lebanon, and breaks her cedars in its might. ‘The voice of Jehovah breaketh the cedars,’ &c. (b) Next, gathering, with a wilder intensity of wrath, it bursts upon the mountain peaks, roaring amid their rocks, and shattering them; and making the everlasting hills themselves to tremble as if with the throes of an earthquake, so that ‘Lebanon and Sirion skip like young buffaloes.’ (c) Lastly, we hear it sinking down in the line which describes the flashing of the forked lightning: ‘The voice of Jehovah cleaveth the flames of fire’ (Psa_29:5-7).
“iii. Again, the same structure is observable. One long peal after another has rolled and reverberated along the sky, and now the storm, in its jubilant strength, sweeps the whole land from north to south. (a) Again, it is up in its majesty: ‘The voice of Jehovah maketh the wilderness to tremble.’ (b) Again, its last fury is poured out upon the wilderness of Kadesh. The very hinds bow themselves in travail pangs, and the forest is torn open and laid bare, as the hurricane drives through it in its path. (c) And again, the tempest is stilled, but this time its voice is hushed and lost for ever in the music and songs of the heavenly host. ‘In His temple, all that are therein cry Glory’ (Psa_29:8-9).”—Perowne.
III. To confide in God as the Almighty ruler of the thunder-storm (Psa_29:10-11). The tempest has fulfilled its mission. The air seems purer, and the sun shines with a more chastened radiance. In the sweet tranquillity of the scene, the psalmist speaks words of instruction and comfort. He would strengthen our faith and hope in God.
1. We are taught to confide in God as an Almighty King. “Sitteth” in the tranquillity of an upright and Almighty Judge. “Upon the flood,” that overwhelmed the old world, and rises and surges for the final overthrow of the wicked in a deluge, not of water, but of fire (2Pe_3:7-10). “Sitteth King,” to defend the right and defeat the wrong. “For ever!” The dominion that “has no beginning, knows no end.”—Murphy.
2. As blessing His people with strength and peace. “These are the two great blessings of salvation. ‘His people,’ who are born of God, receive from Him the inheritance of sons, and are for ever distinguished from that wicked world that rejects the offers of His grace, and reaps the vengeance of everlasting destruction.”—Murphy. “Very beautiful is the conclusion of the psalm. If, in His heavenly temple above, all that are therein ascribe ‘glory’ to God, upon earth, too, He has manifested His glory. He sat as king when He sent the flood of water to destroy the earth. He sits now, and for ever will sit, as king. As then He saved the righteous man from death, so now He watches over His people, for Jehovah is the God of Israel. It was He who, when the storm waxed strong, gave it its strength; it was He who, when it was hushed, spread over earth, and sea, and sky, the sweet Sabbath stillness of peace. And He whose almighty power was seen in the march of the tempest, whose voice was heard in its wildest uproar, and whose word stilled its fiercest war, shall He not give both strength and peace? Yea Jehovah, who is strong and mighty, will give His own strength to His people. And He who is the Prince of Peace, will bless His people with peace. Thus the psalm begins, as Delitzch says, with a gloria in excelsis, and ends with a pax in torris.”—Perowne.
NATURE GOD’S TEMPLE
I. Built by His hand (Psa_29:9). “I asked the earth, and it said, ‘I am not He,’ and all that is upon it made the same confession. I asked the sun, and the depths, and the creeping things that have life, and they answered, ‘We are not thy God; look thou above us.’ I asked the breezes and the gales; and the whole air with its inhabitants said to me, ‘Anaximenes is in error, I am not God.’ I asked the heaven, the sun, the moon, the stars, ‘We too,’ said they, ‘are not the God whom thou seekest.’ And I said to all the creatures that surround the doors of my fleshly senses, ‘Ye have said to me, of my God, that ye are not He; tell me somewhat of Him.” And with a great voice, they exclaimed, ‘He made us.’ ”—Augustine (Conf. 10, 6). “Every house is builded by some man, but he that built all things is God” (Heb_3:4).
II. Hallowed by His presence. Nature is not an empty framework—a house without an inhabitant—a temple without a God. “I had rather believe all the fables in the Legend, and the Talmud, and the Alcoran, than that this universal frame is without a mind.”—Bacon. God is everywhere, and to the eye of faith He is ever revealing more and more of His glory. “How precious are Thy thoughts to me, O Lord” (Psa_139:17). He who cannot find God in His works, is likely to miss Him in His Word. He who does not regard earth as sacred, is in danger of treating heaven as profane.
“The men,
Whom nature’s works can charm, with God Himself
Hold converse; grow familiar day by day
With his conceptions; act upon His plan,
And form to His, the relish of their souls.”
III. Consecrated to His worship (Psa_29:9). This implies worshippers. Though nature reveals God, what boots it, if there were none to “speak of His glory.” The devout soul turns to nature as to a temple.
“To that cathedral, boundless as our wonder,
Whose quenchless lamps, the sun and moon supply;
Its choir the winds and waves, its organ thunder,
Its dome, the sky.
There amid solitude and shade I wander
Through the green aisles; and stretched upon the sod,
Awed by the silence, reverently ponder
The ways of God,”
LEARN:
1. The sanctity of nature.
2. The holy uses of nature.
3. The subordination of nature to Christ
“Read nature, nature is a friend to truth,
Nature is Christian, preaches to mankind,
And bids dead matter aid us in our Creed.”
—Young.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain I. The form of the expression brings before us…
Psa 29:10
I. The form of the expression brings before us the peculiar conception of the universe in the ancient Hebrew mind. Even in the narrative of the Creation in Genesis the waters above the firmament are said to be separated from the waters below the firmament, and many similar passages might be quoted. The idea was that as the shores rose out of the sea, and the rain descended from heaven, so there must be motion below and around the land, as if the earth was standing upon pillars, and there was a reservoir of water above. In this Psalm the idea is that the waters were poured down from this store of waters above the firmament, while above all, beyond all the waters and the firmament, was the throne and habitation of the Eternal, where He was sitting in royal state, ruling in majesty for ever.
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II. But what is most instructive for us, and at the same time most important, is not the grandeur of the picture, is not the impressiveness of the language, but the realisation of the presence of God. Though the earth itself seem ready to melt away, the Lord is still above, a sure refuge to those who put their trust in Him. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee." This is the only sure rest, the only consolation that cannot fail. Elijah seemed to be alone faithful to God in Israel; his constancy had its crown and reward. Whatever may befall, whatever darkness and gloom may seem to rest upon our path, and whatever discouragements may seem to attend our efforts, yet each of us at least can strive to live a more faithful, a purer, and truer life; and each can meet his lot, whatever may be appointed for him, in the assurance that the Lord sitteth above the flood and rules the tempest.
R. Scott, Contemporary Pulpit, vol. iii., p. 303.
Psa 29:11
These words are the more remarkable as occurring in a psalm which sounds like a storm, or, to change the figure, they are like the calm sunset of a most tempestuous day.
I. You know what peace is, do you? Few common terms are less understood. Silence is not peace, nor is indifference, nor is insensibility, nor is the quiescence which comes of selfish fear of consequences. There cannot be peace where there cannot be passion. Peace must be understood as a composite term—as an affirmative, not as a negative, condition. Where there is true peace there is of necessity a right relation of forces, nothing preponderant, nothing, conflicting; everything has its due. In the case of the heart there must be life; towards God there must be intelligence, devotion, constancy; towards man there must be justice, modesty, honour.
II. The text indicates specialty of character. A particular class is spoken of, not a world, but a section—"His people." In one sense all people are His; in another sense all people may be His. But the text comprehends all who have exercised repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, all who are sealed by the Holy Ghost, and who direct their walk by the guidance of the Comforter and Sanctifier of redeemed men. In so far as we come under this designation we are inheritors of the blessing of peace.
