Psalms · Psalm 29

"Prepare for the Lord" — Heb. הבו. Prepare for the Lord and prepare for Him, you sons of the mighty of the land. From here we derive the ruling that [for the first blessing of the Amidah prayer] we should say the blessing אבות, the Patriarchs (Meg. 17b, R.H. 32b, Mid. Ps. 29:2). But Menachem (p. 68) associated הבו as an expression of giving. "mighty" — Heb. אלים, princes. "prepare for the Lord glory and might" — From here we derive that [for the second blessing of the Amidah prayer] we should say the blessing of גבורות, mighty deeds.

'A psalm. Ascribe to Hashem, O sons of might' — 'Ascribe' (הָבוּ): perhaps the vowel of the ה changes on account of the guttural letter [that follows], like 'that which you shall bake, bake.' And 'sons of might' — these are the stars, and the proof is: 'when the morning stars sang together,' and after it: 'and all the sons of God shouted for joy' — the sense being doubled [i.e., a parallelism]. The reason for mentioning the stars is that, according to their courses, the rains come down with the help of the God of gods. And he mentions 'ascribe to Hashem' a second time, for this is always the pattern, as in: 'the floods have lifted up, Hashem.' And the sense of 'ascribe to Hashem' — repeated, in the manner of 'give strength' — that you acknowledge that strength and glory belong to the Name alone. And the sense of 'and bow down' — like the bowing of a servant to his master, in his willingness to do what he commands him. And the sense is: that the stars have no ability to change their motion and the paths of their courses.

"A Psalm of David. Ascribe to Hashem, O you sons of might, Ascribe to Hashem glory and strength" — "Ascribe to Hashem" is like "Give to Hashem glory, give strength to God" (Psalms 68:35). And this giving is through speech and thanksgiving. And the repetition [of the phrase] follows the manner of the language, to reinforce the matter. And he repeats it once more, and says:

"Sons of might" — these are the angels. "Ascribe to Hashem" — he returns and explains what [is to be ascribed], saying, "Ascribe to Hashem glory and strength" — meaning, praise Him and declare that the glory and the strength belong to Hashem.

"Ascribe" — give, as in "give me my wife" (Genesis 29); he means to say: utter with the mouth and declare, as in "nor did he charge [Him] with anything unseemly" (Job 1). "Sons of might" — mighty ones, as in "the mighty rams of Moab" (Exodus 15).

"A psalm of David" — This was composed concerning a destruction and flood that occurred at that time in the regions of Syria: through a storm and a raging tempest, through a torrent and flood of many waters, through fire, flames, thunders, and terrible lightning bolts that uproot cedars and shatter rocks, through the raging and roaring that circled from the desert of Za'ara to all the borders of the land, from south to north, from the desert to Lebanon — [a storm] in which all four enduring elements, the foundations of the earth, were aroused to swallow it and destroy it. Yet when these terrible sons of might came to the Holy Land, there they bowed their heads, there they prostrated themselves and trembled before the King of glory, exalted and lifted up, who dwells in His palace in holy majesty; there the fire subsided and the storm settled into stillness, and Hashem blessed His people with peace. "Ascribe to Hashem" — prepare yourselves for Hashem, to be His messengers and agents. You, "sons of might"! You exalted forces of nature, prepare yourselves for Hashem who sends you to carry out His word. "Ascribe" — prepare yourselves for Hashem to be His agents. You are "glory and strength"! You are sons of might, through whom the glory of Hashem, His strength, and His mighty deeds are made manifest.

"the glory due His name" — This is the blessing of the sanctity of the Name [the third blessing of the Amidah]. In this psalm, there are eighteen mentions of God’s name, and corresponding to them, they instituted eighteen blessings.

"Ascribe to Hashem the glory due to His name; Worship Hashem in the beauty of holiness" — that you should give Him, with your words, the glory and the sanctification. For "hadar" [beauty/majesty] is [the same as] "kavod" [glory/honor], as in (Leviticus 19:32): "and you shall honor [ve-hadarta] the face of an old man."

"The glory due to His name" — the glory that is fitting for His name, for all His names indicate His glory. "In the beauty [of holiness]" — in the place that is adorned in holiness, which is the Temple (Beit HaMikdash).

"Ascribe" — and prepare yourselves "for Hashem," to show "also the glory of His name" — for beyond your being His agents to destroy and lay waste, you shall also give glory to His name, for "you shall worship Hashem in the beauty of holiness" — when you draw near to the beauty of holiness, the place of His Presence, there you shall worship Hashem, there you shall fall on your faces and submit and bow down and be still, and you shall become stillness.

