Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 29:3

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 29:3. 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.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 29:0 God in the storm

On the occasion referred to here a furious storm displays to people something of the might and glory of God. The writer sees the storm approaching from the sea, bursting in its fury on the forest regions, then passing on into the barren areas to the south. He begins the psalm by urging heavenly beings to join with people on earth to worship God for his majesty and power (1-2).
The psalmist sees the storm gathering over the sea and approaching with the sound of loud thunder (3-4). It bursts in fury on the cedar forests of Lebanon, breaking trees like matchwood. It tosses them about with such wild power that the forest appears to be jumping around like a lively young animal (5-6). Flashes of lightning add their weird light as the wild wind moves south, shaking the forests as it goes (7-8). As the psalmist views the stripped forests and scattered wreckage left behind by the storm, he is humbled before a God of such awesome power. The whole scene speaks of the glory of the almighty God (9).
But God is more than the Lord of nature. He is the Lord of his people. He is the heavenly king, and just as he has the power to send storms and bring calm, so he is ready to bless his people with strength and peace (10-11).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

DESCRIPTION OF THE THUNDERSTORM

“The voice of Jehovah is upon the waters: The glory of God thundereth. Even Jehovah upon many waters. The voice of Jehovah is powerful; The voice of Jehovah is full of majesty.”

“The voice of Jehovah is upon the waters” (Psalms 29:3). In the land of Palestine, where David lived, such a statement clearly means that “It is thundering out in the Mediterranean Sea as a great thunderstorm approaches the land.” Another acceptable interpretation is that of Rawlinson who wrote that the “waters” mentioned here, “Are the waters stored in the clouds that float on high in the air.”The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 8, p. 212. Some writers have proposed that the “waters” are the “waters above the firmament, mentioned in Genesis 1:7.”The New Layman’s Bible Commentary, p. 618. This is true, of course, only if those “waters above the firmament” are truly interpreted as being “those billions of tons of water stored in the clouds.” (See a full discussion of this interpretation in our Commentary on Genesis, pp. 31,32.)

Delitzsch thought that, “The best understanding of, `The voice of Jehovah is upon the waters,’ is to take it as meaning the mass of water gathered together in the thick, black stormclouds,”F. Delitzsch, Vol. V, p. 369. then moving on to the land.

“The voice of Jehovah” (Psalms 29:3-4(twice), 5, 7, 8, 9). This remarkable phrase appears no less than seven times in the passage before us. That voice is here metaphorically presented as the thunder, bringing to mind instantly the reference in Revelation to the effect that, “The seven thunders uttered their voices” (Revelation 10:3).

The voice of the seven thunders here is plainly stated:

“The voice of Jehovah is upon the waters (Psalms 29:3). The voice of Jehovah is powerful (Psalms 29:4).
The voice of Jehovah is full of majesty (Psalms 29:4).
The voice of Jehovah breaketh the cedars (Psalms 29:5).
The voice of Jehovah cleaveth the flames of fire (Psalms 29:7).
The voice of Jehovah shaketh the wilderness (Psalms 29:8).
The voice of Jehovah maketh the hinds to calve (Psalms 29:9).”

“Upon the waters” (Psalms 29:3). It is not merely the thunder which the psalmist hears, “Jehovah himself is upon the waters,” as stated in the second line of this verse. It is indeed a true discernment of ultimate reality to find Almighty God Himself in the marvelous Creation which He made. God is in every blooming flower, in every sunrise or sunset; he is in the wings of the smallest humming bird, and in the incredible masses of the mighty snow-covered mountains; he is in the skies and seas, the grass and the trees, the songs of wild geese, and the swarms of the bees. As Elizabeth Barrett Browning put it:

“Every bush is aflame with God; But only he who sees takes off his shoes.”

David here saw the power and the glory of God in a thunderstorm. I remember taking my mother to see the Gulf of Mexico; and she said, “How can anyone see that and not believe in God?” Oh God, give us eyes to see!

