Verse 15. Man's heart. It is not without reason that instead of the word Mdah, of Adam, which was used in Ps 104:14, there is here employed the word vwba, an infirm and feeble man, because he mentions those nourishments of which there was no need before the fall, and which are specially suitable to nourish and exhilarate feeble man. Venema.
Verse 15. If the transitory earth is so full of the good things of God, what will we have when we come to the land of the living?— Starke , in Lange's Commentary.
Verse 16. The trees of the Lord. The transition which the prophet makes from men to trees is as if he had said, It is not to be wondered at, if God so bountifully nourishes men who are created after his own image, since he does not grudge to extend his care even to trees. By "the trees of the Lord", is meant those which are high and of surpassing beauty; for God's blessing is more conspicuous in them. It seems scarcely possible for any juice of the earth to reach so great a height, and yet they renew their foliage every year. John Calving.
Verse 16. The trees of the Lord may be so named from their size and stature—this name being used as a superlative in the Hebrew, or to denote aught which is great and extraordinary. Thomas Chalmers.
Verse 16. The trees of the Lord , etc. The cedars are indeed the trees of the Lord. They are especially his planting. There is a sense in which, above all other trees, they belong to him, and shadow forth in a higher degree his glory. The peculiar expression of the text, however, must not be limited to one particular species of cedar... Encouraged by this Scripture usage, I shall use the word in a somewhat wider sense than the conventional one, to denote three remarkable examples which may be selected from the coniferae to show the power and wisdom of God as displayed in the trees of the forest. These are, the cedar of Lebanon, the cedar of the Himalayas, and the cedar of the Sierra Nevada. The epithet which the psalmist applies to one, may most appropriately be applied to all of them; and there are various reasons why the Lord may be said to have a special interest and property in each of them, to a few of which our attention may now be profitably directed.
1. They are "trees of the Lord" on account of the peculiarities of their structure . In common with all the pine tribe, they are exceptional in their organization. They reveal a new idea of the creative mind.
2. The cedars are "the trees of the Lord" on account of the antiquity of their type it was of this class of trees that the pre Adamite forests were principally composed.
3. The cedars are the "trees of the Lord, "on account of the majesty of their appearance. It is the tree, par excellence, of the Bible—the type of all forest vegetation.
—Condensed from Hugh Macmillan's "Bible Teachings in Nature, " 1868.
Verse 16. Full of sap. The cedar has a store of resin. It flows from wounds made in the bark, and from the scales of the cones, and is abundant in the seeds. Both the resin and the wood were much valued by the ancients. The Romans believed that the gum which exuded from the cedar had the power of rendering whatever was steeped in it incorruptible; and we are told that the books of Numa, the early king of Rome, which were found uninjured in his tomb, five hundred years after his death, had been steeped in oil of cedar. The Egyptians also used the oil in embalming their dead. Mary and Elizabeth Kirby , in "Chapters on Trees," 1873.
Verse 17. Birds. The word rendered "birds" here is the word which in Ps 84:3 is translated sparrow, and which is commonly used to denote small birds. Comp. Le 14:4 (margin), and Le 14:5-7 14:49-53. It is used, however, to denote birds of any kind. See Ge 7:14 Ps 8:8 6:1 148:10. Albert Barnes.
Verse 17. The stork is instanced as one of the largest of nest building birds, as the cedars of Lebanon were introduced in Ps 104:16 as being the largest of uncultivated trees. A.C. Jennings and W.H. Zowe, in "The Psalms, with Introductions and Critical Notes" , 1875.
Verse 17. The stork, the fir trees are her hoarse. In many cases the stork breeds among old ruins, and under such circumstances it is fond of building its nest on the tops of pillars or towers, the summits of arches, and similar localities. When it takes up its abode among mankind, it generally selects the breeding places which have been built for it by those who know its taste, but it frequently chooses the top of a chimney, or some such locality. When it is obliged to build in spots where it can find neither rocks nor buildings, it builds on trees, and, like the heron, is sociable in its nesting, a whole community residing in a clump of trees. It is not very particular about the kind of tree, provided that it be tolerably tall, and strong enough to bear the weight of its enormous nest; and the reader will at once see that the fir trees are peculiarly fitted to be the houses for the stork. The particular species of fir tree to which the Psalmist alludes is probably the Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis) , which comes next to the great cedars of Lebanon in point of size. It was this tree that furnished the timber and planks for Solomon's temple and palace, a timber which was evidently held in the greatest estimation. This tree fulfils all the conditions which a stork would require in nest building. It is lofty, and its boughs are sufficiently horizontal to form a platform for the nest, and strong enough to sustain it. On account of its value and the reckless manner in which it has been cut down without new plantations being formed, the Aleppo pine has vanished from many parts of Palestine wherein it was formerly common, and would afford a dwelling place for the stork. There are, however, several other species of fir which are common in various parts of the country, each species flourishing in the soil best suited to it, so that the stork would never be at a loss to find a nesting place in a country which furnished so many trees suitable to its purposes. J.G. Wood , in "Bible Animals."
