Psalms 29:0 ¶ A Psalm of David.
A beautiful psalm of David that praises God. I would assume that David was inspired by a powerful thunderstorm that made him think of the power of the LORD that spoke creation into existence.
Psalms 29:1 ¶ Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength.
Psalms 29:2 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
This song begins with a call for the “mighty,” be it in heaven or earth, to praise the LORD for His glory and strength. He reminds us that He deserves our praise and worship. We should praise Him in humility with the honor and reverence He deserves.
Spurgeon: “…now our worship is spiritual, and the architecture of the house and the garments of the worshippers are matters of no importance; the spiritual beauty of inward purity and outward holiness being far more precious in the eyes of our thrice holy God.”
Guzik: “Beauty and holiness are not often connected ideas in our popular culture. Yet in reality, there is surpassing allure and attractiveness in true holiness. If a purported type of holiness has little beauty, it may be questioned if it is true holiness.”
Psalms 29:3 The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters.
Psalms 29:4 The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.
Psalms 29:5 The voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars; yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.
Psalms 29:6 He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.
Psalms 29:7 The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire.
Psalms 29:8 The voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness; the LORD shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.
Psalms 29:9 The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.
It certainly seems that David was awed and inspired by the powerful thunder and lightning of a great storm that reminded him of the great power that the LORD could unleash by the authority of His word.
Interesting note from Guzik: “Scientists calculate that a typical thunderstorm (not even the kind of great or major storm described here by David) releases around 10,000,000 kilowatt-hours of energy – the equivalent of a 20-kiloton nuclear warhead. Storms still are examples of the massive power of God.”
I believe the waters are a reference to the waters that are abundant throughout the earth—from great rain, to rivers, lakes, waterfalls, seas, oceans etc.; and the LORD is in control of them all. David uses the thunder to represent God’s word, to picture its great power and majesty.
V5 - With just a word the LORD can break into pieces the mighty cedars of Lebanon. According to Wikipedia, these trees can be up to 130’ high with a trunk as much as 8’2” in diameter. Yet, they are like toothpicks in light of the power of God’s word.
V6 - With just a word the LORD can send the broken pieces of these trees to jump around like a frisky young calf. Lebanon and Sirion reference mountains. With just a word the LORD can make the mountains jump about like a young unicorn (possibly referencing a wild bull).
V7 – With just a word the LORD can issue flames of fire or lightning that appear to divide the sky with the potential to wreak great destruction.
Courson: “This is the psalm that was read in the temple on the first day of the Feast of Pentecost. In Acts 2, cloven tongues of fire appeared and the voice of the Lord was heard in a miraculous way when the one hundred and twenty in the Upper Room began to speak in languages they didn’t know.”
V8 – With just a word the LORD can cause a whirlwind in the desert or open field. Kadesh was the desert in which the Israelites wandered for much of the time before being allowed to enter the Promised Land.
V9 - With just a word the LORD can cause the deer to give birth or strip the forest bare of all foliage. All that dwell in His presence testify of His glory and splendor.
Psalms 29:10 The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever.
To sit upon the flood is how David pictures the LORD’s authority and power to control those waters—as He did in the days of Noah. He will rule as King of kings forever!
Psalms 29:11 The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.
David closes this great song of praise expressing confidence that the LORD will give strength to His people and bless them with peace, health and prosperity (all from the Hebrew). As a child of God, we can have peace in spite of the storms that may surround us; the key is to keep our focus on Him.
Isaiah 26:3 “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”
Psalms 30:0 ¶ A Psalm and Song at the dedication of the house of David.
Some translations and commentators deduce that the “house” is a reference to the “temple.” I just don’t think there is a good reason to make that deduction since the plain sense makes sense. The house of David was his palace; the temple was the house of the LORD. There is a verse in Deuteronomy that likely has application here.
Deuteronomy 20:5 “What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.”
This verse seems to infer that dedicating a new house was a normal thing to do in Israel. The whole song is a personal word of thanksgiving and is like in nature to other songs of David. He evidently decided that the dedication of his palace was a good time to sing this song of praise to the LORD.