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

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 to see the appropriateness of the expression. In heavy thunder it seems as if God spake. It comes from above. It fills us with awe. We know, indeed, that thunder as well as the other phenomena in the world, is produced by what are called “natural causes;” that there is no miracle in thunder; and that really God does not “speak” anymore in the thunder than he does in the sighing of the breeze or in the gurgling of the rivulet; but:

(a) He seems more impressively to speak to people in the thunder; and

(b) He may not improperly be regarded as speaking alike in the thunder, in the sighing of the breeze, and in the gurgling stream.

In each and all of these ways God is addressing men; in each and all there are lessons of great value conveyed, as if by His own voice, respecting His own existence and character. Those which are addressed to us particularly in thunder, pertain to His power, His majesty, His greatness; to our own weakness, feebleness, dependence; to the ease with which He could take us away, and to the importance of being prepared to stand before such a God. “Is upon the waters.” The word “is” is supplied here by our translators in italics. The whole passage might be read as an exclamation: “The voice of Jehovah upon the waters!” It is the utterance of one who is overpowered by a sudden clap of thunder. The mind is awed. God seems to speak; His voice is heard rolling over the waters. The psalm was most likely composed in view of the sea or a lake - not improbably in view of the Mediterranean, when a storm was passing over it. A thunderstorm is sublime anywhere, in mountain scenery or upon the plains, upon the land or upon the ocean; but there are circumstances which give it special grandeur at sea, when the thunder seems to “roll” along with nothing to check or break it, and when the sublimity is increased by the solitude which reigns everywhere on the ocean.

The God of glory - The glorious God. See the notes at Psalms 24:7-10.

The Lord is upon many waters - Yahweh Himself seems to be on the ocean. His voice is heard there, and He Himself appears to be there. The margin here is, “great waters.” This would seem to imply that the psalm was composed in view of waters more extended than a lake or a river, and sustains the idea above expressed, that it was in view of the great waters which must have been so familiar to the mind of the sacred writer - the waters of the Mediterranean.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

3.The voice of Jehovah is upon the waters. David now rehearses the wonders of nature which I have previously referred to; and well indeed does he celebrate the power of God as well as his goodness, in his works. As there is nothing in the ordinary course of nature, throughout the whole frame of heaven and earth, which does not invite us to the contemplation of God, he might have brought forward, as in Psalms 19:1, the sun and the stars, and the whole host of heaven, and the earth with its riches; but he selects only those works of God which prove not only that the world was at first created by him, and is governed by his power, but which also awaken the torpid, and drag them, as it were, in spite of themselves, humbly to adore him; as even Horace was compelled, though he was not only a heathen poet, but an Epicurean, and a vile contemner of Deity, to say of himself in one of his Odes, — (Lib. I. Ode 34.)

“A fugitive from heaven and prayer,
I mocked at all religious fear,
Deep scienced in the mazy lore
Of mad philosophy; but now
Hoist sail, and back my voyage plough
To that blest harbour which I left before.

“For, lo! that awful heavenly Sire,
Who frequent cleaves the clouds with fire,
Parent of day, immortal Jove;
Late through the floating fields of air,
The face of heaven serene and fair,
His thund’ring steeds, and winged chariot drove,” etc. ⁽⁶⁰⁹⁾

Experience, too, tells us that those who are most daring in their contempt of God are most afraid of thunderings, storms, and such like violent commotions. With great propriety, therefore, does the prophet invite our attention to these instances which strike the rude and insensible with some sense of the existence of a God, ⁽⁶¹⁰⁾ and rouse them to action, however sluggish and regardless they are. He says not that the sun rises from day to day, and sheds abroad his life-giving beams, nor that the rain gently descends to fertilise the earth with its moisture; but he brings forward thunders, violent tempests, and such things as smite the hearts of men with dread by their violence. God, it is true, speaks in all his creatures, but here the prophet mentions those sounds which rouse us from our drowsiness, or rather our lethargy, by the loudness of their noise. We have said, that this language is chiefly directed to those who with stubborn recklessness, cast from them, as far as they can, all thought of God. The very figures which he uses sufficiently declare, that David’s design was to subdue by fear the obstinacy which yields not willingly otherwise. Thrice he repeats that God’s voice is heard in great and violent tempests, and in the subsequent verse he adds, that it is full of power and majesty.

