Just as the eighth psalm is to be read by moonlight, when the stars are bright; as the nineteenth needs the rays of the rising sun to bring out its beauty, so this can be best rehearsed beneath the black wing of the tempest. The verses march to the tune of thunderbolts. God is everywhere conspicuous, and all the earth is hushed by the majesty of His presence. The Word of God in the Law and the Gospel is here also depicted in its majesty of power. True ministers are "sons of thunder", and the voice of God in Christ is full of majesty. C.H.S.
Verses 1 & 2. "Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and strength … worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." Let crowns and swords acknowledge their dependence upon God. Not to your arms, O kings, give ye the glory, nor look for your strength to your hosts of warriors, for all your pomp is but a fading flower, and your might is but a shadow that declineth. When shall the day arrive when kings and princes shall count it their delight to glorify their God? "All worship be to God alone"; let this be emblazoned on every coat of arms. See the call to worship in these two verses chiming in with the loud pealing thunder, which is the church bell of the universe ringing kings and angels, and all the sons of earth to their devotions.
C. H. Spurgeon
Verse 4. "The voice of the Lord is powerful …" And yet, Thou art not so great and wonderful in creating worlds out of nothing as Thou art when Thou dost command a rebel heart to arise from its abyss of sin, and to run in the ways of Thy commandments. To disperse a chaos of crime and ignorance by the majesty of Thy word, manifests in far greater measure Thine omnipotence than the calling forth of heavenly laws and celestial suns from the first chaos.
J. B. Massillon
Verse 4. "The voice of the Lord is powerful …" Sermon – The Power and Majesty of the Gospel. Divisions —
Hints to the Village Preacher
Verse 7. "The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire." By the power of God "the flames of fire" are "divided" and sent abroad from the clouds upon the earth, in the terrible form of lightening, that sharp and glittering sword of the Almighty, which no substance can withstand. The same power of God goeth forth by His Word, "quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword," penetrating, melting, enlightening, and inflaming the hearts of men.
George Horne
Verse 8. "The voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness …" That is, the Lord by the voice of the gospel shall go forth with power to those Gentiles who are like a wilderness, though they dwell in well-governed cities, and are well furnished with morals. He shall go forth also to those Gentiles who inhabit waste wildernesses, and are not so much as civilised. These wildernesses the voice of the Lord has shaken before, and shakes at this day, and will yet further shake that the fulness of the Gentiles may come in. Many of these wildernesses has the Lord turned into fruitful field by the voice of the gospel sounding forth among them.
Joseph Caryl
Verse 11. "The Lord will give strength unto His people; the Lord will bless his people with peace." There is a threefold peace: – External, Internal, Eternal. External peace is the blessing; Internal peace is grace; Eternal peace is the glory. As in a stately palace there is a lodge that leads into the inmost godly rooms, so External peace is the entrance or introduction to the Inward lodgings of the sweet peace of conscience, and of that Eternal peace which we shall know in heaven at last through Christ our Lord.
Ephraim Udall
Luther's great discovery –
"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God."Romans 5:1.
