A PSALM OF DAVID.
1Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
2Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.
3The voice of the LORD is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the LORD thunders over the mighty waters.
4The voice of the LORD is powerful;
the voice of the LORD is majestic.
5The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;
the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
6He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
Sirion like a young wild ox.
7The voice of the LORD strikes
with flashes of lightning.
8The voice of the LORD shakes the desert;
the LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
9The voice of the LORD twists the oaks
and strips the forests bare.
And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
10The LORD sits enthroned over the flood;
the LORD is enthroned as King forever.
11The LORD gives strength to his people;
the LORD blesses his people with peace.
Original Meaning
AT THE HEART of this brief psalm of eleven verses is a powerful and artistic description of the theophanic appearance of Yahweh in the devastating power of a thunder and lightning storm (29:3–9). The poetry of the psalm is particularly characterized by repetition and expansion of words and ideas: The phrase “the voice of the LORD” appears no less than seven times; “ascribe to the LORD” occurs three times; the divine name Yahweh (“LORD”) appears four times at the beginning (29:1–2), balanced by four times at the end (29:10–11). Indeed, the divine name appears at least once in every verse except the central one (29:6), and most often twice.1
Other phrases, such as “shakes the desert,” “breaks the cedars,” “thunders,” “sits/is enthroned,” appear twice. Far from dulling appreciation of the psalm’s artistry, the repetition effectively builds excitement and intensity as the reader along with the poet is caught in the midst of the shattering pyrotechnic display of a rattling thunderstorm with repeated flashes of lightning and ear-splitting thunderclaps.
The central focus of the psalm is on the revealing “voice” of Yahweh, who makes his glorious kingship over the whole earth known through this powerful display. In the face of this disturbing display of the power of God who sits enthroned as king, the faithful can only bow in worship (29:1–2) and proclaim along with the thunderous voice of God, “Glory!” (29:9). At points the psalm takes on almost mythical overtones, as it depicts Yahweh’s power over the “mighty waters” (mayim rabbim) and the “flood” (mabbul), whose chaotic force he restrained in the Genesis creation and Flood narratives.2
The structure of the psalm falls into three major divisions: the call to worship and testimony (29:1–2), the theophanic appearance of Yahweh in the storm (29:3–9), and the acknowledgment of Yahweh’s enthronement as king (29:10–11).
The Heading (29:0)
NO NEW TERMS appear in the heading to Psalm 23, which is described simply as a “psalm [mizmor] of David.”3
Call to Worship and Testimony (29:1–2)
IN VERSES 1–2 the “mighty ones” are three times called to “ascribe to the LORD” the glory4 and strength due his name. The NIV’s choice of the translation “mighty ones” for bene ʾelim (lit., “sons of gods”) obscures the fact that ʾelim is the plural of the common ancient Near Eastern word for “god” (ʾel). The term ʾelim appears only four times in the Hebrew text of the Old Testament, twice alone (Ex. 15:11; Job 41:25) and twice in the phrase bene ʾelim (Pss. 29:1; 89:6; cf. also ʾel ʾelim in Dan. 11:36). The Exodus passage clearly refers to the pagan “gods,” who are negatively compared to Yahweh: “Who among the gods is like you, O LORD?” In a similar passage, Psalm 89:6–7 asks: “Who in the skies above can compare with the LORD? Who is like the LORD among the bene ʾelim [NIV heavenly beings]? In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared; he is more awesome than all who surround him.” Job 41:25 (MT 41:17) depicts the rising of leviathan to the surface of the ocean as so fearsome that even the ʾelim (NIV “the mighty”) are afraid.
While this phrase may well have been reinterpreted as Israel’s monotheistic understanding of Yahweh grew, it seems clear that the original reference was to those “other gods” worshiped by the pagans—gods who could not compare to the majestic, powerful, and authoritative creator, Yahweh. Even if this invocation to the “gods” is understood metaphorically, its underlying purpose is to enhance the majesty of Yahweh at the expense of foreign deities, who are here called to proclaim the glory and strength “due his name” while bowing down in worship of his holiness (29:2).