(609) Dr Francis’ Translation of Horace.

(610) “Qui contraignent les barbares et gens esbestez sentir qu’il y a un Dieu.” — Fr. “Which constrain the rude and insensible to feel that there is a God.”

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 29:1-11

Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength. Give to the LORD the glory that is due unto his name ( Psalms 29:1-2 );

We have told you how that they reverence the name of God. Now we are commanded, "Give the Lord that is glory, due His name; the name that is above all names,"

worship Jehovah in the beauty of holiness ( Psalms 29:2 ).

Now he speaks of the greatness of the Lord.

The voice of the LORD is upon the waters ( Psalms 29:3 ):

"The voice of the Lord, the voice of the Lord," this is Hebrew poetry in its finest form, the repetition. "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 is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. The voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars; yes, the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon. He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn. The voice of the LORD divides the flames of fire. The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the LORD makes the hinds to calve, and discovers the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory. The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yes, the LORD sitteth King for ever. The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace ( Psalms 29:3-11 ).

What glorious promises, "God will give you strength. God will bless you with peace." "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 29

David praised God for His awesome power as a consequence of contemplating a severe thunderstorm, either a real storm or one in his mind’s eye.

"David was an outdoorsman who appreciated nature and celebrated the power of Jehovah the Creator. Jewish worshipers today use this psalm in the synagogue as a part of their celebration of Pentecost." [Note: Wiersbe, The . . . Wisdom . . ., p. 147.]

Israel’s pagan neighbors gave the credit for storms and other natural phenomena to their gods. Consequently, this creation psalm was a polemic against belief in these idols, as well as a tribute to the uniqueness of Yahweh.

"Whether David was building the psalm out of an ancient fragment, or turning to a style that would recall the old battle-hymns of God’s salvation, the primitive vigour of the verse, with its eighteen reiterations of the name Yahweh (the Lord), wonderfully matches the theme, while the structure of the poem averts the danger of monotony by its movement from heaven to earth, by the path of the storm and by the final transition from nature in uproar to the people of God in peace." [Note: Kidner, pp. 124-25.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

David evidently saw the storm first over a large body of water, perhaps the Mediterranean Sea. He spoke of the thunder as God’s voice. This is an apt comparison, since thunder is a noise that comes from "heaven," i.e., the sky. However, he may also have used this figure to imply Yahweh’s control over His creation. God brought the creation into existence with a word (Genesis 1:3; Genesis 1:6; Genesis 1:9; Genesis 1:14; Genesis 1:20; Genesis 1:24).

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

2. Reasons to praise Yahweh 29:3-9

This section pictures a thunderstorm.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

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 paid their devotion to thunder and lightning: but this should be done to the author of them; which may be literally understood of thunder, and is the voice of the Lord; see Psalms 18:13; and which is commonly attended with large showers of rain, Jeremiah 10:13; and is very terrible upon the waters, and has its effect there, Psalms 104:7; and this is the rather mentioned, because that there is a God above, who is higher than the mighty, who are called upon to give glory to him, and because that thunder has been terrible to kings and great men of the earth; or this may be figuratively interpreted of the voice of Christ in the Gospel, which reaches to many nations and people, compared to waters,

Revelation 17:15. The disciples had a commission to preach it to all nations, and the sound of their words went into all the world, Romans 10:18;

the God of glory thundereth; this shows that thunder may be meant by the voice of the Lord, who is glorious in himself, and in all his works; and may be applied to the Gospel of Christ, who is the Lord of glory, and whose ministers, at least some of them, are sons of thunder; see 1 Corinthians 2:8;

the Lord [is] upon many waters; that is, his voice is, as before, which is thunder; and that this belongs to God, the Heathens were so sensible of, that they called their chief deity Jupiter Tonans z.

y Pausan. Arcad. sive l. 8. p. 503. z Horat. Epod. l. 5. Ode 2. v. 29. Martial. l. 2. Ep. 95.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

A psalm of David.

