_A.M. 2987. B.C. 1017._ It is probable this Psalm was composed after some terrible storm of thunder, lightning, and rain; whereby God had discomfited David's enemies, and put them into such disorder that he easily got the victory over them, 2 Samuel 8. Hence he takes occasion to admonish them, and... [ Continue Reading ]
_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, Be... [ Continue Reading ]
_The voice of the Lord_ That is, thunder, frequently so called; _is upon the waters_ Upon the seas, where its noise spreads far and wide, and is very terrible; or rather above the clouds, which are sometimes called _waters_, as Genesis 1:7; Psalms 18:11, because they are of a watery substance, and f... [ Continue Reading ]
_The voice of the Lord is full of majesty_ Is a very awful and evident proof of God's glorious majesty. _Breaketh the cedars_ By lightning, vulgarly called thunderbolts; which have torn asunder and destroyed trees and towers. _The cedars of Lebanon_ A place famous for strong and lofty cedars. _He ma... [ Continue Reading ]
_Divideth the flames of fire_ That is, casteth out many flashes of lightning. The Hebrew, חצב, _chatzeb_, signifies _hews_, or _cuts up_, _divides_, or _distributes._ “So the thunder, or voice of the Lord, is said to send forth the lightning; which is, indeed, the precursor of the thunder; the cause... [ Continue Reading ]
_Maketh the hinds to calve_ Through the terror which it causeth, which hastens parturition in these and some other creatures. But he names _hinds_, because they usually bring forth their young with difficulty. See note on Job 39:1. _And discovereth the forests_ Hebrew יחשׂ Š, _jechesoph, maketh bare... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Lord sitteth upon the flood_ He moderates and rules the most abundant and violent effusions of waters which are sometimes poured from the clouds, and fall upon the earth, where they cause inundations which would do much mischief if God did not prevent it. And this may be mentioned as another re... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Lord will give strength unto his people_ To support and preserve them in the most dreadful storms and commotions, whether of the earth or its inhabitants; and, consequently, in all other dangers, and against all their enemies. He will strengthen and fortify them against every evil work, and fur... [ Continue Reading ]