Псалом 29

The psalm belongs to David and is inscribed “at the renewal of the house.” By the latter we must mean the erection of an altar on the threshing floor of Orna the Jebusite, at the end of the pestilence (2 Kings 24; 1 Chronicles 21). This understanding of the inscription corresponds to the content of the psalm, which says that the Lord punished David for his self-confidence in the steadfastness of his greatness and strength (Ps. 29:7), but at his repentance “turned his lamentation into rejoicing” (Ps. 29:12). The pestilence was sent down by God after David enumerated his subjects, and this enumeration expressed David’s temporary intoxication with his strength and greatness, for which the Lord punished him. I exalt You, O Lord, because You did not let me perish (2-4). Let all the saints join in my praise (5-6). I received greatness from You, but I became self-confident, for which You, Lord, punished (8). I turned to You in prayer and You heard me; for this I will praise You forever (9–13). Ps.29:2. I will exalt You, Lord, that You raised me up and did not allow my enemies to triumph over me. “I will exalt You, O Lord,” explains v. 13, where David promises to praise the Lord forever. - “I did not allow my enemies to triumph over me” - it may be that David here meant the neighbors of the pagans, who did not take advantage of this case of the national calamity of the Jews to attack them, and in this David sees God’s mercy towards him. Ps.29:4. God! You brought my soul out of hell and revived me so that I would not go to the grave. The punishment sent by God on the Jews could also affect him. David even prayed to the Lord about this: since the pestilence was a consequence of his sin, let it break out over him and his house. Such a humble prayer by David softened the Lord’s anger and the plague stopped. David was filled with a grateful feeling towards God. Ps.29:6. For His wrath is for a moment, but His favor is for a lifetime: mourning may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. “His anger is for a moment, but His favor is for a lifetime.” David considered his act before God to be a deep insult to God, for which a heavy and long-lasting punishment should follow. The Lord condescended to him and the punishment that He sent, in its duration and consequences, is insignificant, a moment before the mercies with which the Lord always showered him. Ps.29:7. And I said in my prosperity: “I will never be shaken.” Ps.29:8. According to Your good pleasure, O Lord, You have strengthened my mountain; but You hid Your face, and I was troubled. David's sin, for which the Lord punished Him, was as follows. Having secured the borders of his state from enemies, intoxicated by military success and internal peace, he decided to make a count of his subjects. The act, in itself indifferent, was a crime before God for the internal motives for it: David reached the point of self-worship, forgot the Lord to whom he owed his successes in victories. It was for this that the Lord “hid His face” and sent punishment. Ps.29:10. “What good is my blood when I go to the grave? will the dust praise you? will He proclaim Your truth? Ps.29:11. Hear, O Lord, and have mercy on me; God! be my helper." David prayed to God for mercy because his death, an untimely death, would have deprived him of the opportunity to fulfill his purpose on earth - to glorify and praise the Lord, which is impossible in Sheol. Ps.29:12. And You turned my mourning into rejoicing, You took off my sackcloth and girded me with joy, “He took off my sackcloth” - a hairy, rough and tough garment worn to express sadness. - “He girded me with joy” - with his pardon and cessation of the pestilence, He filled David with a feeling of joy. You might be interested in: