Psalms 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."