Commentary on Ezra Nehemiah Ester Job and Psalms, Commentary 5 · Psalm 29
PSAL. XXIX.
VErſ. 1. Give unto the Lord] Verbo & confeſſione, ſaith Kimchi; By word and confeſſion, as Joſh. 7.19. Jer. 13.16. acknowledge him the King immortal, inviſible, &c. and your ſelves his Vaſſals; as did thoſe three beſt Emperours, Conſtantine, Theodoſius, and Valentinian. Cedite, colite, ſtep back, ſtoop, humble and tremble before this dread Soveraign of the World; bear an awefull reſpect to the divine Majeſty, the High thunderer, the great Wonder-worker; unleſſe you will come ſhort of brute beaſts, and dumb Creatures.
O yee Mighty] Heb. Yee ſons of the Mighty, Grandees and Potentates, who are readieſt to rob God of his glory, and being tumour'd up by their worldly wealth and greatneſſe, to deem or rather dream themſelves demy Gods; ſuch as may do what they liſt, as not accountable to any mortall. The Septuagint render it, O yee Sons of Ramms. Theſe Bel-weathers ſhould not caſt their noſes into the air, and carry their creſt the higher, becauſe the ſhepheard hath beſtowed a bell upon them more than upon the reſt of the flock.
Give unto the Lord] Give, give, give; This ſheweth 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 where-ever ye have to do, &c.
Verſ. 2.Nominatiſſimam & celeberrimam. Jun. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name] Which yet you cannot do; for his name is above all praiſe, Pſal. 148.13. but you muſt aim at it. The Rabbines obſerve that Gods holy name is mentioned eighteen ſeverall times in this Pſalm; that great men eſpecially may give him the honour of his name, that they may ſtand in awe and not ſin, that they may bring preſents to Him, who ought to be feared, and thoſe alſo the very beſt of the beſt, ſith He is a great King, and ſtandeth much upon his ſeniority, Mal. 1.14.
Worſhip the Lord in the beauty of Holineſs] Or, In his glorious Sanctuary; therefore glorious, becauſe there they might ſee Gods face, and hear his voice in his ordinances. Away therefore with your ſuperſtitions, and will-worſhips; and bring your gifts to his beautifull Sanctuarie; for no where elſe will he receive them. Send a Lamb to this Ruler of the earth, Iſa. 16.1. as an homage-penny.
Verſ. 3. The voice of the Lord is upon the waters] Thunder is here called (and fitly) the voice of the Lord (being brought as one inſtance of thoſe many other glorious works of his in nature) becauſe it comes from him alone. Naturall cauſes there are aſſigned of it;The ancient Romans ſaid Deus tonat, Deus fulgurat, for which now Tonat, fulgurat. but we muſt not ſtick in them, as Epicurus and his Hoggs would have us. The beſt Philoſophy in this behalf, is to hear God Almighty by his thunder ſpeaking unto us from Heaven, as if hee were preſent; and to ſee him in his lightenings, as if he caſt his eyes upon us, to behold what we had been doing. This voice of the Lord is fitly inſtanced as an evidence of the divine power and Majeſty; becauſe it is ſo dreadfull, even to the greateſt Atheiſts; as it was to Caius Caligula that potent Emperour,Sueton. ready to run into a mouſe-hole in a time of thunder.
The God of glory thundereth] And men quake before him; as worms at ſuch a time wriggle into the corners of the earth. And yet your dive-dappers duck not at this rattle in the air, though they do at a farre ſmaller matter: So, many tremble not at Gods terrible threats, that yet are afraid of a penall ſtatute.
The Lord is upon many waters] viz. When he thundreth; De aquis pendulis loquitur, ſaith Vatablus; He ſpeaketh of the waters in the clouds, which are many, and of great force, as appeared in the generall deluge; and doth ſtill appear by that infinite inundation of rain that followeth upon the thunder claps. Some render it, The Lord, or, the voice of the Lord is above many waters, i. e. above the loud roaring of many waters, which is even drowned by the thunder.
Verſ. 4. The voice of the Lord is powerfull] So that it ſhaketh heaven and earth, Heb. 12.26.Validum eſt & vehemens tonitru. Vat. Beza. Cogitent ergo Principes quantum infra Deum ſubſidant, &c. Let thoſe that think themſelves ſome great buſineſſe, conſider Gods infinite power, putting forth it ſelf in thunders, and tempeſts, and they will ſoon bee creſt-faln.