III. Such a promise should make the Church calm and hopeful under the most distressing circumstances. Two things are clear: out of God there is no peace; in God there is perfect peace. The good man meets every day with a hopeful spirit, and will meet his last day with the most hopeful spirit of all.
Parker, Pulpit Analyst, vol. ii., p. 121.
Psa 29:11
I. "The Lord will give strength unto His people." This implies (1) that He will enable them to come to Him at first, that the sincere desire, the Godward turning of the soul, the almost hopeless glance of penitence toward the far-off heaven, shall receive encouragement, and help, and promise; (2) the communication of the gift of power to be true witnesses and good soldiers of the truth.
II. "The Lord will bless His people with peace." This implies (1) conscious reconciliation with God; (2) the hush and harmony of the once discordant spirit.
W. M. Punshon, Sermons, p. 219.
References: Psa 29:11.—H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 1755; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 96. Psalm 29—A. Maclaren, Life of David, p. 31; P. Thomson, Expositor, 2nd series, vol. i., p. 162.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant 1903 · Public Domain The judgment-storm with which God comes into the world,…
The judgment-storm with which God comes into the world, to give it the "expected end."
A psalm of David.
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It will be noticed how all the psalms of this series have led one into another. The "integrity and uprightness" which "shall preserve me", at the end of the twenty-fifth, commences, and is the main theme of the twenty-sixth. This again, in its "Lord, I have loved the habitation of Thy house," gives us the theme of the twenty-seventh. The twenty-seventh, with its experience of Jehovah’s kindness and the closing moral of this, makes way for the twenty-eighth, in which the test of experience is the subject. The twenty-eighth prays for and prophesies the judgment of the wicked, and now the twenty-ninth shows us the passage of that clearing storm which, manifesting and leaving Jehovah supreme over the earth, leaves His people to peace, henceforth undisturbed forever.
This twenty-ninth psalm celebrates therefore the day of the Lord in its prostration of human strength and display of Jehovah’s might, which after all are the central lessons for man to learn, when once He has learned what Jehovah Himself is. It is this with which the twenty-fifth psalm opens the series, the display of righteousness in grace, which known gives God His throne in the hearts of His redeemed people. Henceforth the process of sanctification is in the subjecting of the soul to Him, -the anticipation in faith of this day of the Lord in its inner meaning, -the result being perfect blessing and abiding peace: "Take my yoke upon you and learn of Me; and ye shall find rest to your souls." (Mat 11:28.)
The psalms following the twenty-fifth give us in order, first, the separation of the saint from sinners; secondly, that it is a separation to God; thirdly, to live a life of experimental realization of His presence in the circumstances and conditions of it. The final psalm here shows us the conditions of the realization itself, which is only to say, His governmental ways with us: simple enough if we know but a little who are these two who have come to walk together; God with all His grace forever God; and man His creature, only (and then how fully) capable of blessing so. This shows ’how suitably this psalm ends the present series; while its dispensational form brings it into relation with the prophetic character of the Psalms in general, which has been abundantly established in our study of them.
1. The psalm begins with the exhortation to the "sons of the mighty" to give Jehovah His place of supremacy over all. It is surely not an address to angels, as perhaps mostly held, but to the mighty of the earth, in view of what follows, -a message like that of Rev 14:6-7, the message of the "everlasting gospel," which proclaims the coming kingdom of God. They are to ascribe glory and strength to Jehovah as the only Source of these. They are to give Him the glory of His Name, the Ever-living, the Unchanging, abiding the same amid all creature changes; and to give Him allegiance in the only possible way in which He can accept it, adorned with the beauty of the holiness He requires.
