a voice or sound · noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD
יְהוָ֨הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
hinds
אַיָּלוֹת֮'ai.ya.lOt
H355
a doe or female deer · noun, common feminine plural absolute
calve
יְחוֹלֵ֣לye.cho.Lel
H2342
properly · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
discovereth
וַֽיֶּחֱשֹׂ֪ףvai.ye.che.Sof
H2834
to strip off · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
forests
יַעֲרָהyaʻărâh
H3295
a copse of bushes
temple
וּבְהֵיכָל֑וֹu.ve.hei.kha.Lo
H1964
a large public building · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
speak
אֹמֵ֥ר'o.Mer
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
glory
כָּבֽוֹדka.Vod
H3519
properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 46:2-5 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
Job 39:1-3 Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? or canst thou mark when the hinds do calve?
Psalms 26:8 LORD, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth.
Psalms 48:9 We have thought of thy lovingkindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple.
Ezekiel 20:46-48 Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and drop thy word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the south field;
Psalms 134:1-2 Behold, bless ye the LORD, all ye servants of the LORD, which by night stand in the house of the LORD.
Psalms 135:1-2 Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the name of the LORD; praise him, O ye servants of the LORD.
Isaiah 9:18 For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mo…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 29:1–end
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 (Psa 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…
Terror-stricken animals and denuded forests close the illustration. In view of this scene of awful sublimity, God's worshippers respond to the call of Psa 29:2, and speak or cry, "Glory!" By "temple," or "palace" (God's residence, Psa 5:7), may here be meant heaven, or the whole frame of nature, as the angels are called on for praise.
John Gill on Psalms 29:9
The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve,.... Which being timorous creatures, the bringing forth of their young, which is naturally very painful and difficult, is lessened and facilitated by thunder; they being either so frightened with it that they feel not their pains; or their pains, being hastened by it, become more easy; and naturalists observe, that the time of bringing forth their young is at that season of the year when thunder is most frequent; see Job 39:1. Thunder has a like effect on sheep, and makes them abortive (g): this may be applied to the Gospel, which is the means of bringing forth souls to Christ by his churches and ministers; who may very fitly be compared to hin…
Psalm 29:9-11
9. The voice of Jehovah maketh the hinds to bring forth, and discovereth [or maketh bare] the forests, and in his temple every one speaketh of his praise. 10. Jehovah sitteth upon the flood; Jehovah, I say, sitteth king for ever. 11. Jehovah will give strength to his people; Jehovah will bless his people with peace.
9. The voice of Jehovah maketh the hinds to bring forth [615] A tacit comparison, as I have said, is here made. It is worse than irrational, it is monstrous, that men are not moved at God's voice, when it has such power and influence on wild beasts. It is base ingratitude, indeed, in men not to perceive his providence and government in the whole course of nature;…
The Church Fathers
Now, he called "woods" the idols' precincts as being utterly fruitless; these are the kinds of woods or coppices that the best woodcutters are accustomed to chop down, leaving the earth bare of them, and they plant fruitbearing trees and sow seeds of edible crops. The cultivators of the world did this, too: pulling up idols' precincts by the roots, they planted the divine churches in their place.
"The Voice of the Lord perfecting the stags" [Psalm 29:9]. For the Voice of the Lord has first perfected them that overcame and repelled the envenomed tongues. "And will reveal the woods." And then will He reveal to them the darknesses of the Divine books, and the shadowy depths of the mysteries, where they feed with freedom. "And in His temple does every man speak of His glory." And in His Church all born again to an eternal hope praise God, each for His own gift, which He has received from the Holy Spirit.
One who is in the temple of God does not speak out abuse or folly or words full of shameful matters, but "in his temple all shall speak his glory." … This one duty, referring glory to the Creator, belongs to every army of heavenly creatures. Every creature, whether silent or uttering sound, whether celestial or terrestrial, gives glory to the Creator. But wretched people who leave their homes and run to the temple, as if to enrich themselves somewhat, do not lend their ears to the words of God; they do not possess a knowledge of their nature; they are not distressed, although they have previously committed sin; they do not grieve at remembering their sins, nor do they fear the judgment; but, smiling and shaking hands with one another, they make the house of prayer a place of lengthy conversation, pretending not to hear the psalm that solemnly protests and says, "In the temple of God all shall speak his glory." You not only do not speak his glory, but you even become a hindrance to the other, turning his attention to yourself and drowning out the teaching of the spirit by your own clamor. See to it that you do not at some time leave condemned along with those blaspheming the name of God instead of receiving a reward for glorifying him. You have a psalm; you have a prophecy, the evangelical precepts, the preachings of the apostles. Let the tongue sing, let the mind interpret the meaning of what has been said, that you may sing with your spirit, that you may sing likewise with your mind. Not at all is God in need of glory, but he wishes you to be worthy of winning glory. Therefore, "what a person sows, he will also reap." Sow glorification, that you may reap crowns and honors and praises in the kingdom of heaven. This statement, "In his temple all shall speak his glory," was made not unfittingly in a digression, because some in the temple of God talk endlessly until their tongue aches; and these enter without profit.
Dictionary and topics
Hind — Heb. ‘ayalah (2 Sam. 22:34; Ps. 18:33, etc.) and ‘ayeleth (Ps. 22, title), the female of the hart or stag. It is referred to as an emblem of activity (Gen. 49:21), gentleness (Prov. 5:19), feminine…
Thunder — Often referred to in Scripture (Job 40:9; Ps. 77:18; 104:7). James and John were called by our Lord “sons of thunder” (Mark 3:17). In Job 39:19, instead of “thunder,” as in the Authorized Version,…
Abortion · Of animals, — Of animals,
Forests · The power of God extends over — The power of God extends over
Hart, The · Female of: Brings forth at the voice of God — Female of: Brings forth at the voice of God
Meteorology And Celestial Phenomena · 9:7;26:7,8,11;27:20,21;28:24-27;29:19;36:27-33;37:6-22;38:8-11,22,24-29,31-35,37; — 9:7;26:7,8,11;27:20,21;28:24-27;29:19;36:27-33;37:6-22;38:8-11,22,24-29,31-35,37;
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Now follows the description of the revelation of God's power, which is the ground of the summons, and is to be the subject-matter of their praise. The All-glorious One makes Himself heard in the language (Rev 10:3.) of the thunder, and reveals Himself in the storm. There are fifteen lines, which naturally arrange themselves into three five-line strophes. The chief matter with the poet, however, is the sevenfold קול ה. Although קול is sometimes used almost as an ejaculatory "Hark!" (Gen 4:10; Isa 52:8), this must not, with Ewald (286, f), be applied to the קול ה of the Psalm before us, the theme of which is the voice of God, who announced Himself from heaven - a voice which moves the world. T…
The wilderness of Kadesh was located south of Judah. God’s voice can be heard throughout the land, from the north (29:6) to the south.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 29:9
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.
The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve, those timid creatures, in deadly fear of the tempest, drop their burdens in an untimely manner. Perhaps a better reading is, "the oaks to tremble, "especially as this agrees with the next sentence, and discovereth the forests. The dense shades of the forest are lit up with the lurid glare of the lightning, and even the darkest recesses are for a moment laid bare.
"The gloomy woods
Start at the flash, and from their deep recesses
Wide flaming out, their trembling inmates shake."
Our first parents sought a refug…