The “glory” and “strength” that the bene ʾelim are to ascribe to Yahweh make this opening segment of Psalm 29 a fitting counterpoint to the entrance liturgy of 24:7–10. There the “King of glory” is welcomed into the temple precincts as the conquering ruler, who is “strong” and “mighty,” “mighty in battle.” Here in Psalm 29, Yahweh (described in verse 10 as “enthroned as King forever”) approaches in theophanic splendor (29:2) and is received by those within the temple with the cry “Glory!” (29:9).
Splendor of his holiness. The divine “splendor” (hadrat qodeš; “splendid holy attire”) that the psalmist mentions is a visual splendor associated with clothing and befitting the rank and character of the one who wears them. In Proverbs 14:28, this term describes the grand garments of a king. This visible reference to the holy splendor of Yahweh’s attire leads the psalm a step closer to his theophanic appearance that dominates verses 3–9. When Yahweh appears in all his glory, the pagan deities can only acknowledge his glory and strength and humbly bow in worship. This acknowledgment of Yahweh’s glory by the deities sets the standard for those human worshipers who will later experience God’s theophany in the temple and, like their divine counterparts, can only respond with their own awe-filled cry of “Glory!” (29:9).
Theophany of Yahweh in the Storm (29:3–9)
PSALM 29 STANDS as a response to the plea in Psalm 28 that Yahweh not remain silent (28:1). Notice how the phrase “the voice of the LORD” appears seven times in 29:3–9, clearly making this the major theme of this middle section. Yahweh speaks as he comes in response to the psalmist’s plea for deliverance.
The God of glory thunders. The emphasis on the “voice of the LORD” is also connected with the imagery of the thunderstorm, associated with the theophany of Yahweh in these verses. Such imagery is common in theophany passages.5 Here the voice of Yahweh does not speak but thunders (29:3) in a powerful, majestic voice (29:4) that “shakes” the earth (29:8), “breaks the cedars” (29:5), and “twists the oaks” (29:9). Although these last two phenomena are associated in our psalm with the “voice” of Yahweh, they may well be the result of other storm-related events, such as wind and lightning.
Cedars of Lebanon . . . Desert of Kadesh. The descriptive phrases of the theophany picture a massive storm originating over the Mediterranean Sea (29:3), moving ashore at the heavily forested Lebanon range to the far north of Israel (29:5–6), and then across the Desert of Kadesh associated with the ancient city of that name (29:8).6 During the reign of Solomon, this area was under the control of Israel.
Cedars. The cedars of Lebanon were well known in the ancient Near East as the largest, most spectacular stand of trees in the region. The trees supplied building materials for structures throughout the Mediterranean, from Egypt to Mesopotamia. In the Mesopotamian tale of Gilgamesh and Enkidu, the forests of Lebanon were considered sacred to the gods, who used the cedars for the construction of their own dwellings. The forests were guarded by the great monster Huwawa, who gave Enkidu a mortal wound but was ultimately defeated and killed by Gilgamesh.7 Solomon imported cedars from Lebanon for use in the building of his palace and the Jerusalem temple (1 Kings 5:6–10; 7:1–12).
The power of Yahweh is displayed in the storm’s power to “break” the strong and lofty cedars of Lebanon. We lived for twelve years on a well-wooded lot, surrounded by tall pines, cedars, oaks, birches, and maples. Several winters ago, during a particularly strong windstorm, a sixty-foot blue spruce toppled in the middle of the night, fell across a power line, and came to rest on our garage, damaging only a few shingles. Not long after that, I awoke after another windstorm to find a huge pine had collapsed on our paved parking pad. I must admit that we no longer rest easily when winds begin to blow. We have seen their power and its consequences on our trees. We have also seen the path of destruction taken by a tornado that touched down in a nearby wooded area—snapping off large trees far above ground as if they were toothpicks or pencils. This must have been the picture our psalmist had in mind. Even the tallest, strongest, most majestic cedars of Lebanon were no match for the power of Yahweh.