      1 Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength.   2 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.   3 The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon 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 breaketh the cedars; yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.   6 He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.   7 The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire.   8 The voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness; the LORD shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.   9 The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.   10 The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever.   11 The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.

      In this psalm we have,

      I. A demand of the homage of the great men of the earth to be paid to the great God. Every clap of thunder David interpreted as a call to himself and other princes to give glory to the great God. Observe, 1. Who they are that are called to this duty: "O you mighty (Psalms 29:1; Psalms 29:1), you sons of the mighty, who have power, and on whom that power is devolved by succession and inheritance, who have royal blood running in your veins!" It is much for the honour of the great God that the men of this world should pay their homage to him; and they are bound to do it, not only because, high as they are, he is infinitely above them, and therefore they must bow to him, but because they have their power from him, and are to use it for him, and this tribute of acknowledgment they owe to him for it. 2. How often this call is repeated; Give unto the Lord, and again, and a third time, Give unto the Lord. This intimates that the mighty men are backward to this duty and are with difficulty persuaded to it, but that it is of great consequence to the interests of God's kingdom among men that princes should heartily espouse them. Jerusalem flourishes when the kings of the earth bring their glory and honour into it,Revelation 21:24. 3. What they are called to do--to give unto the Lord, not as if he needed any thing, or could be benefited by any gifts of ours, nor as if we had any thing to give him that is not his own already (Who hath first given to him?), but the recognition of his glory, and of his dominion over us, he is pleased to interpret as a gift to him: "Give unto the Lord your own selves, in the first place, and then your services. Give unto the Lord glory and strength; acknowledge his glory and strength, and give praise to him as a God of infinite majesty and irresistible power; and whatever glory or strength he has by his providence entrusted you with offer it to him, to be used for his honour, in his service. Give him your crowns; let them be laid at his feet; give him your sceptres, your swords, your keys, put all into his hand, that you, in the use of them, may be to him for a name and a praise." Princes value themselves by their glory and strength; these they must ascribe to God, owning him to be infinitely more glorious and powerful than they. This demand of homage from the mighty must be looked upon as directed either to the grandees of David's own kingdom, the peers of the realm, the princes of the tribes (and it is to excite them to a more diligent and constant attendance at God's altars, in which he had observed them very remiss), or to the neighbouring kings whom he by his sword had made tributaries to Israel and now would persuade to become tributaries to the God of Israel. Crowned heads must bow before the King of kings. What is here said to the mighty is said to all: Worship God; it is the sum and substance of the everlasting gospel, Revelation 14:6; Revelation 14:7. Now we have here, (1.) The nature of religious worship; it is giving to the Lord the glory due to his name,Psalms 29:2; Psalms 29:2. God's name is that whereby he has made himself known. There is a glory due to his name. It is impossible that we should give him all the glory due to his name; when we have said and done out best for the honour of God's name, still we come infinitely short of the merit of the subject; but when we answer that revelation which he has made of himself, with suitable affections and adorations, then we give him some of that glory which is due to his name. If we would, in hearing and praying, and other acts of devotion, receive grace from God, we must make it our business to give glory to God. (2.) The rule of the performance of religious exercises; Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness, which denotes, [1.] The object of our worship; the glorious majesty of God is called the beauty of holiness,2 Chronicles 20:21. In the worship of God we must have an eye to his beauty, and adore him, not only as infinitely awful and therefore to be feared above all, but as infinitely amiable and therefore to be loved and delighted in above all; especially we must have an eye to the beauty of his holiness; this the angels fasten upon in their praises, Revelation 4:8. Or, [2.] The place of worship. The sanctuary then was the beauty of holiness,Psalms 48:1; Psalms 48:2; Jeremiah 17:12. The beauty of the sanctuary was the exact agreement of the worship there performed with the divine appointment--the pattern in the mount. Now, under the gospel, solemn assemblies of Christians (which purity is the beauty of) are the places where God is to be worshipped. Or, [3.] The manner of worship. We must be holy in all our religious performances, devoted to God, and to his will and glory. There is a beauty in holiness, and it is that which puts an acceptable beauty upon all the acts of worship.

