PSALM CIV _The majesty and power of God manifested in the creation of the_ _heavens and the atmosphere_, 1-3; _of the earth and sea_, 4-9; _of the springs, fountains, and rivers_, 10-13; _of vegetables and trees_, 14-18; _of the sun and moon_, 19; _of day and night, and their uses_, 20-23; _... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 104:2. _WHO COVEREST_ THYSELF _WITH LIGHT_] Light, insufferable splendor, is the robe of the Divine Majesty. _Light_ and _fire_ are generally the accompaniments of the Supreme Being, when he manifests his presence to his creatures. He appeared thus to _Abraham_ when he made a covenant... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 104:3. המקרה במים עליותיו hamekareh bammayim aliyothaiv. "Laying the beams of his chambers in the waters." The sacred writer expresses the wonderful nature of the _air_ aptly, and regularly constructed, from various and flux elements, into one continued and stable series, by a metapho... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 104:4. עשה מלאכיו רחות oseh malachaiv ruchoth, משרתיו אש להט mesharethaiv esh lohet. The elements are described as prompt and expedite to perform the Divine commands, like angels or ministers serving in the tabernacle; the Hebrew word משרתיו _mesharethaiv_ being a word most common in... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 104:5. יסד ארץ על מכוניה _yasad erets al mechonepha_, בל תמוט עולם ועד bal tammot olam vaed. "Laying the earth upon its foundations, That it should not be shaken for evermore." This image Bishop Lowth thinks evidently taken from the _tabernacle_, which was so laid upon its foundati... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 104:6. _THOU COVEREDST IT WITH THE DEEP_] This seems to be spoken in allusion to the creation of the earth, when it was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the waters invested the whole, till God separated the dry land from them; thus forming the seas... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 104:7. _AT THY REBUKE THEY FLED_] When God separated the _waters_ _which were above the firmament_ from those _below_, and caused the _dry land to appear_. He commanded the separation to take place; and the waters, as if instinct with life, hastened to obey. _AT THE VOICE OF THY THUNDE... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 104:8. _THEY GO UP BY THE MOUNTAINS; THEY GO DOWN BY THE_ _VALLEYS_] Taking the words as they stand here, _springs_ seem to be what are intended. But it is difficult to conceive how the water could ascend, through the fissures of mountains, to their tops, and then come down their sides... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 104:9. _THOU HAST SET A BOUND THAT THEY MAY NOT PASS_] And what is this _bound_? The _flux_ and _reflux_ of the sea, occasioned by the solar and lunar _attraction_, the _rotation_ of the earth on its own axis, and the _gravitation_ of the waters to the centre of the earth. And what is t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 104:10. _HE SENDETH THE SPRINGS INTO THE VALLEYS_] _Evaporation_ is guided and regulated by Divine Providence. The sun has a certain power to raise a certain portion of vapours from a given space. God has apportioned the _aqueous_ to the _terrene surface_, and the solar attraction to bo... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 104:11. _THE WILD ASSES QUENCH THEIR THIRST._] The פרא _pere,_ _onager_ or _wild ass_, differs in nothing from the _tame ass_, only it has not a broken spirit, and is consequently more lively and active. It is so very swift that no horse except the Arab barb can overtake it. It is a gre... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 104:12. _BY THEM SHALL THE FOWLS OF THE HEAVEN HAVE THEIR_ _HABITATION_] All fowls love verdure, and have their residence where they can find wood and water.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 104:13. _FROM HIS CHAMBERS_] The _clouds_, as in Psalms 104:3. _THE EARTH IS SATISFIED_] The inhabitants of it.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 104:14. _HE CAUSETH THE GRASS TO GROW FOR THE CATTLE_] Doth God care for oxen? Yes, and there is not a beast of the field that does not share his merciful regards. _AND HERB FOR THE SERVICE OF MAN_] Plants, esculent herbs, and nutritive grain in general; and thus _he brings forth food_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 104:15. _AND WINE_] _Wine_, in moderate quantity, has a wondrous tendency to revive and invigorate the human being. _Ardent spirits_ exhilarate, but they _exhaust_ the strength; and every dose leaves man the worse. Unadulterated wine, on the contrary, _exhilarates_ and _invigorates_: it... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 104:16. _THE TREES OF THE LORD ARE FULL OF SAP_] ישבעו _yisbeu_, "are saturated." _THE CEDARS OF LEBANON_] God's providence not only extends to _men_ and _cattle_, but also to the trees of the field and forest. Many of these are not only sustained, but _planted_ by his providence. Who... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 104:17. _WHERE THE BIRDS MAKE THEIR NESTS_] צפרים _tsipporim_ signifies _swallows, sparrows_, and _small birds_ in general; here opposed to the חסידה _chasidah_ or _stork_. Perhaps the _heron_ may be understood, which is said to be the first of all birds to build her nest, and she build... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 104:18. _THE HIGH HILLS_ ARE _A REFUGE_] The barren tops of the highest hills, and the craggy abrupt precipices of the most stupendous rocks, are not without their uses: they afford protection, refuge, and food, for creatures whose dispositions and habits are suited to such places; and... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 104:19. _HE APPOINTED THE MOON FOR SEASONS_] The heathens thought that the _sun_ and _moon_ were gods, and worshipped them as such. The psalmist shows, 1. That they are creatures dependent on God for their being and continuance; and, 2. That they were made for the use of man. See what... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 104:20. _THOU MAKEST DARKNESS_] It is not the design of God that there should be either constant _darkness_ or constant _light_. That man may _labour_, he gives him, by means of the _sun_, the _light of_ _the day_; and that he may _rest_ from his labour, and get his strength recruited,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 104:21. _THE YOUNG LIONS ROAR AFTER THEIR PREY_] It is said of the lion, that his _roaring_ is so terrible as to astonish and quite unnerve the beast which he pursues; so that, though fleeter than himself, it falls down and becomes an easy prey.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 104:22. _THE SUN ARISETH_] The dawn of day is the warning for _man_ to arise and betake himself to his work; and is the warning to them to retire to their dens.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 104:24. _O LORD, HOW MANIFOLD ARE THY WORKS_] In this verse there are _three_ propositions: 1. The works of the Lord are multitudinous and varied. 2. They are so constructed as to show the most consummate wisdom in their _design_, and in the _end_ for which they are formed. 3. They a... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 104:25. _THIS GREAT AND WIDE SEA_] The original is very emphatic: זה הים גדול ורחב ידים _zeh haiyam gadol urechab yadayim_, "This very sea, great and extensive of hands." Its waters, like arms, encompassing all the terrene parts of the globe. I suppose the psalmist was within sight of t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 104:26. _THERE GO THE SHIPS_] By means of navigation, countries the most remote are connected, and all the inhabitants of the earth become known to each other. He appears at this time to have seen the ships under sail. _THAT LEVIATHAN_] This may mean the _whale_, or any of the large ma... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 104:27. _THESE WAIT ALL UPON THEE_] The innumerable _fry_ of the smaller aquatic animals, as well as _whales, dolphins, porpoises_, and _sharks_, all have their meat from God. He has in his gracious providence furnished that sort of food which is suitable to all. And this provision is _... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 104:28. _THAT THOU GIVEST THEM THEY GATHER_] All creatures are formed with such and such digestive organs, and the food proper for them is provided. Infinitely varied as are living creatures in their habits and internal economy, so are the aliments which God has caused the _air_, the _e... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 104:29. _THOU HIDEST THY FACE_] If thou bring dearth or famine on the _land_, contagion in the _air_, or any destruction on the provision made by the _waters_, then beasts, fowl, and fish die, and are dissolved.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 104:30. _THOU SENDEST FORTH THY SPIRIT, THEY ARE CREATED_] יבראון _yibbareun_, "They are created again." _AND THOU RENEWEST THE FACE OF THE EARTH._] Do not these words plainly imply a _resurrection_ of the bodies which have died, been dissolved, or turned to dust? And is not the brute... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 104:32. _HE LOOKETH ON THE EARTH_] Even the look of God terrifies all created nature! _HE TOUCHETH THE HILLS_] So easy is it for God to burn up the earth and the worlds thereof, that even his _touch_ kindles the mountains into flames! See _Etna, Vesuvius, Stromboli_, c. these are _igni... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 104:33. _I WILL SING UNTO THE LORD_] The psalmist exulting in the glorious prospect of the renovation of all things, breaks out in triumphant anticipation of the great event, and says, I will sing unto the Lord בחיי _bechaiyai_, with my _lives_, the life that I _now_ have, and the _life... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 104:35. _LET THE SINNERS BE CONSUMED OUT OF THE EARTH, AND LET_ _THE WICKED BE NO MORE._] Or, He shall consume the wicked and ungodly, till no more of them be found. Then the wicked shall be turned into hell, with all the nations that forget God. No wonder, with these prospects before h... [ Continue Reading ]