He makes Lebanon skip like a calf. Not only the wind, but also the thunder attends the theophanic approach of Yahweh and his “voice.” The powerful claps of thunder shake the very earth under the psalmist and all those who await God’s coming in the temple. The thunder causes the whole Lebanon range of mountains and its southernmost peak, Sirion,8 to “skip like a calf . . . like a young wild ox” (29:6). While in some theophanic passages this shaking of the earth may seem to describe earthquake or even volcanic activity (cf. 18:7), for the most part it is the powerful explosion of thunder that seems to be behind the narrator’s experience here (cf. 77:16–19), as the sevenfold repetition of the “voice of the LORD” makes clear.
Twists the oaks. The most straightforward translation of the phrase yeḥolel ʾayyalot would be “cause deer (pl.) to writhe/tremble [in fear/childbirth]” because “bring to labor” is the normal meaning of the Polel form of the verb ḥyl. Some Hebrew manuscripts, however, read “trees” instead of “deer,” an interpretation that more closely parallels the second half of the verse, “strips bare the forests.”9
And in his temple all cry, “Glory!” The pinnacle and climax of the theophany comes at the height of the storm’s power, as all those gathered in the temple worship Yahweh with a loud acclamation of “Glory!” With this shout the worshipers fulfill the call of the opening verses: “Ascribe to the LORD . . . glory and strength . . . due his name.” This cry of acknowledgment is wrested from them almost against their will as the blasting, crashing, flashing display of divine power cannot be denied. All tremble! All worship! All know the glory of Yahweh!
Yahweh’s Enthronement as King (29:10–11)
HAVING COME IN splendor and power across the “mighty waters” (both the chaotic floods of creation and the Mediterranean Sea are in view here), having left the northern mountains of Lebanon with devastating evidence of his power, and having entered the temple to loud acclamations of his glory, Yahweh now “sits [down] enthroned as King forever.” In the temple, the ark of the covenant in the Most Holy Place served as the place where the invisible God of Israel sat with his people—enthroned between the wings of the cherubim as Israel’s king.
Enthroned over the flood. In a reference to his control and limiting of the chaotic waters at creation, Yahweh is described as mounting his throne “over the flood.” Beside this single occurrence of mabbul (“flood”) in Psalm 29:10, the term appears twelve times—all within the Genesis Flood narrative and all referring to the threatening, chaotic waters that Yahweh subdued once and for all.10 This exercise of divine authority and control over the chaotic forces threatening to undo creation and human existence established once and for all that Yahweh is the cohesive power that holds the universe together. He is the “eternal King,” on whom all human hopes are pinned. For this reason, whenever Yahweh’s “kingship” is celebrated, images of his creation might and control can never be far behind. Note, for example, the creation images that abound in the collection of Yahweh malak psalms (Pss. 93; 95–99).11
Gives strength . . . blesses his people. Having assumed his rightful place as eternal king, Yahweh becomes the source of confident hope for his people. The end of Psalm 28 proclaims Yahweh as “the strength of his people” (28:8), and the people plead for Yahweh to “save” them and “bless” them (28:9). Now, at the end of Psalm 29, the enthroned Yahweh has come as his people desired to give “strength to his people” and to “bless his people with peace” (29:11). In a fitting convergence of the pilgrimage motif observed throughout Psalms 23–29, those who have come so far seeking Yahweh have found him. He has come revealing himself as their King and Savior, and he blesses them with peace.
Bridging Contexts
HENOTHEISM AND MONOTHEISM. Verse 1 reveals an inconsistency of translation that deserves comment. The NIV chooses to translate the Hebrew phrase bene ʾelim as “mighty ones,” obscuring the fact that the more direct rendering would be “children of the gods,” or at the very least “heavenly beings.” The term ʾelim is the masculine plural form of the noun ʾel (“god”), a term regularly employed in the Canaanite language of Ugarit to refer to a single deity or to serve as the name of the chief Canaanite god, El. The NIV is inconsistent in its translation of this word, recognizing the primary meaning “gods” in Exodus 15:11, while preferring “heavenly beings” in Psalm 89:6 and “mighty [ones]” in Job 41:25 and Psalm 29:1. This inconsistency may demonstrate a reluctance on the part of the translators to admit the possibility that Israel may have acknowledged the existence of other deities alongside Yahweh. At the least the NIV obscures the possible reference to other gods and downplays Israel’s awareness of them.