"The voice of the Lord is upon the waters" — Upon the Sea of Reeds, “The Lord thundered from heaven” (above 18:14). "thunders" — Heb. הרעים, tormanta in Old French.

'The voice' — he mentions Hashem, in order to display His power and His strength at the time when the rain descends, as it is written in Job: 'who does great things past finding out,' and after it: 'who gives rain.' And because he mentioned the glory of His name, he called Him [Hashem] 'the God of glory,' [who] thunders — and this is the explanation of 'the voice of Hashem is upon the waters.' And the sense of 'Hashem is upon many waters' — that He brings thunder; and note that the word 'thunders' draws itself and another [clause] along with it.

Our Rabbis, of blessed memory, expounded (Mekhilta, Yitro, Ba-chodesh 5; Sifrei 343; Babylonian Talmud, Zevachim 116a) regarding this psalm, that it was said concerning the day the Torah was given. And they said: that the great "voice" that went out from heaven passed first "over the waters." And over which waters? "Over many waters" — and these are the waters of the sea.

"The voice of Hashem" — then the voice of Hashem will roar to terrify those who are likened to streams of water. "Thunders" — He will thunder with a voice. "Hashem is upon many waters" — Hashem will thunder with a voice against those who are likened to many waters; and the matter is repeated two and three times to express its continuity.

"Thunders" — from the term denoting thunder and roaring.

"The voice" — he depicts the movements of these sons of might: a breach of waters flooding the lands! The poet says: the terrible "voice" heard "upon the waters" is the "voice of Hashem" — He made the majesty of His voice heard. Great thunders burst forth from amid the mass of the flood; the poet says, "the God of glory" — it is He "who thunders." The flood continues to increase; he says, "Hashem" — it is He who thunders and takes command "upon many waters."

"The voice of the Lord is in strength" — At the time of the giving of the Torah, He moderated His voice according to the strength of Israel, as it is said (Exod. 19:19): “and God would answer him with a voice,” with Moses’ voice.

'The voice [of Hashem is powerful]' — some say: [it refers to] the power that Hashem placed within nature, and likewise 'in majesty.' And some say: [it refers to] bodies that possess power. 'And in majesty' — these are the mountains, like 'and the rugged places I will make level'; and in this way, 'Hashem' would function as a descriptive term, as though he had said [it applies to] those possessed of power, in the manner of 'but I am prayer' — or its explanation belongs with the power [described] in what is written after this: 'the voice of Hashem breaks the cedars.' And he mentions the cedars because they are strong. And the sense of 'the cedars of Lebanon' — these are the ones known as [the choicest] cedars.

And he said: "The voice of Hashem is powerful" — that is to say, "the voice of Hashem" came "with power" "upon the waters," and afterward came "in majesty" upon Israel. That is to say, so that Israel would not die from the powerful voice that went forth, they passed it through the waters first, to weaken its power there, and afterward it came to Israel "in majesty," so that they would be able to bear it. And even so, they were terrified by that voice, and they said (Exodus 20:19): "Let not God speak with us, lest we die."

"In power" — He will roar with great power. "In majesty" — in order to honor and glorify Israel, so that it may be a refuge for them.

"The voice" — now a burst, a torrent, and hailstones are aroused, immense forces and majestic sights, terrible and dreadful on every side. The poet says: "the voice of Hashem" is heard in every "power"; "the voice of Hashem" is heard "in all majesty" — in every power and every majesty that appears, the voice of Hashem is heard in it, and the might of His arm is seen.

"The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars" — The kings of the nations, as the matter that is written (in I Sam. 7:10): “and the Lord thundered with a loud noise etc. upon the Philistines”; (in Isa. 30:31): “For from the Lord’s voice Assyria shall be broken.” And at the time of the giving of the Torah (Deut. 5: 23): “For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speak out of the fire as we have and remained alive?” You heard and remained alive, but the nations of the world would hear it and die.

And he said: "The voice of Hashem breaks the cedars" — that that voice "broke the cedars, and made them skip like a calf."

"Cedars" — this is a metaphor for mighty and strong men.

"Lebanon" — the name of a forest in the land of Israel.

