Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
Psalms Ch.29 / 150 Ch.s
PS:29
* Exhortation to give glory to God.
- The mighty and honourable of the earth are especially bound to
honour and worship him; but, alas, few attempt to worship him in
the beauty of holiness. When we come before him as the Redeemer
of sinners, in repentance faith, and love, he will accept our
defective services, pardon the sin that cleaves to them, and
approve of that measure of holiness which the Holy Spirit
enables us to exercise. We have here the nature of religious
worship; it is giving to the Lord the glory due to his name. We
must be holy in all our religious services, devoted to God, and
to his will and glory. There is a beauty in holiness, and that
puts beauty upon all acts of worship. The psalmist here sets
forth God's dominion in the kingdom of nature. In the thunder,
and lightning, and storm, we may see and hear his glory. Let our
hearts be thereby filled with great, and high, and honourable
thoughts of God, in the holy adoring of whom, the power of
godliness so much consists. O Lord our God, thou art very great!
The power of the lightning equals the terror of the thunder. The
fear caused by these effects of the Divine power, should remind
us of the mighty power of God, of man's weakness, and of the
defenceless and desperate condition of the wicked in the day of
judgment. But the effects of the Divine word upon the souls of
men, under the power of the Holy Spirit, are far greater than
those of thunder storms in the nature world. Thereby the
stoutest are made to tremble, the proudest are cast down, the
secrets of the heart are brought to light, sinners are
converted, the savage, sensual, and unclean, become harmless,
gentle, and pure. If we have heard God's voice, and have fled
for refuge to the hope set before us, let us remember that
children need not fear their Father's voice, when he speaks in
anger to his enemies. While those tremble who are without
shelter, let those who abide in his appointed refuge bless him
for their security, looking forward to the day of judgment
without dismay, safe as Noah in the ark.