      II. Good reason given for this demand. We shall see ourselves bound to give glory to God if we consider,

      1. His sufficiency in himself, intimated in his name Jehovah--I am that I am, which is repeated here no fewer than eighteen times in this short psalm, twice in every verse but three, and once in two of those three; I do not recollect that there is the like in all the book of psalms. Let the mighty ones of the earth know him by this name and give him the glory due to it.

      2. His sovereignty over all things. Let those that rule over men know there is a God that rules over them, that rules over all. The psalmist here sets forth God's dominion,

      (1.) In the kingdom of nature. In the wonderful effects of natural causes, and the operations of the powers of nature, we ought to take notice of God's glory and strength, which we are called upon to ascribe to him; in the thunder, and lightning, and rain, we may see, [1.] His glory. It is the God of glory that thunders (thunders is the noise of his voice,Job 37:2), and it declares him a God of glory, so awful is the sound of the thunder, and so bright the flash of its companion, the lightning; to the hearing and to the sight nothing is more affecting than these, as if by those two learning senses God would have such proofs of his glory to the minds of men as should leave the most stupid inexcusable. Some observe that there were then some particular reasons why thunder should be called the voice of the Lord, not only because it comes from above, is not under the direction or foresight of any man, speaks aloud, and reaches far, but because God often spoke in thunder, particularly at Mount Sinai, and by thunder discomfited the enemies of Israel. To speak it the voice of the God of glory, it is here said to be upon the water, upon many waters (Psalms 29:3; Psalms 29:3); it reaches over the vast ocean, the waters under the firmament; it rattles among the thick clouds, the waters above the firmament. Every one that hears the thunder (his ear being made to tingle with it) will own that the voice of the Lord is full of majesty (Psalms 29:4), enough to make the highest humble (for none can thunder with a voice like him) and the proudest tremble--for, if his voice be so terrible, what is his arm? Every time we hear it thunder, let our hearts be thereby filled with great, and high, and honourable thoughts of God, in the holy adorings and admirings of whom the power of godliness does so much consist. O Lord our God! thou art very great. [2.] His power (Psalms 29:4; Psalms 29:4): The voice of the Lord is powerful, as appears by the effects of it; for it works wonders. Those that write natural histories relate the prodigious effects of thunder and lightning, even out of the ordinary course of natural causes, which must be resolved into the omnipotence of the God of nature. First, Trees have been rent and split by thunderbolts, Psalms 29:5; Psalms 29:6. The voice of the Lord, in the thunder, often broke the cedars, even those of Lebanon, the strongest, the stateliest. Some understand it of the violent winds which shook the cedars, and sometimes tore off their aspiring tops. Earthquakes also shook the ground itself on which the trees grew, and made Lebanon and Sirion to dance; the wilderness of Kadesh also was in like manner shaken (Psalms 29:8; Psalms 29:8), the trees by winds, the ground by earthquakes, and both by thunders, of which I incline rather to understand it. The learned Dr. Hammond understands it of the consternations and conquest of neighbouring kingdoms that warred with Israel and opposed David, as the Syrians, whose country lay near the forest of Lebanon, the Amorites that bordered on Mount Hermon, and the Moabites and Ammonites that lay about the wilderness of Kadesh. Secondly. Fires have been kindled by lightnings and houses and churches thereby consumed; hence we read of hot thunderbolts (Psalms 78:48); accordingly the voice of the Lord, in the thunder, is here said to divide the flames of fire (Psalms 29:7; Psalms 29:7), that is, to scatter them upon the earth, as God sees fit to direct them and do execution by them. Thirdly, The terror of thunder makes the hinds to calve sooner, and some think more easily, than otherwise they would. The hind is a timourous creature, and much affected with the noise of thunder; and no marvel, when sometimes proud and stout men have been made to tremble at it. The emperor Caligula would hide himself under his bed when it thundered. Horace, the poet, owns that he was reclaimed from atheism by the terror of thunder and lightning, which he describes somewhat like this of David, lib. 1, ode 34. The thunder is said here to discover the forest, that is, it so terrifies the wild beasts of the forest that they quit the dens and thickets in which they hid themselves are so are discovered. Or it throws down the trees, and so discovers the ground that was shaded by them. Whenever it thunders let us think of this psalm; and, whenever we sing this psalm, let us think of the dreadful thunder-claps we have sometimes heard, and thus bring God's words and his works together, that by both we may be directed and quickened to give unto him the glory due unto his name; and let us bless him that there is another voice of his besides this dreadful one, by which God now speaks to us, even the still small voice of his gospel, the terror of which shall not make us afraid.

