Psalm 29--Ascribe to the LORD Glory

Psalm 29
English Standard Version

Ascribe to the LORD Glory
A Psalm of David
.29 Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings,
    ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
    worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.

3 The voice of the LORD is over the waters;
    the God of glory thunders,
    the LORD, over many waters.
4 The voice of the LORD is powerful;
    the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.

5 The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;
    the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf,
    and Sirion like a young wild ox.

7 The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire.
8 The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness;
    the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

9 The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth
    and strips the forests bare,
    and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

​10 The LORD sits enthroned over the flood;
    the LORD sits enthroned as king forever.
11 May the LORD give strength to his people!
    May the LORD bless his people with peace!

---

This is definitely a psalm of praise and exaltation.  We are to worship the LORD with gladness because of who He is and what He has done, starting with His glory and strength, His great name, and His holiness.

The psalmist then turns to the majesty of the LORD as He is over all the waters (fills the whole earth, even the places open waters that the people considered to be evil) and He speaks through the power of the storms with the claps of thunder and the rolling thunder.

He is stronger than the cedars of Lebanon and can break them (they have very deep root systems that make them nearly impossible to topple, but this is not hard for God) and He even gives strength and vitality to the pagan nations of Lebanon and Syria. (referred to by the Syrian name for Mount Hermon here).  He works through "natural" disasters like wildfires and earthquakes, and He causes nature to both give life and to die.  All the people should cry "Glory" as they gather together in His temple for worship.

Again, the LORD is in control even of something that seems as out of control as a flood.  He is king forever!  Only after all of this praise does David make any requests of the LORD--that the LORD give His strength to His people and bless His people with peace.