Verse 17. The stork, the fir trees are her house. Well wooded districts are for the most part the favourite resorts of the storks, as they constantly select trees both for breeding purposes and as resting places for the night; some few species, however, prove exceptions to this rule, and make their nests on roofs, chimneys, or other elevated situations in the immediate vicinity of men. From "Cassell's Book of Birds." From the Text of Dr. Brehm. By T.R. Jones, F.R.S.
Verse 17. The fir trees. The doors of the temple were made of the fir tree; even of that tree which was a type of the humanity of Jesus Christ. Consider Heb 2:14. The fir tree is also the house of the stork, that unclean bird, even as Christ is a harbour and shelter for sinners. "As for the stork", saith the text, "the fir trees are her house; "and Christ saith to the sinners that see their want of shelter, "Come unto me, and I will give you rest." He is a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in time of trouble. He is, as the doors of fir of the temple, the inlet of God's house, to God's presence, and to a partaking of his glory. Thus God did of old, by similitudes teach his people his way. John Bunyan , in "Solomon's Temple Spiritualized."
Verse 17.
The eagle and the stork
On cliffs and cedar-tops their eyries build. John Milton.
Verse 18. The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats. There is scarcely any doubt that the Azel of the Old Testament is the Arabian Ibex or Beden (Capra Nubiana) . This animal is very closely allied to the well known Ibex of the Alps, or Steinbock, but may be distinguished from it by one or two slight differences, such as the black beard and the slighter make of the horns, which moreover have three angles instead of four, as is the case with the Alpine Ibex ...The colour of its coat resembles so nearly that of the rocks, that an inexperienced eye would see nothing but bare stones and sticks where a practised hunter would see numbers of Beden , conspicuous by their beautifully curved horns. The agility of the Beden is extraordinary. Living in the highest and most craggy parts of the mountain ridge, it flings itself from spot to spot with a recklessness that startles one who has not been accustomed to the animal, and the wonderful certainty of its foot. It will, for example, dash at the face of a perpendicular precipice that looks as smooth as a brick wall, for the purpose of reaching a tiny ledge which is hardly perceptible, and which is some fifteen feet or so above the spot whence the animal sprang. Its eye, however, has marked certain little cracks and projections on the face of the rock, and as the animal makes its leap, it takes these little points of vantage in rapid succession, just touching them as it passes upwards, and by the slight stroke of its foot keeping up the original impulse of its leap. Similarly the Ibex comes sliding and leaping down precipitous sides of the mountains, sometimes halting with all the four feet drawn together, on a little projection scarcely larger than a penny, and sometimes springing boldly over a wild crevasse, and alighting with exact precision upon a projecting piece of rock, that seems scarcely large enough to sustain a rat comfortably. J.G. Wood.
Verse 18. Conies. When we were exploring the rocks in the neighbourhood of the convent, I was delighted to point attention to a family or two of the Wubar , engaged in their gambols on the heights above us. Mr. Smith and I watched them narrowly, and were much amused with the liveliness of their motions, and the quickness of their retreat within the clefts of the rock when they apprehended danger. We were, we believe, the first European travellers who actually noticed this animal, now universally admitted to be the shaphan, or coney of Scripture, within the proper bounds of the Holy Land; and we were not a little gratified by its discovery... The preparer of the skin mistook it for a rabbit, though it is of a stronger build, and of a duskier colour, being of a dark brown. It is destitute of a tail, and has some bristles at its mouth, over its head, and down its back, along the course of which there are traces of light and dark shade. In its short ears, small, black, and naked feet, and pointed snout, it resembles the hedgehog. It does not, however, belong to the insectivora, but, though somewhat anomalous, it is allied to the paehydermata, among which it is now classed by naturalists. John Wilson , in "The Lands of the Bible," 1847.
