The devout Israelite's view of Nature was profoundly religious. He did not contemplate its wonder and beauty and variety simply for their own sake. All spoke to him of God's power and glory and beneficence, or supplied him with emblems and figures for the delineation of God's attributes and working.... [ Continue Reading ]
_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... [ Continue Reading ]
Prelude, calling upon the angels to celebrate Jehovah's glory. Cp. Psalms 96:7-9, where however the words are differently applied.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the glory due unto his name_ Lit. _the glory of his name_, particularising the general idea of glory in Psalms 29:1. _The glory of his name_is His glory as He reveals Himself in the world (Psalms 5:11 note); here, as the context shews, especially in Nature. _in the beauty of holiness_ Suggestive as... [ Continue Reading ]
_The voice of the Lord_ So thunder is called in Exodus 9:23 ff.; Psalms 18:13; &c. Cp. Revelation 10:3 f. _upon the waters_ Hardly the sea, as though the storm were represented as coming in from the Mediterranean; but rather the waters collected in the dense masses of storm-cloud upon which Jehovah... [ Continue Reading ]
The exhibition of Jehovah's power which is the ground of the opening call to praise. His voice is heard in the pealing of the thunder above the storm-clouds (Psalms 29:3); the storm bursts, it shatters the cedars and shakes the mountains in the far north (Psalms 29:5); the lightnings flash (Psalms 2... [ Continue Reading ]
is _powerful_… is _full of majesty_ Lit. _is with power … is with majesty_.... [ Continue Reading ]
_cedars_ The noblest and strongest of the trees of the forest; emblematical of worldly magnificence (Isaiah 2:13). _yea, the Lord breaketh_ R.V. yea, the Lord breaketh in pieces. The idea of the first line is emphasised and particularised in the second. Cp. Psalms 29:8.... [ Continue Reading ]
_them_ Not the cedars, but the mountains generally, to be understood from _Lebanon_and _Sirion_in the next line. Cp. Psalms 114:4; Psalms 114:6; Psalms 18:7 ff. _Sirion_ The old Sidonian name for Hermon (Deuteronomy 3:9), derived probably from the glistening of the snow on its summit. Lebanon and S... [ Continue Reading ]
_divideth the flames of fire_ Better, as in R.V., cleaveth the flames of fire; or, as in R.V. marg., _heweth out flames of fire_; a poetical description of the forked lightnings darting from the cloud.... [ Continue Reading ]
_shaketh the wilderness_ Or, maketh the wilderness tremble. Cp. Psalms 96:9; Psalms 97:4; Psalms 114:7. _the Lord … the wilderness of Kadesh_ Again with poetical effect emphasising and specialising the idea of the previous line. The storm sweeps down to the desert in the far south. Kadesh, famous i... [ Continue Reading ]
_maketh the hinds to calve_ Prematurely, in fear; an observed fact. There is no need to emend (though the change required would be very slight), _shaketh_(or, _pierceth) the oaks_. _discovereth_ i.e. as R.V., strippeth the forests bare, of branches, leaves, bark. _Discover_is an archaism for _uncov... [ Continue Reading ]
The Lord sat _as king_at the Flood; yea, the Lord sitteth as king for ever (R.V.). According to the A.V. _the flood_appears to mean the deluge of rain which falls in the storm. But the word _mabbûl_is found nowhere else but in Genesis 6-11, and is best explained by its use there. The storm reminds... [ Continue Reading ]
Conclusion. The storm passes, but HE whose glory it declares is the Eternal King, the Judge of the world, the Guardian of His people. Awful as is His power, they need not fear. To them it speaks of peace.... [ Continue Reading ]
Comp. Psalms 28:8-9; Psalms 46:1-3; and the blessing in Numbers 6. 24 26. For His own people He is not the God of terror; for them all ends in peace. "This closing word _with peace_is like a rainbow arch over the Psalm. The beginning of the Psalm shews us heaven open, and the throne of God in the m... [ Continue Reading ]