"The voice" — the storm and the torrent reached even to the forest of Lebanon and to Sirion, and the poet says: "the voice of Hashem, He is the one who breaks the cedars, and Hashem is the one who breaks the cedars of Lebanon" — until "they skip" before Him like a calf, "and Lebanon and Sirion" itself skips before Him "like a young wild ox" (which is bigger than a calf).

"He causes them to dance like a calf" — The cedars and the mountains that came to hear the giving of the Torah. "Lebanon and Sirion" — The names of mountains.

'And He makes them skip' — this matter is known from the effect of thunder. Like 'a young wild ox' — [formed] like 'a young dove,' 'a young she-ass.'

"And made them skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild-ox."

"And makes them skip" — with a trembling motion. "Lebanon and Sirion" — a repetition of the figure of speech from "cedars."

"He makes them skip" — an expression of leaping and jumping. "Lebanon and Sirion" — names of mountains. "A young [wild-ox]" — a small one; and likewise, "a young dove" (Leviticus 13).

"cleaves with flames of fire" — taylont in Old French, to cut. Our Sages (Mechilta ibid.) explained that the utterance of the Decalogue emanated from His mouth with a flame of fire and was engraved on the tablets according to their form.

'The voice of Hashem hews out flames of fire' — Rabbi Moshe said: this alludes to a stone that is like iron, which burns; and the sense of 'hews' is that He hewed them from the rock, the sense being by way of comparison, as if He had hewed them. But in my opinion, the sense concerns the lightning bolts, in the manner of: 'and the Most High gave forth His voice,' and after it: 'and He sent out His arrows.'

And he said: "The voice of Hashem hews out flames of fire" — as it is written (Exodus 20:18): "the thunders and the lightning flashes." And he said: "The voice of Hashem makes the wilderness writhe" — for the mountains and the deserts quaked. And likewise the deer and the beasts of the field writhed and were pained by that voice. And he said: "And strips the forests bare" — for when the cedars fell, the forests were laid bare. And he said: "And in His temple all say, Glory" — [this happened] at Mount Sinai. And the nations of the world thought that He was about to destroy the world, as He had done at the Flood. And the ministering angels said: "Hashem sat enthroned at the Flood" — and He swore that He would not destroy the world again. And this voice that you hear is Hashem giving the Torah to His people Israel; and this is [the meaning of] what he said: "Hashem will give strength to His people" — and "strength" [oz] means nothing but Torah, as it is said (Isaiah 27:5): "Or let him take hold of My strength." And the commentators explained this psalm according to its plain sense, concerning the wonders of the Creator that are seen in the earth. And "sons of might" [benei eilim] are the stars; the angels are "elim" [mighty ones], and the stars are like sons to them. And the sage Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra wrote (in his own commentary, though with great differences [from this]): that the reason for mentioning the stars is that in accordance with their arrangement the rains come down, with the help of the God of gods. And the meaning of "elim" is: mighty ones. And he speaks of the rain, and says: "The voice of Hashem is upon the waters." And the falling of rain is among the great wonders, as it is written (Job 5:9): "Who does great things past finding out"; and it says after that (ibid. 10): "Who gives rain upon the face of the earth, and sends waters upon the fields." And Elihu said (ibid. 37:5): "God thunders marvelously with His voice; He does great things which we cannot comprehend." And the rain comes with thunder and lightning, which are "flames of fire," and with hailstones that "break the cedars." Or [it is] the storm-wind that shakes the cedars and "makes them skip like a calf." And he mentions "Lebanon and Sirion," which are in the land of Israel. And he speaks of that which is present and near [to him]; for such is the way of the language. And likewise the storm makes "the wilderness writhe." And he mentions "the wilderness of Kadesh," which is a great wilderness. And he mentions "the deer," because their giving birth is difficult, since their womb is narrow, and from the force of the voice they become frightened and go into labor, and their womb opens. "And strips the forests bare" — when the cedars fall. "And in His temple" — the heavens. "All say, Glory" — as he said [earlier]: "Ascribe to Hashem, O sons of might." And he said: "Hashem sat enthroned at the Flood" — for by water He destroyed the wicked who did not acknowledge His kingship. "And He sits enthroned as King forever." And He left Noah and his sons, who were righteous, so that those who came after would know that He rules the world, and that in His hand is the power to kill and to bring to life. And he said: "Hashem will give strength to His people" — that He will save them from the harm of thunder and lightning and storm, and from every trouble that comes upon the world. But in my opinion, this psalm concerns the future, the days of the Messiah. And "sons of might" are Israel, who are the sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And he likened the kings of the nations to "cedars," as is the manner of Scripture, as it says (Ezekiel 31:3): "Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon," and the whole passage. And likewise they are likened to mountains, as it says (Isaiah 54:10): "For the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed" — and this is a parable about the kings of the nations. And likewise the destruction of the nations is likened to the drying up of water, because they are tranquil and full and at ease in this world, [filled] with every good thing, like the waters that cover the sea. And he likened their destruction to the drying up of water, as it says (Jeremiah 51:36): "And I will dry up her sea"; and it says (Isaiah 11:15): "And Hashem will utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea." And it is possible that this is [meant] according to its plain sense, for so it will be in the future. And he said: "The voice of Hashem is upon the waters" — meaning: upon the tranquility and the abundance of the nations, and upon their great prosperity. And he said that "the God of glory thunders" upon them with His voice — meaning: He will destroy them. And then His glory will be seen by those who remain, and they will say of Him: "God of glory!" "The voice of Hashem is powerful" — the voice of Hashem will come upon them with His power, and with His majesty, and with His glory, until they recognize that all their strength is vanity, and it is not in the power of their hand to be saved from Him. And the reason he likened their downfall to a "voice" is that a voice cannot be seen by a person, nor perceived except by hearing, and yet it terrifies, and fells, and kills — so will Hashem fight against them without sword and without spear. And it is possible to explain the matter according to its plain sense: for concerning the war of Gog and Magog, which God will wage, it is written (Ezekiel 38:22): "And I will contend with him with pestilence and with blood; and I will cause to rain a flooding rain," and so on. And that "voice" will be, for the nations of the world, "with power," so that it kills them and fells them; and it will be, for Israel, "in majesty," so that it does not harm them. "The voice of Hashem breaks the cedars" — these are the mighty and powerful ones among the nations. And he says: "the cedars of Lebanon," because it is a forest in the land of Israel, and it has tall cedars in it. And even though there are, in other places, [cedars] as strong and as tall as these, or taller than them, the prophets would speak of that which was present and near to them. And likewise the prophet said (ibid. 31:3) concerning the king of Assyria: "a cedar in Lebanon." And likewise "Lebanon and Sirion," which are mountains in the land of Israel. And likewise (Psalms 89:13): "Tabor and Hermon rejoice in Your name." "And makes them skip like a calf" — the cedars will "skip like a calf," which is nimble while still young, and skips and runs. And he means: that He will fell them and shake them from their place, so that it will appear as if they are "skipping" from the sound of the thunder. And the storm will do this to the tall cedars. And so will the hand of Hashem be against the mighty peoples, who are like cedars and like mountains. And likewise the mountains, such as Lebanon and Sirion, He will make skip. And so he also said, by way of parable (ibid. 114:4): "The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like young sheep." "Like a young wild-ox" — for just as the young wild-ox is nimble and skips, so will He shake the nations and hurl them from their place. "The voice of Hashem hews out flames of fire" — just as the voice of the storm "hews out" from it "flames of fire," which are the lightning bolts that burn, so will His burning anger go forth against them, to burn them and consume them.

"Hews out" — cuts flames of fire to send them across the face of the earth; these are the lightning bolts, and they terrify the idol-worshippers.

"Hews out" — an expression of hewing and cutting, as in "she has hewn out her seven pillars" (Proverbs 9:1).

"The voice" — the earth crumbled, and terrible flames of fire go out from the depths of the earth over the whole wilderness, which burns in a scorching wind; the poet says, "the voice of Hashem hews out flames of fire."

"causes the desert to quake" — Heb. יחיל, an expression of (Jer. 6:24), “pain (חיל) as a woman in travail.” "the Lord causes the desert of Kadesh to quake" — That is the desert of Sinai, as our Sages said in Tractate Shabbath (89a): It was called by five names: the desert of Sinai, the desert of Zin, the desert of Kadesh, the desert of Kedemoth, the desert of Paran. [It was called] the desert of Kadesh because Israel was sanctified on its account.

'The voice of Hashem shakes the wilderness' — by way of metaphor, like 'you cause pain with stones,' or it alludes to the beasts of the wilderness, as he will go on to explain.

