MIDRASH TEHILLIM
1.....(29.2)
Ascribe to the LORD the glory of His name;
As Moshe said: "When I call out the name of the Lord, ascribe greatness to our God." (Devarim - Deuteronomy), that is, Offer prayers to God.
Moshe, when being asked, how many prayers we are are to offer? Answered, Mark how many times the ineffatble Name occurs in this Psalm. Told eighteent times, Moshe answered, You must offer eighteen benedictions.
1.
[29:1-A] - Ascribe to the LORD, O sons of mighty;
...that is sons of Abraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov
[Amidah-1] - ...God of Abraham, God of Yitzchak and God of Yaakov...
2.
[29:1-B] - ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
[Amidah-2] - ...Blessed are You LORD, who revives the dead.
3.
[29:2-A] - Ascribe to the LORD the glory of His name;
[Amidah-3] - You are holy and Your Name is holy......Blessed are You LORD, the holy God.
4.
[29:2-B] - prostrate yourselves to the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
...that is, worship the LORD who gives knowledge to the holy. "...the knowledge of the holy ones is understanding." (Mishlei - Proverbs 9:10)
[Amidah-4] - Blessed are You LORD, who graciously bestows knowledge.
5.
[29:3-A] - The voice of the Lord is upon the waters;
...that is, upon repentence, which is likened to water in the verse: "...they assembled at Mizpah, and drew water, and poured (it out) before the LORD, and they fasted on that day, and said there, 'We have sinned to the Lord'..." (Shmuel I -I Samuel 7:6)
[Amidah-5] - Blessed are You LORD, who desires penitence..
6.
[29:3-B] - the LORD is over the mighty waters.
...that is, You are a God that pardons iniquity, "...You shall cast into the depths of the sea all their sins." (Michah - Micah 7:19)
[Amidah-6] - Blessed are You LORD, gracious One who pardons.
7.
[29:4-A] - The voice of the LORD is within every force;
...that is,
A.
"...I will redeem you with an outstretched arm..." (Shemot - Exodus 6:6)
B.
God is described as - "...girded with the greatness of His strength..." (Yeshayahu - Isaiah 63:1)
[Amidah-7] - Blessed are You LORD, Redeemer of Israel.
8.
[29:4-B] - The voice of the LORD is a glorious voice
...that is, in healing the sick, He restores to them the glory of the health
[Amidah-8 - Blessed are You LORD, who heals the sick of His people Israel.
9.
[29:5-A] - The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars
The men who raise prises and give small measure, and the rich men who live in plenty and apear as strong as cedars, such men the LORD breaks to bits when He blesses His world by bringing low prices to it, thereby breaking the staff of wickedness.
[Amidah-9 - Blessed are You LORD, Blesser of the years.
10.
[29:5-B] - the LORD splinters the cedars of Lebanon.
...that is, the LORD breaks in pieces the wicked nations of the earth that stand high as cedars, "...whose height is as the height of the cedar trees..." (Amos 2:9)
[Amidah-10 - Blessed are You LORD, who gathers the dispersed of His people Israel..
11.
[29:7] - The voice of the LORD hewes out flames of fire.
...that is, the judgments hewn out of the LORD's word are like flames of fire.
A.
"Is not My word so like fire? says the Lord..." (Yirmiyahu - Jeremiah 23:29)
B.
"...with fire, will the Lord contend..." (Yeshayahu - Isaiah 66:16)
[Amidah-11 - Blessed are You LORD, King who loves righteousness and justice.
12.
[29:8-A] - The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness...
...that is, as the wilderness is barren, so the wicked men are barren, so barren in good deeds that the Holy One, blessed be HE, shakes them to pieces.
[Amidah-12 - Blessed are You LORD, who crushes enemies and subdues the wicked.
13.
[29:8-B] - the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh...
...that is, the righteous are in an exile which resembles the wilderness of Kadesh where there was no water for the people, "and the people settled in Kadesh" (Bamidbar - Numbers 20:1), and where water returned only because of the merit of Moshe and Aaron.
[Amidah-13 - Blessed are You LORD, the support and security of the righteous.
14.
[29:9] - ...in His Temple all say “Glory!”
Once the Messiah comes and punishes the wicked nations of the earth, the Temple will be rebuils forthwith.
[Amidah-14 - Blessed are You LORD, who rebuilds Jerusalem.
15.
[29:10-A] - The LORD sat [enthroned] at the flood;
...that is, When the LORD sat down during the deluge to judge the wicked, He listened to the prayers of those who came into Noah's ark. "And God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark, and God caused a spirit to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided." (Bereshit - Genesis 8:1)
[Amidah-16 - Blessed are You LORD, who hears prayer.
16.
[29:10-B] - the LORD sits as King forever.
...that is, called by Noah's offering, the LORD had pity upon the earth, as is said: "And the Lord smelled the pleasant aroma, and the Lord said to Himself, 'I will no longer curse the earth...' " (Bereshit - Genesis 8:21)
[Amidah-17 - Blessed are You LORD, who restores His Divine Presence to Zion.
17.
[29:11-A] - The LORD will give strength to His people;
...that is, Gives the goodly strength of Torah, of which God said: "For I gave you good teaching; forsake not My Torah." (Mishlei - Proverbs 4:2)
[Amidah-18 - ...may Your Name, our King, be continually blessed, exalted and extolled forever and all time.
18.
[29:11-B] - the LORD will bless his people with peace.
...that is, Gives the goodly strength of Torah, of which God said: "For I gave you good teaching; forsake not My Torah." (Mishlei - Proverbs 4:2)
[Amidah-19 - Blessed are You LORD, who blesses His people Israel with peace.