Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley, [1754-65], at sacred-texts.com
Psalms 29:1
psa 29:1
Ye - Ye potentates and rulers of the earth. Glory - By an humble and thankful acknowledgment of it.
Psalms 29:2
psa 29:2
Give, &c. - The honour which he deserves: own him as the Almighty, and the only true God. Holiness - Or, in his holy and beautiful house.
Psalms 29:3
psa 29:3
The waters - Above in the clouds, which are called waters, Gen 1:7; Psa 18:11. The Divine power displays itself in those high places, which are far above the reach of all earthly potentates. Many - Upon the clouds, in which there are vast treasures of water, and upon which God is said to sit or ride, Psa 18:10-11, Psa 104:3.
Psalms 29:5
psa 29:5
Lebanon - A place famous for strong and lofty cedars.
Psalms 29:6
psa 29:6
Them - The cedars; which being broken by the thunder, the parts of them are suddenly and violently hurled hither and thither. Sirion - An high mountain beyond Jordan joining to Lebanon. Lebanon and Sirion are said to skip or leap, both here, and Psa 114:4, by a poetical hyperbole.
Psalms 29:7
psa 29:7
The flames - The lightnings.
Psalms 29:8
psa 29:8
Kadesh - An eminent wilderness, vast and terrible, and well known to the Israelites, and wherein possibly they had seen, and observed some such effects of thunder.
Psalms 29:9
psa 29:9
To calve - Through the terror it causes, which hastens the birth. He names the hinds, because they bring forth their young with difficulty, Job 39:1-2. Discovereth - Heb. maketh bare, of its trees, which it breaks or strips of their leaves. Glory - Having shewed the terrible effects of God's power in other places, he now shews the blessed privilege of God's people, that are praising God in his temple, when the rest of the world are trembling under the tokens of his displeasure.
Psalms 29:10
psa 29:10
The flood - The most violent waters, which sometimes fall from the clouds upon the earth. These are fitly mentioned, as being many times the companions of great thunders. And this may be alleged as another reason, why God's people praised him in his temple, because as he sends terrible tempests and thunders, so he also restrains and over - rules them. Sitteth - He doth sit, and will sit as king for ever, sending such tempests when it pleaseth him.