◄ Psalm 29:8 ►
The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; the LORD shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh.
Study Bible
The voice of the LORD
This phrase emphasizes the power and authority of God's spoken word. In Hebrew, "voice" is "qol," which signifies not just sound but a commanding presence. The "LORD" here is "Yahweh," the covenant name of God, highlighting His eternal and unchanging nature. Throughout Scripture, the voice of the LORD is depicted as a force that brings creation into existence (Genesis 1) and commands the elements (Psalm 29:3-9). This phrase reminds believers of the omnipotence of God, whose voice alone can alter the course of nature and history.

shakes the wilderness
The Hebrew word for "shakes" is "yachil," which conveys a sense of trembling or quaking. This is not a gentle stirring but a powerful, earth-shattering movement. The "wilderness" refers to the "midbar," a desolate and uninhabited region, often associated with testing and revelation in the Bible. Historically, the wilderness was a place where the Israelites wandered and where prophets like Elijah encountered God. This phrase illustrates God's dominion over even the most barren and untamed parts of the earth, symbolizing His ability to reach and transform the most desolate areas of our lives.

of Kadesh
Kadesh, or "Qadesh" in Hebrew, is a significant location in biblical history. It was a major encampment for the Israelites during their wilderness wanderings (Numbers 13:26) and a place of both rebellion and divine revelation. The mention of Kadesh here serves as a geographical anchor, reminding readers of God's historical interactions with His people. It underscores the idea that no place is beyond God's reach or influence, and His voice can bring change and renewal even in places associated with past failures or challenges.

Persons / Places / Events
1. The LORD (Yahweh)
The central figure in this verse, representing God's power and authority. His voice is depicted as a force that can shake the earth.

2. The Wilderness
A symbol of desolation and barrenness, often representing places of testing and trial in the Bible. It is a place where God's power is demonstrated.

3. The Wilderness of Kadesh
A specific location in the Sinai Peninsula, significant in Israel's history as a place of wandering and testing during the Exodus.
Teaching Points
The Power of God's Voice
God's voice is not just a sound but a force that can transform and shake the very foundations of the earth. This reminds us of His ultimate authority over all creation.

God's Presence in Desolation
Even in the wilderness, a place of barrenness and trial, God's presence is powerful and transformative. We can trust Him to be with us in our own "wilderness" experiences.

Historical Significance of Kadesh
Understanding the historical context of Kadesh helps us appreciate the depth of God's interactions with His people. It serves as a reminder of His faithfulness despite human failure.

Spiritual Wilderness
Just as God shook the physical wilderness, He can shake the spiritual wilderness in our lives, bringing renewal and change. We should be open to His transformative power.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does understanding the historical context of the Wilderness of Kadesh enhance our interpretation of Psalm 29:8?

2. In what ways can we experience the "voice of the LORD" in our own lives today, especially during times of trial?

3. How does the imagery of God shaking the wilderness challenge or comfort you in your current spiritual journey?

4. What other biblical events or accounts illustrate God's power over creation, and how do they relate to Psalm 29:8?

5. How can we apply the lessons from Psalm 29:8 to our personal "wilderness" experiences, and what steps can we take to trust in God's transformative power?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Exodus 17
The Wilderness of Kadesh is where the Israelites quarreled with Moses and tested the LORD, highlighting the theme of God's presence and power in times of trial.

Isaiah 40
This chapter speaks of preparing the way for the LORD in the wilderness, emphasizing God's ability to transform desolate places.

Hebrews 12
This passage discusses God's voice shaking the earth, drawing a parallel to His power and authority over creation.
Sermons
The Glorious Sceptre of Universal PowerC. Clemance Psalm 29:1-11
The Glory of God's Government in the Natural WorldJohn Mitchell, D. D.Psalm 29:1-11
The ThunderstormC. Short Psalm 29:1-11
The Works and the Word of GodW. Forsyth Psalm 29:1-11
People
David, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Desert, Kadesh, Paineth, Shakes, Shaketh, Shaking, Voice, Waste, Wilderness
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 29:8

     4230   desert

Psalm 29:3-9

     1193   glory, revelation of
     5196   voice

Library
March 25. "The Beauty of Holiness" (Ps. xxix. 2).
"The beauty of holiness" (Ps. xxix. 2). Some one remarked once that he did not know more disagreeable people than sanctified Christians. He probably meant people that only profess sanctification. There is an angular, hard, unlovely type of Christian character that is not true holiness; at least, not the highest type of it. It is the skeleton without the flesh covering; it is the naked rock without the vines and foliage that cushion its rugged sides. Jesus was not only virtuous and pure, but He was …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Note C. The Holiness of God.
There is not a word so exclusively scriptural, so distinctly Divine, as the word holy in its revelation and its meaning. As a consequence of this its Divine origin, it is a word of inexhaustible significance. There is not one of the attributes of God which theologians have found it so difficult to define, or concerning which they differ so much. A short survey of the various views that have been taken may teach us how little the idea of the Divine Holiness can be comprehended or exhausted by human …
Andrew Murray—Holy in Christ

The Majestic Voice
"The God that rules on high, And thunders when he please, That rides upon the stormy sky And manages the seas; This awful God is ours, Our Father and our love, He shall send down his heavenly powers To carry us above." He is our God, and I like to sing that, and think of it: but there is something so terrible in the tone of that voice when God is speaking, something so terrific to other men, and humbling to the Christian, that he is obliged to sink very low in his own estimation; then he looks up …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 2: 1856

