Psalms 29:3

The voice of the Lord [is] upon the waters,.... What follows concerning thunder, the voice of the Lord, gives so many reasons why he should have glory given him and be worshipped; the Heathens (y)

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, i.e. thunder, as is manifest from the next clause, and the following effects; which is oft called the Lord’ s voice, as ,28,29 Job 37:4,5 Psalms 18:14 46:6. Upon the waters; either, 1. Upon the seas; where its noise spreads far and wide, and is very terrible. But the following verses speak of the effects of it upon the earth only. Or rather, 2. Above in the clouds, which are called waters, , because they are of a watery substance. And this circumstance is considerable here, to magnify the Divine power, which displayeth itself in those high places, which are far above the reach of all earthly potentates, and from whence he can easily and unavoidably smite all that dwell upon the earth, and will not submit to him. Upon many waters, i.e. upon the clouds, in which there are vast treasures of water, and upon which God is said to sit or ride, ,11 104:3.

Psalms 29:3 The voice of the LORD [is] upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD [is] upon many waters.Ver. 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. Natural causes there are assigned of it; but we must not stick in them, as Epicurus and his hogs would have us. (The ancient Romans said Deus tonat, Deus fulgurat, for which now tonat, fulgurat.) The best philosophy in this behalf is to hear God Almighty by his thunder speaking unto us from heaven, as if he were present; and to see him in his lightnings, 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 dreadful, even to the greatest atheists; as it was to Caius Caligula, that potent emperor, ready to run into a mouse hole in a time of thunder (Sueton.). 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 clappers duck net at this rattle in the air, though they do at a far smaller matter. So, many tremble not at God’ s terrible threats, that yet are afraid of a penal statute. The Lord is upon many waters] viz. When he thundereth. 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 general 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.

(3) The voice.—The invocation to the angels over, the storm bursts, and seven successive peals of thunder mark its course of fury and destruction. It is first heard rolling over the waters from the west (comp. 1 Kings 18:44), unless the “waters” and “many waters,” as in Psalms 18:11-12, refer to the gathered masses of rain-cloud, when we might compare “Then broke the thunder Like a whole sea overhead.” : Pippa Passes. The Hebrew kôl (“voice”), used also of any loud sound (2 Samuel 15:10, of the trumpet; Ezekiel 1:24, of water), is sometimes used (Genesis 4:10; Isaiah 52:8) to call attention, like our “Hark !” So Ewald here. Others refer it to the thunder, as in Psalms 77:18; but it seems better to take it for the combined noise of the storm, thunder, wind, and rain, as in Shakespeare— “The gods who keep this pudder o’er our heads.”

Verse 3. The voice of the Lord] THUNDER, so called, Exodus 9:23, Exodus 9:28-29; Job 37:4; Psalms 18:13; Isaiah 30:30. On this subject see the note on Job 37:4, where there is a particular description of the nature and generation of thunder; and of the lightning, clap, rain, and other phenomena which accompany it. Upon many waters.] The clouds, which Moses calls the waters which are above the firmament.

3–9. The exhibition of Jehovah’s power which is the ground of the opening call to praise. His voice is heard in the pealing of the thunder above the storm-clouds (Psalms 29:3-4); the storm bursts, it shatters the cedars and shakes the mountains in the far north (Psalms 29:5-6); the lightnings flash (Psalms 29:7); the deserts to the far south with their affrighted denizens tremble (Psalms 29:8-9); and over all resounds the chorus, Glory (Psalms 29:9 b). The seven times repeated voice of the Lord is like successive peals of thunder.

The voice of the Lord - The voice of Yahweh. There can be no doubt that the expression here, which is seven times repeated in the psalm, “the voice of Jehovah,” refers to thunder; and no one can fail

3. The voice of the Lord—This poetic name for thunder (Job 37:4; Job 40:9) has a sevenfold repetition, and is probably the type and basis of the apocalyptic “seven thunders,” (Revelation 10:3-4,) as