A thunderstorm is viewed in this psalm, not as a phenomenon of impersonal nature, but as an act of divine intervention.
He next describes the LORD’s power in a storm: first over the sea (verses 3-4), then over Lebanon (verses 5-6), and finally over the wilderness (verses 7-9).
The concluding verses of the psalm appropriately express the application of God’s power to His people (verses 10-11).
The verses march to the tune of thunderbolts. God is everywhere conspicuous, and all the earth is hushed by the majesty of His presence. The word of God in the law and gospel is here also depicted in its majesty of power.
3 representative realms of the supremacy of God bring forth praise to God alone.
I. The Lord’s Supremacy over Heavenly Beings (29:1-2);
II. The Lord’s Supremacy over the “forces of Nature” (29:3-9);
III. The Lord’s Supremacy over Humanity (29:10-11).
Psalm 29:1 Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength.
“O ye mighty”:
Literally “sons of God”.
The reference here (in Psalm 29), is most likely to God's mighty angels.
Psalm 29:3 The voice of the LORD [is] upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD [is] upon many waters.
“The voice of the LORD”:
His voice is frequently associated with the thunder (compare e.g., 1 Sam. 7:10; Job 37:4-5; Psalm 18:13; l Isa. 30:30-31).
Jeremiah 10:13 When He utters His voice there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; He makes lightnings for the rain, and brings forth the wind out of His treasures.
Psalm 29:4 The voice of the LORD [is] powerful; the voice of the LORD [is] full of majesty.
Or "with power"; as thunder, in the effect of it shows.
The poet describes the appearances of things, not the actual reality.
To him it seems as if the thunder, rolling along the sky, hewed out a chasm in the clouds, from which the forked lightning issued.
Psalm 29:6 He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.
As the thunder crashes and rolls and reverberates among the mountains, it seems as though the mountains themselves shook, and were moved from their places.
This is expressed with extreme vividness, though no doubt with truly Oriental hyperbole, in the present passage.
"Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn":
Rather, like a young wild ox.
Lebanon and Sirion, or Hermon (Deut. 3:9), are the two principal mountains of Palestine.
The authority in the voice of God makes any mountain obey, whether it is a physical mountain or a spiritual mountain.
Jesus said in Mark 11:23:
For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and
Psalm 29:7 The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire.
Rather, “the voice of the LORD heweth out flames of fire”.
Psalm 29:11 The LORD will give strength unto His people; the LORD will bless His people with peace.
His special people, His covenant people, whom He has chosen for Himself."
BooksOfTheBible.Charles Spurgeon