"The voice of Hashem shakes the wilderness" — it causes the wilderness pain, and this is by way of a figure of speech, like (2 Kings 3:19): "and you shall pain every good piece of land with stones." And so it says (Psalms 114:7): "from before the Master, the earth writhes." And he mentions "wilderness" because, since it has no settlement or building, its length and breadth appear greater. And he says "the wilderness of Kadesh" because it is a great and awesome wilderness, as it says (Deuteronomy 1:19): "that great and awesome wilderness," and it says (ibid. 1:46): "and you dwelled in Kadesh many days." And his intent is to say: it shakes the wilderness of the peoples and their lands.

"Shakes the wilderness" — it makes the dwellers of the wilderness tremble. "The wilderness of Kadesh" — for it is great and broad.

"Shakes" — causes to writhe; from the term denoting trembling and shuddering.

"The voice of Hashem" — He is the one who "makes the wilderness shake," as if the ground that is in the wilderness comes to the birthstool and writhes in the pangs of one giving birth, to bring forth the bones that are in the belly of the earth, which is full of fire, brimstone, and flame — "and Hashem is the one who makes the wilderness of Kadesh shake."

"The voice of the Lord will frighten the hinds" — In the future, it will frighten the nations of the world and cause [them] to quake, those who are now standing firmly like hinds, as the matter that is stated (above 18:34): “He makes my feet like hinds.” Said Rabbi Phinehas: It does not say, “like harts,” but “like hinds,” like the females, because the feet of the females stand straighter than those of the males (Mid. Ps. 22:1). Another explanation: יחולל is kria in Old French, to create, as (in Prov. 8: 25), “before the hills, I was created (חוללתי).” "and strip the forests" — Like (Gen. 30:37), “by uncovering (מחשף) the white.” He will strip the forest trees, i.e., he will strip the nations, compared to forest trees, of their glory, as is stated (in Amos 2:9): “whose height is as the height of the cedar trees.” "and in His Temple" — which will be built. "everyone speaks of His glory" — Everyone will praise Him there and say...

'The voice of Hashem makes the hinds calve' — he mentions 'wilderness' as corresponding to 'majesty' [mentioned earlier]. And he mentions 'the wilderness of Kadesh' — because it is great and awesome. And he mentions 'hinds' — because their birth is difficult, and behold, the thunder brings on their labor. And the sense is: it brings the labor pains upon them swiftly, so that the hind gives birth when the womb opens, also on account of fear. And the sense of 'and strips the forests bare' — He lays [the ground] bare when the trees fall. Some say that the sense of 'and in His temple' is the heavens, as in 'Hashem is in His holy temple.' And the sense is that those who dwell in it give glory to the Name and say, 'How great is Your glory.' And others said that the sense concerns the priests and Levites who stand to pray. And R. Moshe said that the sense is that those who dwell in His temple — that is, the Temple (Beit HaMikdash) — will not be afraid, for Hashem will honor them so that no harm will come to them from the thunder; therefore what follows is: 'Hashem sat enthroned at the Flood.' And the sense is: the waters destroyed the wicked, and then the kingship of Hashem was revealed, for He executed judgment upon them; and behold, Hashem rescues His pious ones, as [He rescued] Noah and his sons, and puts His enemies to death.

"The voice of Hashem makes the hinds calve" — they are the swift of foot. The strong ones he compares to cedars and mountains, and the swift ones he compares to hinds [Editor's note: Shlomo HaKatan ben Meir, Ateret HaShelamim (may his memory be for a blessing!) said: There is no doubt in my mind that this holy poet, in saying "yecholel ayalot," intended a type of hard trees, such as the terebinth and the oak and the like (and not the animal that is swift of foot — for what has it to do with the doubling in different words, "vayechesof ye'arot," "and strips the forests bare"?); and "vayecholel" is like "yachil" [writhes/shakes]: and by this the matter is well understood. And after I had seen this myself, I found that the scholar Lowth interpreted it likewise, and in his footsteps followed my friend and student the scholar Jennings and the scholar Lowe.] which are light of foot; his meaning is: then the horsemen will not escape by their own feet, as it says (Amos 2:15): "and he that is swift of foot shall not escape, neither shall he that rides the horse deliver himself." Or, because he compared the land of the peoples to a wilderness, he compared those who dwell in it to hinds, which dwell in the wilderness. "Vayechesof" takes a segol under the added letter, unlike the pattern of verbs of the "yif'ol" form, which take a patach, like "yachalof" and "ya'avor" and the like. And the meaning of "vayechesof": for when the cedars fall here and there, the forests are laid bare. "And in His temple all say: Glory" — "in His temple," in Jerusalem, they give glory to God, who judged the peoples and subdued them on that day.