      (2.) In the kingdom of providence, Psalms 29:10; Psalms 29:10. God is to be praised as the governor of the world of mankind. He sits upon the flood; he sits King for ever. He not only sits at rest in the enjoyment of himself, but he sits as King in the throne which he has prepared in the heavens (Psalms 103:19), where he takes cognizance of, and gives orders about, all the affairs of the children of men, and does all according to his will, according to the counsel of his will. Observe, [1.] The power of his kingdom: He sits upon the flood. As he has founded the earth, so he has founded his own throne, upon the floods, Psalms 24:2. The ebbings and flowings of this lower world, and the agitations and revolutions of the affairs in it, give not the least shake to the repose nor to the counsels of the Eternal Mind. The opposition of his enemies is compared to the flood (Psalms 93:3; Psalms 93:4); but the Lord sits upon it; he crushes it, conquers it, and completes his own purposes in despite of all the devices that are in men's hearts. The word here translated the flood is never used but concerning Noah's flood; and therefore some think it is that which is here spoken of. God did sit upon that flood as a Judge executing the sentence of his justice upon the world of the ungodly that was swept away by it. And he still sits upon the flood, restraining the waters of Noah, that they turn not again to cover the earth, according to his promise never to destroy the earth any more by a flood,Genesis 9:11; Isaiah 54:9. [2.] The perpetuity of his kingdom; He sits King for ever; no period can, or shall, be put to his government. The administration of his kingdom is consonant to his counsels from eternity and pursuant to his designs for eternity.

      (3.) In the kingdom of grace. Here his glory shines most brightly, [1.] In the adorations he receives from the subjects of that kingdom (Psalms 29:9; Psalms 29:9). In his temple, where people attend his discoveries of himself and his mind and attend him with their praises, every one speaks of his glory. In the world every man sees it, or at least may behold it afar off (Job 36:25); but it is only in the temple, in the church, that it is spoken of to his honour. All his works do praise him (that is, they minister matter for praise), but his saints only do bless him, and speak of his glory of his works, Psalms 145:10. [2.] In the favours he bestows upon the subjects of that kingdom, Psalms 29:11; Psalms 29:11. First, He will qualify them for his service: He will give strength to his people, to fortify them against every evil work and to furnish them for every good work; out of weakness they shall be made strong; nay, he will perfect strength in weakness. Secondly, He will encourage them in his service: He will bless his people with peace. Peace is a blessing of inestimable value, which God designs for all his people. The work of righteousness is peace (great peace have those that love thy law); but much more the crown of righteousness: the end of righteousness is peace; it is endless peace. When the thunder of God's wrath shall make sinners tremble the saints shall lift up their heads with joy.