It is clear, however, that Israel employed terms like this—ʾelim (“gods”), bene ʾelim (“children of the gods”), and related uses of ʾelohim (“gods”)12 and bene ʾelohim (“children of God/the gods; heavenly beings”; cf. Job 1:6; 2:1)13—because she was immersed in a culture dominated by polytheistic belief systems and often struggled with pressure to conform. We know that Israel struggled with the temptation to worship gods other than Yahweh down to the exilic period, at which time (and only then) did absolute monotheistic belief in the existence of Yahweh alone take root firmly in the exilic community. Since that time belief in other gods has had no attraction to the Jewish community, who had been well trained by the prophets that there was no other god besides Yahweh and that to worship other deities as if they did exist was foolishness and risked complete separation from their covenant relationship with the one true God.
But prior to the Exile, Old Testament texts give us ample evidence that Israel not only acknowledged the existence of gods other than Yahweh but ran frequently after them, seeking benefit and blessing by offering allegiance to them. It is possible that some of these early Israelites were plain and simple polytheists—believing that many gods existed and that a person had to deal with all of them in order to gain the most benefit and avoid danger and hurt. Such Israelites would have “covered all the bases” by worshiping other deities along with Yahweh. These polytheistic Israelites incurred the wrath of the Israelite prophets, who castigated them for their lack of covenant loyalty to Yahweh alone and ridiculed them for creating and worshiping deities that did not in reality exist or have the ability to save (cf. Isa. 40:18–20; 41:21–24; 43:9–20; 46:3–7; Dan. 5:23; Hos. 4:12).
But many of these earlier Israelites were probably not polytheists but what are called henotheists. Henotheism—a word derived from the Greek hen (“one”) and theos (“god”)—describes a belief system in which many gods are thought to exist, although only one has claim on my absolute loyalty. Many of Yahweh’s demands for Israel’s allegiance can be read in this vein, that is, as stopping short of unambiguous monotheism. Note, for example, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Ex. 20:3), which demands that Yahweh occupy first place among whatever deities are acknowledged to exist. References to Yahweh as ʾel ʿelyon (“the Most High God”) also imply that there are other gods over whom Yahweh is dominant. Yahweh is explicitly said to be “exalted [or feared] above all gods” in passages such as 1 Chronicles 16:25; Psalms 95:3; 96:4; 97:9; and Daniel 11:36–37.
The admission that other gods existed although Yahweh claimed exclusive allegiance may explain why the kings of the northern kingdom considered themselves Yahweh worshipers (as demonstrated by their habit of giving their children names honoring Yahweh) while allowing the worship of other deities among the mixed Canaanite/Israelite people of their kingdom.14 The same could have been said for Solomon, who remained a Yahweh devotee while allowing the construction of temples in Jerusalem for the gods of his many wives.
As stated above, it was not until the prophetic critique of the causes of the exilic destruction of the nation and temple that the Diaspora community as a whole moved toward unambiguous monotheism. This was certainly not immediate. Even Psalm 137, brimming with the pain of the Exile, wonders: “How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land?” (137:4), questioning whether God can compete with the deities of the victorious Babylonians outside his own “turf.” Only gradually were the Disapora faithful able to understand that God was still operative among the exiles (cf. Ezekiel), that the cause of the Exile was no weakness on God’s part but a sign of his strength in using other nations to punish his rebellious people, and at last that Yahweh was indeed the “King over all the earth” because he made it.
Yahweh and the storm. Here Yahweh is depicted in terms of the power of the storm (cf. also Deut. 33:26; Pss. 68:4–10; 104:3–4). Many ancient Near Eastern deities were associated with the power of the storm. In Egypt, Amun was the great storm god who provided rain for crops and animals alike. Closer to home, the Mesopotamian god Hadad and his Canaanite reflex Baal are both depicted as riding on the backs of bulls, clutching lightning bolts in their hands. Like Yahweh, Baal is also said to “ride on the clouds” when he brings the rain.15
Whether you think that Israel transplanted entrenched Canaanite fertility images associated with Baal to their own nomadic desert warrior God, Yahweh, when they entered and settled down in the land of Canaan, or whether you see these similarities of depiction between Baal-Hadad and Yahweh as theological claims that it is in fact Yahweh and not Baal-Hadad who brings the rain that sustains the crops, the comparisons are striking. The former response might lead to syncretism and confusion of Baal and Yahweh, while the latter is more clearly a rejection of the Canaanite deity and firm allegiance to Yahweh alone. These niceties of detail, however, would probably have been lost on the general population, with the result that Yahweh was probably worshiped alongside the Canaanite deity and in many instances identified with him.
