Psalms 29:1

Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty,.... The Targum refers this to the angels, "give praise before the Lord, ye companies of angels, sons of the Mighty;'' these are mighty ones, and excel all other

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

Psalms 29 THE It is supposed that this Psalm was made upon the occasion of some terrible tempest of thunder and rain; which God might possibly send in the time of battle to assist David, and discomfit his enemies; as he had done formerly upon like occasions. It contains an admonition to the potentates of the earth, and especially to those who bordered upon the land of Israel, that they would own and worship the true God; which he presseth from the great majesty and power of Israel’ s God above all other gods, and particularly from that great and glorious instance thereof in thunder; which hath struck the proudest monarchs with the dread of that God, whom at other times they despised. David exhorteth the mighty of this world to give glory to God, ,2; who manifesteth his power by thunder, lightning, and other creatures, $. He showeth God’ s protection and blessing of his people, $. O ye mighty; ye potentates and rulers of the earth. To these he addresseth his speech; partly because they are most apt to forget and contemn God, and insolently to assume a kind of deity to themselves; and partly because their conviction and conversion was likely to have a great and powerful influence upon their people. Give unto the Lord, by a humble and thankful acknowledgment of it; for otherwise we can give nothing to God. Glory and strength, i.e. the glory of his strength, or power, which is the attribute set forth in this Psalm; or, his glorious strength.

Psalms 29:1 « A Psalm of David. » Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength.Ver. 1. Give unto the Lord] Verbo et confessione, saith Kimchi. By word and confession, as Joshua 7:19 Jeremiah 13:16; acknowledge him the King immortal, invisible, &c., and yourselves his vassals; as did those three best emperors, Constantine, Theodosius, and Valentinian. Cedite, colite, step back, stoop, humble and tremble before this dread Sovereign of the world; bear an awful respect to the Divine Majesty, the high thunderer, the great wonder worker, unless you will come short of brute beasts and dumb creatures. O ye mighty] Heb. Ye sons of the mighty, grandees and potentates, who are readiest to rob God of his glory, and being tumoured up by their worldly wealth and greatness, to deem or rather dream themselves demi-gods, such as may do what they list, as not accountable to any mortal. The Septuagint render it, O ye sons of rams. These bellweathers should not cast their noses into the air, and carry their crest the higher, because the shepherd hath bestowed a bell upon them more than upon the rest of the flock. Give unto the Lord] Give, give, give. This showeth how unwilling such are usually to give God his right, or to suffer a word of exhortation to this purpose. Glory and strength] By ascribing all to him, casting down your crowns at his feet, setting up his sincere service wherever ye have to do, &c.

(1) Ye mighty.—Heb., benκ-elξm. Literally, sons of gods (not sons of God, since elξm is never used by itself like Elohξm for God). If, however, which is possible, it is used in a general sense for beings of supernatural power, but inferior to God, the expression benκ-elξm for angels would be intelligible, i.e., for angels (comp. Job 1:6; Isaiah 6:3) in the widest sense as ministers of God, and so including the lightning and storm. (Comp. Psalms 104:4.) The poet calls on the grand forces of nature themselves to offer praise to their Divine Master, for the glory which they have been commissioned to reveal. It is they who at the beginning and end alike of the psalm sing the praises of Him, who summoned them to speak to men in His name, and make His voice to be heard. The Prayer Book version, “bring young rams,” comes from the LXX. and Vulg. The reading probably arose from a marginal gloss. It is the reading of five MSS. of Kennicott and five of De Rossi.

PSALM XXIX The psalmist calls upon the great and mighty to give thanks unto God, and to worship him in the beauty of holiness, on account of a tempest that had taken place, 1, 2. He shouts the wonders produced by a thunderstorm, which he calls the voice of God, 3-9. Speaks of the majesty of God, 10; and points out the good he will do to his people, 11. NOTES ON PSALM XXIX In the Hebrew, this is called A Psalm for David. The Vulgate says, "A Psalm of David, when the tabernacle was completed." The Septuagint says: "A Psalm of David, at the going out or exodus of the tabernacle." The Arabic states it to be "A prophecy concerning the incarnation; and concerning the ark and the tent." Numbers 5:12. The Syriac, "A Psalm of David, concerning oblation." The Psalm was probably written to commemorate the abundant rain which fell in the days of David, after the heavens had been shut up for three years; 2 Samuel 21:1-10. Verse 1. O ye mighty] בני אלים beney elim, "sons of the strong ones," or "sons of rams." The Chaldee has, "Ye hosts of angels, sons of God." The Vulgate has, "Offer to the Lord, ye sons of God; offer to the Lord the sons of rams;" in this rendering agree the Septuagint, AEthiopic, Arabic, and Anglo-Saxon. The old Psalter has, Bringes til Lord ye goddes sonnes; brynges til Lord sonnes of wether: which it paraphrases thus: that es, yourself, sonnes of apostles, that war leders of goddes folk; qwam ye study to folow. Glory and strength.] Ascribe all excellence and might to him. The whole Psalm is employed in describing the effects produced by a thunder-storm which had lately taken place.

1, 2. Prelude, calling upon the angels to celebrate Jehovah’s glory. Cp. Psalms 96:7-9, where however the words are differently applied.

Give unto the Lord - Ascribe unto Yahweh; or, recognize Him as entitled to what is here ascribed to Him.

1, 2. These verses open the scene with a call upon celestial beings to praise and glorify Jehovah. O ye mighty—Hebrew, sons of God; angels and archangels. See Job chap. Psalms 38:7, and note on Psalms 89:6.