The voice of the Lord is full of Majeſty] Heb. In Majeſty; it is magnificall, and immutable, though ſome fools have attempted to imitate it (as a certain King of Egypt, and Caligula the Emperour) by certain Engines and devices.
Verſ. 5. The voice of the Lord breaketh the Cedars] i. e. The thunder; and thoſe things that either go before it, or follow it, as lightenings, thunderbolts, ſtorm, tempeſt, &c. breaking and turning up by the roots huge trees.
The Lord breaketh the Cedars of Lebanon] Which are the talleſt, thickeſt and moſt durable of any place, in the habitable World. What a ſhame is it then that our hard hearts break not, yeeld not, though thunder-ſtruck with the dreadfull menaces of Gods mouth? Corripimur ſed non corrigimur, &c. A fearfull caſe. Let the tall Cedars ſee to it. Nam per Cedros intellig it foreign quicquid eſt eximium in mundo; Where is that hammer of the Nations Nebuchadnezzar? that terrour of the World, Tamerlan, &c? Are they not broken in pieces as a Potters Veſſell?
Verſ. 6. Hee maketh them alſo to skip like a Calf] Young living Creatures are full of motion. God by his thunder and earthquake thereupon (for ſo the Hebrews underſtand it) maketh not only thoſe huge trees, the ſplinters of them, to flie up into the air, but alſo the Mountaines whereupon they grow, to skip and jump out of their places, and aloft from their center.
Lebanon and Sirion, &c.] Or, Hermon, two known Mountaines.
Verſ. 7. The voice of the Lord divideth, (Heb. cutteth out) the flames of fire] i. e. The lightening which the thunder is ſaid to ſtrike, or cut out,Deut. 3. becauſe it cauſeth them to ſhoot and glide; it immediately followeth one flaſh, and goeth before another; diſperſing and darting them hither and thither.
Verſ. 8. The voice of the Lord ſhaketh the Wilderneſſe] i. e. The beaſts abiding in the Wilderneſſes, the moſt ſavage creatures, thoſe that lye in woods, and are moſt fearleſſe of men, are put to pain by thunder, and made to travell with trembling.
The Lord ſhaketh the wilderneſſe of Kadeſh] Thorough which the Iſraelites paſſed into Canaan, Num. 13.27. the beaſts whereof were cruel, Deut. 8.25. & 32.Animalia quantumvis horrifica. Jun.10. Beza paraphraſeth, & Arabum teſqua ſuccutit, it ſhaketh the Cottages of the Arabians.
Verſ. 9. The voice of the Lord maketh the Hindes to calve] Which they naturally do not, without a great deal of difficulty, Job 39.4, 5, 6. See the Note there.
And diſcovereth the Forreſts] By driving the beaſts into their dennes, baring the Forreſts of their leaves and fruits, turning up trees by the roots, and ſo making a clear proſpect thorough woods and groves, as one phraſeth it.
And in his Temple doth every one ſpeak of his glory] Heb. Every one, or, every whit of it ſaith Glory; Every godly man obſerving his dreadfull thunder,Moller. and other his ſtupendious works, ſaith, Glory bee to God on high. Some conceive that this Pſalm was appointed by David to be ſung in the Temple in time of thunder; which is not unlikely. There are that make God to be the Nominative caſe to the Verb speaketh, and render it thus; And in his Temple, or Palace, doth bee utter all his glory. Tremel.As if the Pſalmiſt ſhould ſay; Much of his glory God uttereth in his thunder; but all in his Temple. For whatſoever there he ſpeaketh with his mouth, he fulfilleth it with his hand, Pſal. 115.3. & 119.91. & 33.9. Iſa. 44.26. See a like collation of Gods works and word, with a praelation of this above thoſe, Pſal. 19.1-7. Pſal. 111.7.
Verſ. 10. The Lord ſitteth upon the flood] Hee reigned in that generall deluge in Noahs dayes, Gen. 6. & 7. and doth ſtill over thoſe horrible inundations that follow upon thunder and ſtrong-tempeſts; ruling that raging Element, and governing all by his providence, and ſoveraign power.
Yea the Lord ſitteth King for ever] And over all; therefore all, even the Mightieſt ſhould give him glory, as Verſ. 1.
Verſ. 11. The Lord will give ſtrength unto his people] To bear up their hearts in time of thunder, or other terrible occurrences.
The Lord will bleſſe his people with peace] Pace omnimoda, With peace internall,In tempore to nitru. Aben Ezra. externall, eternall; for godlineſſe hath the promiſes of both lives, of proſperity, ſafety and welfare, both of ſoul and body.