Psalms 30:1 ¶ I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.
David declares that he is lifting the LORD up in praise because He has lifted David up in victory over his enemies.
Spurgeon’s beautiful words of application to us: “Grace has uplifted us from the pit of hell, from the ditch of sin, from the Slough of Despond, from the bed of sickness, from the bondage of doubts and fears: have we no song to offer for all this? How high has our Lord lifted us? Lifted us up into the children's place, to be adopted into the family; lifted us up into union with Christ, ‘to sit together with him in heavenly places.’"
Ephesians 2:4–6 “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:”
Psalms 30:2 O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.
Psalms 30:3 O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
Addressing the LORD as “my God,” the source of his strength and healing, David claims a personal relationship with his LORD. The context seems to imply that David was thanking God for curing him from a sickness or wound that he thought might cause him to die.
Spurgeon: “It was a sin in Asa that he trusted to physicians and not to God. If we must have a physician, let it be so, but still let us go to our God first of all; and, above all, remember that there can be no power to heal in medicine of itself; the healing energy must flow from the divine hand.”
Psalms 30:4 Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.
Psalms 30:5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
David calls for all those that are godly, that trust in the LORD, to give thanks as they recall His holiness and His providential care for them. Throughout Israel’s history that care had included times when He expressed His anger in times of rebellion against Him. His anger was never more than they deserved, and He was always ready to show them His favor when they turned back to Him in repentance. To experience God’s favor is to experience life at its best. There will be times of weeping for a night, times of darkness and trouble; but we can be sure that the LORD will reward us with joy when that time comes to an end.
On a deeper level this makes me think of the promise expressed by Paul in his letter to the Romans that speaks to our eternal future.
Romans 8:18 “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
Psalms 30:6 ¶ And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.
Psalms 30:7 LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.
David notes that it was easy for him to declare that his faith would remain fixed and strong when things were going well for him. He then admits that such wasn’t the case when trouble came and he felt like the LORD was not paying any attention to him.
I believe every one of us relates to David in that regard. How easy to trust the LORD in the good times, and how hard to keep our faith strong in the hard times—especially when it seems our prayers are not being heard.
Another Spurgeon gem: “This proves, first, that David was a genuine saint, for no hiding of God's face on earth would trouble a sinner; and, secondly, that the joy of the saint is dependent upon the presence of his Lord.”
Psalms 30:8 I cried to thee, O LORD; and unto the LORD I made supplication.
Psalms 30:9 What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?
Psalms 30:10 Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me: LORD, be thou my helper.
David recalls how he pleaded with the LORD in prayer, asking for His help. He reasoned with the LORD that it would be better for him to live so that he could continue to praise Him and declare the truth of His word. If he were dead, he could not do that. He then begs the LORD to show him mercy and help him.
Again, I can identify with David. It’s so natural to try to reason things out; it’s so hard to understand why God would allow bad things to happen in our lives when we don’t understand why. They key to staying strong is to focus on what we do know. God loves us. We are not meant to understand God’s ways and thoughts. He has a purpose for what He allows to touch our lives.
Romans 8:38-39 “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Isaiah 55:8–9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Spurgeon: “What should the child of God do, when he is in trouble, but cry? And to whom should he cry but to his Father?”
Psalms 30:11 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;
Psalms 30:12 To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.
Obviously, the LORD answered David’s prayer and turned his mourning into dancing. He was able to take off the sackcloth of mourning and dress appropriate to dancing for joy. David was quick to act on his promise to praise the LORD and committed to showing his thanks to the LORD forever.
As is usually the case, David’s song ends on a high note. I am sure, however, that, just like us, he went through this process several times throughout his life. When we are on the mountaintop, we make grand plans for serving the LORD and praising His name. When we are in the valley, we have to work our way through and start afresh again. What a comfort to know that the LORD knows our limitations and loves us unconditionally!
Psalms 103:13–14 “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.”
See Romans 8:38-39 above.