2. Now Jehovah’s voice is heard approaching, the sound of an impending storm, but no mere storm. Jehovah’s voice is heard above the watery canopy of the expanse, controlling and directing the judgment in its path. It is the God of glory who thundereth; and the waters gathering are indeed "great waters." We see it rise and spread: we hear the voice of "power" increasing to awful "majesty." Then the crash comes, and the cedars of Lebanon, the type of loftiness of creature stature, receive the force of the blow, and are shivered and broken down before it. So the prophet announces the on-coming "day of the Lord" (Isa 2:11-14): "The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low; and upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan; and upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up." This last the psalm goes on to now: "He maketh them also to skip like a calf: Lebanon and Sirion like a young aurochs." It is no hyperbolism, nor untruth to nature, nor are we to think of an earthquake, which would introduce another element from that with which we are occupied. The storm is not a common storm; and the hills themselves tremble and start like a frightened beast, before Jehovah. The governments of the earth seem to be represented here, as the trees represent the individual potentates: all that is most stable quakes. Amid all this comes the terrible forked flame, -the light, and God is light, but God manifest in judgment, -pure wrath upon the evil. The next verse shows the limit of the storm. Coming from the north of the land of Israel, from Lebanon and Hermon (Sirion), it sweeps to beyond the territory of Judah in the south, disappearing in the wilderness of Kadesh-barnea, the place in which the people had wandered so long after the exodus. Thus it covers the land in its breadth and length, while, of course, it does not follow that it is spent with this. This is, however, the limit of the prophet’s observation; -for true prophet he is, -and the course of the storm is that of the invasion of Israel’s foes in the last days, -an invasion with which the day of the Lord is identified in its early part (comp. Joe 2:1-32). God uses the foe as His rod in a chastisement which works repentance; coming Himself then for their deliverance. It is the "great and terrible day of the Lord", but it ends in refreshment, revival, and eternal salvation.
The final verse here gives us the end in a twofold way. In the first place, the hind is made to calve: the new birth comes for the nation, hastened by that awful visitation which God uses to accomplish blessing. On the other hand, the forests are stripped, which is the judgment-work itself. This is the double aspect of the work of Him who is perfect in it all, and in whose temple -the place where He is seen and known -"all of it" (not, I think, the temple itself or those in it, which would not be in the line of the truth here; but) all His work itself proclaims His "glory." This is itself the perfect end of all.
3. But yet the psalm is not ended. He who delights not in judgment, but in blessing, is yet shown in two final verses in His mastery over the evil and in the abiding blessing that succeeds. The "flood" (mabbul) is here a word only used in Scripture for that which destroyed the world in Noah’s day. It does not follow that the direct application is to that and yet the reference must not be slighted. Here is now a second Flood, of which that old flood was, in fact, a type. Another world has now come to an end, and a wholly new state of things follows. At this flood too Jehovah has sat enthroned; and Jehovah now sitteth (openly) as King forever. But He who is on the throne is still -oh, bless Him for it! -the patient Minister to His people’s need. Still they have need: for the smooth path now as for the rough one hitherto, they need, and He "giveth strength," and "Jehovah blesseth His people with" unending "peace." Amen.
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain This is a Nature-Psalm, calling on the angels to…
This is a Nature-Psalm, calling on the angels to praise God (Psa_29:1-2), describing the manifestation of His power in the thunderstorm (Psa_29:3-9) and the flood (Psa_29:10), and ending with an assurance of His favour to His people.
1. Give] in the sense of 'ascribe.' Mighty] RV 'sons of the mighty.' The angels are meant.
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2. The beauty of holiness] RM 'holy array,' like the robes of the priests in an earthly sanctuary.
3. The voice of the Lord] the thunder. The phrase occurs seven times in the Ps. The waters] not of the sea, but of the storm-cloud: see Psa_18:11.
5. The cedars] the strongest trees, yet riven in the thunderstorm.
6. Them] the mountains which the thunder shakes, besides breaking the trees that grow on them. Sirion] Hermon. Lebanon and Her-mon are the highest mountains in Palestine.
Unicorn] RV 'wild-ox.'
7. Divideth (RV 'cleaveth,' RM 'heweth') the flames of fire] The reference is to the sharp, pointed lightning flashes which accompany the thunder.