Contemporary Significance
THE DEMONSTRATION OF GOD’S POWER. One of the vivid memories I retain from seven years of living in Athens, Georgia, is of incredible displays of lightning during passing thunderstorms. The sky would grow increasingly dark during the day, and then bolts of lightning would begin crashing down, followed by peals of thunder and torrents of rain. The lightning included jagged filaments of light connecting earth and sky as well as blinding “sheet lightning,” which lightened the whole terrain while thunder boomed almost simultaneously.
It was during one such storm that my son—who was then about seven or eight and an inquisitive boy by character who loved to observe nature in all its forms—sat cross-legged on the carpeted floor of our family room, just inside the sliding glass door that opened on to our patio, fascinated by the powerful display outside. As he sat enthralled with his nose practically plastered to the glass door, suddenly a tremendous flash of sheet lightning exploded just outside with a blast of thunder that shook the whole house. In an immediate and involuntary response, my son did a back flip across the carpeted family room and landed gasping in the middle of the room, his wide eyes transfixed by the pouring rain outside the patio door. As he lay there, a single word escaped his lips: “Wow!”
The worshiping psalmist and all those around in the temple respond to the display of Yahweh’s power with a similar mixture of fearful amazement and fascinated wonder. Their words may carry a more theological edge than my son’s “Wow!” but their explosive pronouncement of “Glory!” (29:9) exhibits a similar response of fascinated awe and fearful distance. It took a while for my son to return to business as usual that day, and I think he has continued to think of lightning differently ever since. What changed for him in that moment was his sudden new appreciation of the destructive potential of the powerful display. In that convulsive back flip, he acknowledged that the object of his fascination had also the power to harm—lightning was nothing to be fooled around with. It was more than just a beautiful display; it was uncontrollable power with the ability to destroy!
How long has it been since you were overwhelmed in this way by a sense of God’s powerful presence? Too often today God has become our “buddy” and “pal.” As Christians we sometimes become so comfortable with the salvation we have received in Christ that we forget just how undeserved it is. When we focus on God only as Redeemer, Savior, and friend, and not as powerful God, creator, and hater of sin and evil, it is easy (often unintentionally) to emasculate our understanding of God until he is like our human buddies and pals who accept us as we are and do not challenge us to change.
Isaiah did not equate the saving nature of God with “buddy-ship”! When he saw that “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty” (Isa. 6:3), he did not grin and slap God on the back. He didn’t even give him a friendly hug or handshake. Rather, he found himself prostrate on the ground, fearful even to look at God. This believing priest, who had performed all the required rituals of cleansing and preparation to serve God in the temple, was forced in this moment of revelation to acknowledge the deep-seated lack of holy character that separated himself from holy God, an emptiness that deserved divine judgment.
Similarly, Simon Peter in the New Testament found himself overwhelmed with such a clear sense of God’s power that resided in Jesus that he was knocked to his knees. After a long and unsuccessful night of fishing, an exhausted Peter responded rather reluctantly to Jesus’ request that he “put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4). Peter had no expectation that the endeavor would have any more success than the previous night’s hard work, but he complied simply because it was Jesus who asked. Suddenly the nets were overflowing, and the boat was so full of fish that it was in danger of sinking. And where was Peter? Not slapping Jesus on the back and laughing about his good fortune; instead, he found himself flat on his face at Jesus’ feet,16 acknowledging his sinfulness: “Go away from me, Lord, I am a sinful man!” (5:8).
When we really see God as he is—when his power and holiness is displayed for us—there should be no other appropriate response but to get on our knees in acknowledgment of just how far our lives, even at their very best, are removed from the holiness of God and just how undeserved is the gracious love and salvation that God pours out on us day by day.
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise him, for he is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, now to his temple draw near;
Join me in glad adoration!17