A Song of the Temple
"In His Temple doth every one speak of His glory."--Ps. xxix. 9. R. Rolle, 1349. tr., Emma Frances Bevan, 1899 In Thy tabernacle, Lord, I offer Sacrifice of psalmody and song-- Thine uncounted mercies there recalling, Praising Thee with music sweet and strong. With a marvellous, a mighty gladness, For the love of Christ is shed abroad In the soul that is His holy temple, And she singeth therefore unto God. She ascends aloft to join the singing, Heard afar from God's Jerusalem-- [2] Blessed music …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen and Others (Second Series)

Of Meditation Upon the Hidden Judgments of God, that we May not be Lifted up Because of Our Well-Doing
Thou sendest forth Thy judgments against me, O Lord, and shakest all my bones with fear and trembling, and my soul trembleth exceedingly. I stand astonished, and remember that the heavens are not clean in thy sight.(1) If Thou chargest Thine angels with folly, and didst spare them not, how shall it be unto me? Stars have fallen from heaven, and what shall I dare who am but dust? They whose works seemed to be praiseworthy, fell into the lowest depths, and they who did eat Angels' food, them have …
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

Appendix xvi. On the Jewish views About Demons' and the Demonised,' Together with Some Notes on the Intercourse Between Jews and Jewish Christians in the First Centuries.
IT is not, of course, our purpose here to attempt an exhaustive account of the Jewish views on demons' and the demonised.' A few preliminary strictures were, however, necessary on a work upon which writers on this subject have too implictly relied. I refer to Gfrörer's Jahrhundert des Heils (especially vol. i. pp. 378-424). Gfrörer sets out by quoting a passage in the Book of Enoch on which he lays great stress, but which critical inquiries of Dillmann and other scholars have shown to be …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

How the Preacher, when He Has Accomplished all Aright, Should Return to Himself, Lest Either his Life or his Preaching Lift Him Up.
But since often, when preaching is abundantly poured forth in fitting ways, the mind of the speaker is elevated in itself by a hidden delight in self-display, great care is needed that he may gnaw himself with the laceration of fear, lest he who recalls the diseases of others to health by remedies should himself swell through neglect of his own health; lest in helping others he desert himself, lest in lifting up others he fall. For to some the greatness of their virtue has often been the occasion …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Period ii. The Church from the Permanent Division of the Empire Until the Collapse of the Western Empire and the First Schism Between the East and the West, or Until About A. D. 500
In the second period of the history of the Church under the Christian Empire, the Church, although existing in two divisions of the Empire and experiencing very different political fortunes, may still be regarded as forming a whole. The theological controversies distracting the Church, although different in the two halves of the Graeco-Roman world, were felt to some extent in both divisions of the Empire and not merely in the one in which they were principally fought out; and in the condemnation …
Joseph Cullen Ayer Jr., Ph.D.—A Source Book for Ancient Church History

The History Books
[Illustration: (drop cap T) Assyrian idol-god] Thus little by little the Book of God grew, and the people He had chosen to be its guardians took their place among the nations. A small place it was from one point of view! A narrow strip of land, but unique in its position as one of the highways of the world, on which a few tribes were banded together. All around great empires watched them with eager eyes; the powerful kings of Assyria, Egypt, and Babylonia, the learned Greeks, and, in later times, …
Mildred Duff—The Bible in its Making

Exegetic.
(i) As of the De Spiritu Sancto, so of the Hexæmeron, no further account need be given here. It may, however, be noted that the Ninth Homily ends abruptly, and the latter, and apparently more important, portion of the subject is treated of at less length than the former. Jerome [472] and Cassiodorus [473] speak of nine homilies only on the creation. Socrates [474] says the Hexæmeron was completed by Gregory of Nyssa. Three orations are published among Basil's works, two on the creation …
Basil—Basil: Letters and Select Works

Man's Chief End
Q-I: WHAT IS THE CHIEF END OF MAN? A: Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever. Here are two ends of life specified. 1: The glorifying of God. 2: The enjoying of God. I. The glorifying of God, I Pet 4:4: That God in all things may be glorified.' The glory of God is a silver thread which must run through all our actions. I Cor 10:01. Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.' Everything works to some end in things natural and artificial; …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Acceptable Sacrifice;
OR, THE EXCELLENCY OF A BROKEN HEART: SHOWING THE NATURE, SIGNS, AND PROPER EFFECTS OF A CONTRITE SPIRIT. BEING THE LAST WORKS OF THAT EMINENT PREACHER AND FAITHFUL MINISTER OF JESUS CHRIST, MR. JOHN BUNYAN, OF BEDFORD. WITH A PREFACE PREFIXED THEREUNTO BY AN EMINENT MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL IN LONDON. London: Sold by George Larkin, at the Two Swans without Bishopgates, 1692. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. The very excellent preface to this treatise, written by George Cokayn, will inform the reader of …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Peace
Grace unto you and peace be multiplied. I Pet 1:1. Having spoken of the first fruit of sanctification, assurance, I proceed to the second, viz., Peace, Peace be multiplied:' What are the several species or kinds of Peace? Peace, in Scripture, is compared to a river which parts itself into two silver streams. Isa 66:12. I. There is an external peace, and that is, (1.) (Economical, or peace in a family. (2.) Political, or peace in the state. Peace is the nurse of plenty. He maketh peace in thy borders, …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Among the People, and with the Pharisees
It would have been difficult to proceed far either in Galilee or in Judaea without coming into contact with an altogether peculiar and striking individuality, differing from all around, and which would at once arrest attention. This was the Pharisee. Courted or feared, shunned or flattered, reverently looked up to or laughed at, he was equally a power everywhere, both ecclesiastically and politically, as belonging to the most influential, the most zealous, and the most closely-connected religions …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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