8. The wilderness of Kadesh] in the extreme S. of Palestine, as Lebanon and Hermon are in the extreme N.
9. Maketh the hinds to calve] an actual effect of terrifying thunderstorms; or perhaps the meaning is, 'whirleth the oaks.' Discovereth] RV 'strippeth bare,' by the wind, or the strokes of lightning. His temple] or palace, is not the great temple of Nature, but heaven itself, where the angels minister (Psa_29:1-2). Doth every one speak, etc.] RV 'everything saith, Glory,' but better, 'every one,' i.e. of the angels. From the heavens they look down with wonder and delight upon the storm, in which they see the manifestation of the divine glory.
10. Sitteth upon the flood] RV 'sat as king at the Flood,' the great traditional convulsion of nature (Genesis 7, 8), which revealed God's mercy as well as His power and wrath. The attributes then disclosed remain unchanged, and this is the ground of the assurance expressed in Psa_29:11, which is a beautiful conclusion to a Ps. of sublime grandeur.
11. Give strength] The power of this mighty God is given to His people as they need it: see Isa_40:29-31.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain Psalm 29
Psalm 29
The judgment Storm
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1. Give unto the Lord the glory of His Name (Psa 29:1-2)
2. The day of the Lord described as a thunderstorm (Psa 29:3-9)
3. The calm after the storm--the Lord is King (Psa 29:10-11)
Psa 29:1-2. The voice of His trusting people is hushed; His voice is now heard. From Psa 25:1-22; Psa 26:1-12; Psa 27:1-14; Psa 28:1-9 we have seen the soul exercise of the remnant of Israel, we heard their prayers, we learned of their hopes and anticipations and of their trials and sorrows. Their last prayer in the preceding Psalm was “Save Thy people,” and now He is seen arising to save them. His glory and strength, the glory of His Name, is now to be manifested.
Psa 29:3-9. This is one of the most wonderful poetic descriptions we have in the Bible. The day of the Lord, when He will be manifested in wrath and in mercy, is described under an onrushing thunderstorm. The mighty tempest passes from north to south. Jehovah thundereth, great waters sweep along, His voice is heard with power. The mighty cedars of Lebanon are broken by the fury of the storm. The cedars of Lebanon are symbolical of the high and exalted things which will be broken to pieces in that day. (Read Isa 2:11-14.) Lebanon and Sirion, the lofty mountains, skip like a young unicorn. The mountains will be shaken by mighty earthquakes and all the governments, typified by mountains, will also be shaken. He is manifested with flames of fire, the lightning of His righteousness, which ushers in His glorious reign. Then the hind is made to calve--it means Israel’s new birth, while the forests (the nations) are stripped and laid low. And in His temple, that greater house, whose maker He is, earth and heaven, “all that is therein uttereth glory” (literal translation).
Psa 29:10-11. The storm is past. The Lord has come. The judgment flood is gone. Jehovah now has taken His throne. He is King and blesseth His people with peace. The name of Jehovah is found 18 times in this Psalm and this Jehovah is our ever blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The Almighty Power of God’s Voice in His Word.
The Almighty Power of God’s Voice in His Word.
A psalm of David, the writing of which may have been occasioned by a terrible thunderstorm, but the description of which goes beyond the natural plane to show the power of the voice of God in overcoming even the mightiest forces and people of the world and making them serve His purposes.
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v. 1. Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, literally, "sons of gods," that is, the rulers, the governments of the world, give unto the Lord glory and strength, offering Him this tribute as the King of kings and Lord of lords.
v. 2. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name, to the revelation of His divine majesty and power; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness, in holy attire, as priests clothed for the ministry and worship of Jehovah, ready to give Him homage and to exalt Him. And now David shows how the Word of God, His mighty voice, works such a feeling of homage and devotion in the hearts of men.
v. 3. The voice of the Lord is upon the waters, the voice of Jehovah, thundering mightily, over the vapors of the clouds, with their heavy load of water; the God of glory thundereth; the Lord is upon many waters, the heavy, lowering clouds of the advancing storm being indicated. But David, in the voice of the thunder, always has the Word of the Lord in mind.
