3 The voice of the Lord is on the waters: the God of glory is thundering, the Lord is on the great waters.
The Lord made thunder in the heavens, and the voice of the Highest was sounding out: a rain of ice and fire. He sent out his arrows, driving them in all directions; by his flames of fire they were troubled. Then the deep beds of the waters were seen, and the bases of the world were uncovered, because of your words of wrath, O Lord, because of the breath from your mouth.
The rivers send up, O Lord, the rivers send up their voices; they send them up with a loud cry. The Lord in heaven is stronger than the noise of great waters, yes, he is stronger than the great waves of the sea.
Let your heads be lifted up, O doors; be lifted up, O you eternal doors: that the King of glory may come in. Who is the King of glory? The Lord of strength and power, the Lord strong in war. Let your heads be lifted up, O doors; let them be lifted up, O you eternal doors: that the King of glory may come in. Who is the King of glory? The Lord of armies, he is the King of glory. (Selah.)
These will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because he is the Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with him are named, marked out, and true. And he said to me, The waters which you saw, where the evil woman is seated, are peoples, and armies, and nations and languages.
And he said to them, Why are you full of fear, O you of little faith? Then he got up and gave orders to the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. And the men were full of wonder, saying, What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea do his orders?
The waters saw you, O God; the waters saw you, they were in fear: even the deep was troubled. The clouds sent out water; the skies gave out a sound; truly, your arrows went far and wide. The voice of your thunder went rolling on; the world was flaming with the light of the storm; the earth was shaking. Your way was in the sea, and your road in the great waters; there was no knowledge of your footsteps.
Give ear to the rolling noise of his voice; to the hollow sound which goes out of his mouth. He sends it out through all the heaven, and his thunder-flame to the ends of the earth. After it a voice is sounding, thundering out the word of his power; he does not keep back his thunder-flames; from his mouth his voice is sounding. He does wonders, more than may be searched out; great things of which we have no knowledge;
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Psalms 29
Commentary on Psalms 29 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
PSALM 29
Ps 29:1-11. Trust in God is encouraged by the celebration of His mighty power as illustrated in His dominion over the natural world, in some of its most terrible and wonderful exhibitions.
1. Give—or, "ascribe" (De 32:3).
mighty—or, "sons of the mighty" (Ps 89:6). Heavenly beings, as angels.
2. name—as (Ps 5:11; 8:1).
beauty of holiness—the loveliness of a spiritual worship, of which the perceptible beauty of the sanctuary worship was but a type.
3. The voice of the Lord—audible exhibition of His power in the tempest, of which thunder is a specimen, but not the uniform or sole example.
the waters—the clouds or vapors (Ps 18:11; Jer 10:13).
4. powerful … majesty—literally, "in power, in majesty."
5, 6. The tall and large cedars, especially of Lebanon, are shivered, utterly broken. The waving of the mountain forests before the wind is expressed by the figure of skipping or leaping.
7. divideth—literally, "hews off." The lightning, like flakes and splinters hewed from stone or wood, flies through the air.
8. the wilderness—especially Kadesh, south of Judea, is selected as another scene of this display of divine power, as a vast and desolate region impresses the mind, like mountains, with images of grandeur.
9. Terror-stricken animals and denuded forests close the illustration. In view of this scene of awful sublimity, God's worshippers respond to the call of Ps 29:2, and speak or cry, "Glory!" By "temple," or "palace" (God's residence, Ps 5:7), may here be meant heaven, or the whole frame of nature, as the angels are called on for praise.
10, 11. Over this terrible raging of the elements God is enthroned, directing and restraining by sovereign power; and hence the comfort of His people. "This awful God is ours, our Father and our Love."