Psalm 29 - He Rides Upon The Storm Series

July 7, 2014

Tom Lowe

Psalm 29 (KJV)

Title: He Rides upon the Storm

A psalm of David.

Psalm 29 (KJV)

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 for ever.

11 The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.

Commentary

1 Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength.

Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty

“Give unto the Lord,” that is, give (or, render) to Yahweh; or, recognize that He is entitled to what is ascribed to Him here. The word “give” 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 ascribed to Him here.

“O ye mighty”—there are several opinions concerning the identity of the “mighty” which I will share with you:

(1) The angels. In the Hebrew this is “ye sons of the mighty.” The Hebrew word used here is Eliym, the plural form of one of the names of God—El. The word means “strong, mighty, a mighty one, a hero;” then, “strength, might, power;” and then it is applied to God as “the Mighty One,” the Almighty. In the plural form, the word means “mighty ones, heroes, gods.” The phrase "sons of the mighty" is used only here and in Psalm 89:6—“For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD?” The allusion is undoubtedly to the angels who are in a sense the sons of God, or of the mighty ones; and they are referred to here under that designation as being themselves endowed with power or strength. “Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word” Psalm 103:20. In view of the wonderful exhibitions of God's power which can be seen in the storm—exhibitions far above the power of the most exalted of His creatures, the psalmist calls upon the angels to acknowledge the existence of a power so much beyond their own.

The Targum [an Aramaic translation, usually in the form of an expanded paraphrase, of various books or sections of the Old Testament] also refers this to the angels; there it says, “Give praise before the Lord, ye companies of angels, sons of the Mighty.” Angels 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

(2) The princes and great men of the earth. These are those who receive much honor and glory from man; but because they are apt to seek their own glory, and ascribe too much to themselves, they are particularly called upon to give glory to God. Moreover, they have the ability to involve their subjects by their influence and example, to do the same as they do, so they may be included with them; for this is not to be understood as applying to them exclusive of others, as appears from Psalms 96:7-9: “Give unto the LORD, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the LORD glory and strength. Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts. O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.” It is proper that the great men of this world should pay their homage to God; 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 received their power from Him, and are to use it for Him, and they owe this tribute of acknowledgment to Him.