Psalms

PSALM 29^*

The Lord of Majesty Acclaimed as King of the World

I

Give to the LORD, you sons of God,^*

give to the LORD glory and might;

Bow down before the LORD’s holy splendor!^a

II

the God of glory thunders,

the LORD, over the mighty waters.

the voice of the LORD is splendor.^b

the LORD splinters the cedars of Lebanon,

and Sirion^* like a young bull.

the LORD shakes the desert of Kadesh.

and strips the forests bare.

All in his Temple say, “Glory!”

III

The LORD reigns as king forever!

may the LORD bless his people with peace!^d

* [Psalm 29] The hymn invites the members of the heavenly court to acknowledge God’s supremacy by ascribing glory and might to God alone (Ps 29:1–2a, 9b). Divine glory and might are dramatically visible in the storm (Ps 29:3–9a). The storm apparently comes from the Mediterranean onto the coast of Syria-Palestine and then moves inland. In Ps 29:10 the divine beings acclaim God’s eternal kingship. The Psalm concludes with a prayer that God will impart the power just displayed to the Israelite king and through the king to Israel.

* [29:1] Sons of God: members of the heavenly court who served Israel’s God in a variety of capacities.

* [29:3] The voice of the LORD: the sevenfold repetition of the phrase imitates the sound of crashing thunder and may allude to God’s primordial slaying of Leviathan, the seven-headed sea monster of Canaanite mythology.

* [29:6] Sirion: the Phoenician name for Mount Hermon, cf. Dt 3:9.

* [29:9b–10] Having witnessed God’s supreme power (Ps 29:3–9a), the gods acknowledge the glory that befits the king of the divine and human world.

* [29:10] The flood: God defeated the primordial waters and made them part of the universe, cf. Ps 89:10–13; 93:3–4.

* [29:11] His people: God’s people, Israel.

a. [29:2] Ps 68:35; 96:7–9.

b. [29:4] Ps 46:7; 77:18–19; Jb 37:4; Is 30:30.

c. [29:10] Bar 3:3.

d. [29:11] Ps 68:36.