"And strips the forests bare" — for it will break and fell all the trees of the forests, so that the forests are left exposed and empty of trees; and all this is a metaphor for the downfall of the enemies of Hashem. "And in His temple" — all who come into the Temple (Beit HaMikdash) will say: Behold, now His glory is seen.

"The hinds" — females of the [male] hart. "And strips bare" — an expression of exposing, as in "the exposed white [streaks]" (Genesis 30).

"The voice" — from this quaking, "the hinds writhed and the forests were stripped bare" — both the animals and all vegetation; in all of this the voice of Hashem and His word are heard, the voice of Hashem in all its power. But "in His temple all say: Glory" — there the sons of the mighty, these fearsome beings, bow down before the King of glory, and the storm is turned to a hush; they do no harm and destroy nothing on all His holy mountain.

"The Lord sat [enthroned] at the flood" — alone in His greatness, and now also, the Lord sits alone forever, “but the idols will completely pass away,” (as in Isa. 2:18), yet to His people He will give strength and a blessing of peace. Our Sages, however, expounded upon it in Midrash Psalms (29:2) that the nations became frightened and startled, and they came to Balaam and said to him, “What is the sound of the stirring that we heard? Is He going to bring a flood upon the world?” He replied to them, “He already swore that He would not bring a flood. Rather, the sound of the stirring that you heard is that the Holy One, blessed be He, is giving a Torah to His people.”

And others said that the reason he mentions the flood is that, having mentioned part of His wonders — namely the falling of rain — he then mentions a tremendous wonder, namely the abundant rain in the days of Noah; and this is a sign that Hashem has sat enthroned from of old, and that His kindness is upon His people forever. Therefore, right after it, [it says]: 'Hashem will give strength to His people.' And some say that he mentions the flood because of the oath that the waters would never again destroy the whole earth, and that the kingdom of Hashem — who is King of the living — will never be destroyed. Therefore, right after it, [it says]: 'And Hashem sits enthroned as King forever.' And some say that from the day He sat in judgment in the days of the flood, His kingship became manifest, and the people who came after the flood were afraid, for before Noah's time there had been no flood.

"Hashem sat enthroned at the flood" — and all will say: "Hashem sat enthroned at the flood" — [meaning] those days, which were the days of the flood, [He sat] as though He sat on the throne of kingship then, for the people of the world did not know God, and they said to God, "Depart from us, and what can the Almighty do for us?" (Job 22:17). And when He brought the waters of the flood upon them and destroyed the world, Noah and his sons who remained, and those who came after them, recognized that the kingship belongs to Hashem, and that He sits on the throne of kingship, and that He created the world and destroys it when He wills. So too now, in the days of the Messiah, the nations who did evil to Israel and did not fear God and did not recognize Him as King and as Master of the world — when He executes judgment upon them and spares the children of Israel, and those among the nations who turn back to God, they will know and say: "Hashem sits King forever." And so it says (Zechariah 14:9): "And Hashem shall be King over all the earth; in that day shall Hashem be One, and His name one."

"Hashem sat enthroned at the flood" — just as at the time the flood occurred, Hashem sat alone, for everything was swept away, and it became known then that He alone rules over all. "And He sits" — meaning to say: so too, in the days of the Messiah, He will sit alone as King forever; then everyone will recognize that He is the Creator of the world.

"At the flood" — like "in the flood."

"Hashem" — even if "Hashem sat enthroned at the flood," even if the surge and the roaring increase until a flood forms from it to destroy the whole world, "Hashem sits enthroned as King forever," to judge the whole earth, for Hashem reigns forever and ever even though nations have perished from His land (as above, Psalm 10:16); nevertheless, "Hashem will give strength to His people" — no harm will touch Israel; on the contrary, they will thereby gain strength and might, "and Hashem will bless His people with peace," for through this the wicked who fight against them will be destroyed, and they will have peace from their adversaries (just as he sings further about something similar in Psalm 46 and in Psalm 48).

'Hashem' — [this] is a prayer, or [spoken] through the holy spirit, that Hashem will give strength to His people in times of thunder, and peace will be theirs.

"Hashem will give strength to His people" — then Hashem will give strength to His people and subdue all the nations before them. "Hashem will bless His people with peace," for they will never again have war.

"Hashem [will give] strength" — then Hashem will give strength to His people and bless them with peace.