Psalms 29:1-2

Psalm 29 ¹ 

A psalm of David.

29:1 Acknowledge the Lord, you heavenly beings, ² 

acknowledge the Lord’s majesty and power! ³ 

29:2 Acknowledge the majesty of the Lord’s reputation! ⁴ 

Worship the Lord in holy attire! ⁵ 

Psalms 50:23

50:23 Whoever presents a thank-offering honors me. ⁶ 

To whoever obeys my commands, I will reveal my power to deliver.” ⁷ 

Psalms 106:13

106:13 They quickly forgot what he had done; ⁸ 

they did not wait for his instructions. ⁹ 

Isaiah 42:12

42:12 Let them give the Lord the honor he deserves; ¹⁰ 

let them praise his deeds in the coastlands. ¹¹ 

Revelation 14:7

14:7 He declared ¹²  in a loud voice: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has arrived, and worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water!”

¹ sn Psalm 29. In this hymn of praise the psalmist calls upon the heavenly assembly to acknowledge the royal splendor of the Lord. He describes the Lord’s devastating power as revealed in the thunderstorm and affirms that the Lord exerts this awesome might on behalf of his people. In its original context the psalm was a bold polemic against the Canaanite storm god Baal, for it affirms that the Lord is the real king who controls the elements of the storm, contrary to pagan belief. See R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “The Polemic against Baalism in Israel’s Early History and Literature,” BSac 150 (1994): 280-82.

² tc Heb “sons of gods,” or “sons of God.” Though אֵלִים (’elim) is vocalized as a plural form (“gods”) in the MT, it is likely that the final mem is actually enclitic, rather than a plural marker. In this case one may read “God.” Some, following a Qumran text and the LXX, also propose the phrase occurred in the original text of Deut 32:8.

³ tn Or “ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.”

⁴ tn Heb “ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name.” The Hebrew term שֵׁם (shem, “name”) refers here to the Lord’s reputation. (The English term “name” is often used the same way.)

⁵ tn That is, properly dressed for the occasion.

⁶ sn The reference to a thank-offering recalls the earlier statement made in v. 14. Gratitude characterizes genuine worship.

⁷ tn Heb “and [to one who] sets a way I will show the deliverance of God.” Elsewhere the phrase “set a way” simply means “to travel” (see Gen 30:36; cf. NRSV). The present translation assumes an emendation of וְשָׂם דֶּרֶךְ (vÿsam derekh) to וְשֹׁמֵר דְּרָכַּי (vÿshomer dÿrakhay, “and [the one who] keeps my ways” [i.e., commands, see Pss 18:21; 37:34). Another option is to read וְשֹׁמֵר דַּרְכּוֹ (vÿshomer darko, “and [the one who] guards his way,” i.e., “the one who is careful to follow a godly lifestyle”; see Ps 39:1).

⁸ tn Heb “his works.”

⁹ tn Heb “his counsel.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “Let them ascribe to the Lord glory.”

¹¹ tn Heb “and his praise in the coastlands [or “islands”] let them declare.”

¹² tn Grk “people, saying.” In the Greek text this is a continuation of the previous sentence. For the translation of λέγω (legw) as “declare,” see BDAG 590 s.v. 2.e.