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 

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.