Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Psalms 29:3-9
A Vivid Description Of The Mighty And Unforgettable Storm (Psalms 29:3).
The Psalmist now vividly describes the power and awesomeness of the storm, and ends up with visualising true believers sheltering in the Temple and crying, “Glory!” They thus join with Heaven itself (Psalms 29:1) in ascribing glory to ‘the Lord'.
‘The voice of YHWH,
Is upon the waters,
The God of glory thunders,
YHWH is upon many waters.
Attention now turns to the storm itself. ‘The voice of YHWH' occurs seven times in the Psalm indicating its importance to his meaning, ad stressing the completeness of the divine activity. Here is the voice of the Creator at work upon His creation. We can compare the seven references to ‘and God said' in Genesis 1:3 prior to the creation of man (or alternately one for each day and two on the sixth day). And there too the voice of God had spoken on the waters (Genesis 1:9), and now here it is happening again. But this time the voice is a voice of thunder and it is reverberating on many waters, and is a reminder of the Flood (Psalms 29:10). This vivid picture may be indicating that He sits over the storm clouds which are just waiting to pour out their floods as He thunders upon them (Psalms 18:11; Jeremiah 10:13), or it may indicate that they have already poured out much of their contents, so that it already almost appears as though the whole land is again about to be flooded (compare Psalms 29:10, where mabbul is used, a word which is a reminder of The Flood and only used of that, being found eleven times in Genesis 7-11, and otherwise only here). Either way He is in control and will not allow another such disaster to happen (Genesis 9:11). However, the point is that He could if He wanted to, all the power is there to be able to do it again, but that instead it is rather His intention to exercise His tremendous power on behalf of His people (Psalms 29:11). And what is being described here is the voice of the God of glory mentioned in Psalms 29:1 performing His own will.
It is instructive to consider what His voice will do, for all is at His command. It is powerful and full of majesty (Psalms 29:4). It breaks the cedars in pieces, and makes them skip like young cattle (Psalms 29:5). It hews out and separates the lightning (Psalms 29:7). It ‘shakes' the wilderness (Psalms 29:8). It causes the pregnant hinds to calve (Psalms 29:9 a) It strips the forest of its leaves (Psalms 29:9 b). And the resulting cry comes back from the Temple of, “Glory”, as it brings home to His people the majesty of YHWH.
It is valuable in this regard to see the whole canvas, before considering the detail.
‘The voice of YHWH,
Is upon the waters,
The God of glory thunders,
YHWH is upon many waters.
The voice of YHWH is powerful,
The voice of YHWH is full of majesty.
The voice of YHWH breaks the cedars,
Yes, YHWH breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes them also to skip like a calf,
Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild-ox.
The voice of YHWH hews out the flames of fire.
The voice of YHWH shakes the wilderness,
YHWH shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
The voice of YHWH makes the hinds to calve,
And strips the forests bare,
And in his temple everything says, “Glory.”
Having thus read it and appreciated its beauty and its forcefulness we will now consider it verse by verse.
‘ The voice of YHWH is powerful,
The voice of YHWH is full of majesty.
As a poet he sees the storm as revealing the power and majesty of the voice of YHWH. He sees all this as happening because YHWH is speaking, and His voice is powerful and full of majesty.
The voice of YHWH breaks the cedars,
Yes, YHWH breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
In those ancient days nothing seemed more firm and solid than the cedars of Lebanon. They stood there firm and strong, appearing to withstand the tide of history, and were seen as ‘high and lifted up' (Isaiah 2:13). But before this mighty storm they are broken as though they are but matchsticks. YHWH speaks and the cedars come crashing down, and their mighty roots are torn up, while others are simply torn apart leaving their stems sticking up into the air. 29:6
He makes them also to skip like a calf,
Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild-ox.
Even the stolid mountains of Lebanon and Hermon are made to skip like a calf and dance about like a young wild-ox as a result of His activity. Sirion is the ancient name for Mount Hermon (compare Deuteronomy 3:9). Unless there was an earthquake, we must see here the effect of the storm on what was growing on them. All the trees and vegetation were swaying in, and torn by, the wind, making the mountains look alive, and this went on until the vegetation could stand the pressure no longer and collapsed before the storm. It is a picture of huge desolation.
The voice of YHWH hews out the flames of fire.
And all around were streaks of lightning flashing from Heaven as though they were being hewn out by YHWH. The Psalmist stands in awe as he sees the continual forked lightning splitting the sky, and setting on fire the trees and vegetation, as the thunder continually rolls. He sees it as the very voice of YHWH from Heaven.
The voice of YHWH shakes the wilderness,
YHWH shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
And at the other end of the country, in the semi-desert of the Negev, the bushes and trees are shaken, and torn up by their roots, as a mighty hurricane sweeps the land. It is as though the whole area is being taken up and shaken. And it occurs at the command of YHWH. He speaks and it is done. In it is a hint of the reversal of creation, a reminder of what could happen if the Creator withheld His hand.
The voice of YHWH makes the hinds to calve,
And strips the forests bare,
And in his temple everything says, “Glory.”
Meanwhile wildlife also is affected. Such is the effect of this powerful storm that the pregnant hinds come to birth before their time. Nature is being shaken through and through. They are but a vivid example of a more general catastrophe. We are left to imagine the wild beasts cowering in their lairs.
And the great forests of Canaan are being stripped of their leaves as the howling wind tears through them, until the whole of the forests have been laid bare. And all this again at the sevenfold voice of YHWH.
‘In His temple everything says, “Glory!”. This may have reference to the heavenly Temple where the angelic hosts are gathered watching in awe this mighty storm, the like of which has not been seen before within the lifetime of those who witnessed it on earth. Or it may signify that the people had gathered in the security of the Temple and were now, along with the angelic hosts, crying ‘glory' to the Lord. Alternately the idea might be that the symbolism of all the furniture in the Temple is crying glory to the Lord, for which compare Hebrews 8:5; Hebrews 9:1 to Hebrews 10:14.