v. 4. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty, going forth invested with these qualities, Heb 4:12.
v. 5. The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars; yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon, the mighty giants of the forests being laid low before the storm wind, just as many a wise and mighty person in this world has been overcome by the Word of Jehovah.
v. 6. He maketh them also to skip like a calf, the mighty forests waving and bowing in the wind; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn, like the young of the wild oxen or buffaloes, Sirion being Mount Hermon, the loftiest peak in the eastern range of Lebanon.
v. 7. The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire, the lightning preceding the thunder cutting through the air like immense sparks of fire; even so does the Word of the Lord burn in the hearts of men with a mighty, devouring, and sustaining flame.
v. 8. The voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness, the mighty thunder making the mighty wilderness tremble as in an earthquake; the Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh, that of the Arabian Desert west of Edom, in whose desolate regions such a storm makes an unusual impression of grandeur. Thus the Word of Jehovah arouses men everywhere, especially when they behold the Desire of the Nations in the Gospel, Hag 2:6.
v. 9. The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve, in a premature delivery, brought on by the terror of the storm, and discovereth the forests, stripping them bare, the very peelings of the bark being taken off by the lightning. And in His Temple, in the great palace of His might, both on earth and in heaven, doth every one speak of His glory, crying out, Glory and majesty to God alone for the revelation of His almighty power and mercy!
v. 10. The Lord sitteth upon the flood, He sat upon the throne of His judgment when He condemned the godless world and punished the wicked through the catastrophe of the Flood; yea, the Lord sitteth King forever, and all those who haughtily reject His Word will feel the power of His anger.
v. 11. The Lord will give strength unto His people, sustaining His own children, those united with Him in true fellowship, Isa 45:24; the Lord will bless His people with peace, with the peace of God, which passes all understanding. as given through the glorious Gospel of God’s mercy in Christ Jesus, Php 4:7. "How impressive the closing words of this psalm! They are arched as a rainbow above it. The beginning of the psalm shows us the heavens open and the throne of God in the midst of angelic songs of praise, and the close of the psalm shows us on earth, in the midst of the angry voices of Jehovah shaking all things, His people victorious and blessed with peace. ’Glory in the highest’ is the beginning, and ’Peace on earth’ is the end. " (Delitzsch. )
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Parallelism is common in Hebrew poetry. (See: Poetry and Parallelism)
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A psalm of David
Possible meanings are 1) David wrote the psalm or 2) the psalm is about David or 3) the psalm is in the style of David's psalms.
you sons of God
The phrase "sons of" is a way of saying "having the characteristics of." AT: "you mighty men" (See: Idiom)
ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength
The abstract nouns "glory" and "strength" can be stated as adjectives. AT: "praise Yahweh because he is glorious and strong" (See: Abstract Nouns)
Ascribe to Yahweh the glory his name deserves
The abstract noun "glory" can be stated as a verb or adjective. AT: "Honor Yahweh just as his name deserves" or "Proclaim that Yahweh is glorious just as his name deserves" (See: Abstract Nouns)
his name deserves
The phrase "his name" refers to Yahweh or his reputation. AT: "as is proper because of who he is" (See: Metonymy)
Bow down to Yahweh
The implied information is that the people were to bow down in worship. AT: "Bow down to worship Yahweh" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information and Symbolic Action)
in the splendor of holiness
The abstract nouns "splendor" and "holiness" can be translated as adjectives. AT: "because he is gloriously beautiful and holy" (See: Abstract Nouns)
translationWords
psalm
David
Yahweh
son
glory
strength
name
holy
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Ps 29 This nature hymn in praise of the…
Ps 29 This nature hymn in praise of the Creator declares that the Lord holds all power over nature. God uses the same unsurpassed strength to care for his people.
29:1-2 The psalmist issues a call to honor the Lord for his power (cp. 96:7-8). • you heavenly beings: Angels or deities who, some believed, held special powers. The psalmist did not believe in other deities but called on people who thought they were real to look to the Lord as the only God.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.