Verse 18. Conies. People used to think the conies of Solomon the same as our rabbits, which are indeed "a feeble folk, "but which do not "make their houses in the rock." Now that the coney is ascertained to be the Damon or Hyrax,—a shy defenceless creature, which lurks among the cliffs of the mountains, and darts into its den at the least approach of danger, the words of Agar acquire their full significance. James Hamilton.
Verse 19. He appointed the moon for seasons. When it is said, that the moon was appointed to distinguish seasons, interpreters agree that this is to be understood of the ordinary and appointed feasts. The Hebrews having been accustomed to compute their months by the moon, this served for regulating their festival days and assemblies both sacred and political. The prophet, I have no doubt, by the figure synecdoche, puts a part for the whole, intimating that the moon not only distinguishes the days from the nights, but likewise marks out the festival days, measures years and months, and, in line, answers many useful purposes, in as much as the distinction of times is taken from her course. John Calvin.
Verse 19. He appointed the moon for seasons. "He made the moon to serve in her season, for a declaration ofttimes, and a sign to the world. From the moon is the sign of feasts, a light that decreases in her perfection. The month is called after her name, increasing wonderfully in her changing, being an instrument of the armies above, shining in the firmament of heaven; the beauty of heaven, the glory of the stars, an ornament giving light in the highest places of the Lord."—Ec 10:7
Verse 19. The sun knoweth his going down. The second clause is not to be rendered in the common way, "The sun knoweth his going down, " but according to the usual idiom, He , i.e., God knoweth the going down of the sun . Not to mention the unwanted and harsh form of the phrase, by which the knowledge of his setting is attributed to the sun, there appears no reason why it should be here used, since it is destitute of force, {1} or why he should turn from God as a cause, to the moving sun, when both before and afterwards he speaks of God, saying, "He appointed the moon, ""Thou makest darkness". Far more fitly, therefore, is he to be understood as speaking of God, as before and after, so in the middle, of the directing cause of the appearances of the moon, the setting of the sun, and the spread of darkness. God also is said more correctly to know the going down of the sun, than the sun himself, since to know has in effect the force of to cared for , as is often the case in other passages. Venema.
{1} This excellent expounder cannot see the beauty of the poetic expression, and so proses in this fashion.
Verse 20. Thou makest darkness. Some observe with Augustine that in Genesis it is said that light was made , but not that darkness was made , because darkness is nothing, it is mere non existence. But in this passage it is also said that night was made, and the Lord calls himself the Maker of light and the Creator of darkness. Lorinus.
Verse 20. Thou makest darkness, etc. It would be interesting to consider the wonderful adaptation of the length of the day to the health of man, and to the rigour and perhaps existence of the animal and vegetable tribes. The rejoicing of life depends so much upon the grateful alternation of day and night. For a full consideration of this subject I must refer the reader to Dr. Whewell's Bridgewater Treatise. The subjoined extracts may, however, aid reflection. The terrestrial day, and consequently, the length of the cycle of light and darkness, being what it is, we find various parts of the constitution both of animals and vegetables, which have a periodical character in their functions, corresponding to the diurnal succession of external conditions; and we find that the length of the period, as it exists in their constitution, coincides with the length of the natural day. The alternation of processes which takes place in plants by day and by night is less obvious, and less obviously essential to their well being, than the annum series of changes. But there are abundance of facts which serve to show that such an alternation is part of the vegetable economy. . . . "Animals also have a period in their functions and habits; as in the habits of waking, sleeping, etc., and their well being appears to depend on the coincidence of this period with the length of the natural day. We see that in the day, as it now is, all animals find seasons for taking food and repose, which agree perfectly with their health and comfort. Some animals feed during the day, as nearly all the ruminating animals and land birds; others feed only in the twilight, as bats and owls, and are called crepuscular; while many beasts of prey, aquatic birds, and others, take their food during the night. These animals, which are nocturnal feeders, are diurnal sleepers, while those which are crepuscular sleep partly in the night and partly in the day; but in all, the complete period of these functions is twenty-four hours. Man in like manner, in all nations and ages, takes his principal rest once in twenty-four hours; and the regularity of this practice seems most suitable to his health, though the duration of time allotted to repose is extremely different in different cases. So far as we can judge, this period is of a length beneficial to the human frame, independently of the effect of external agents. In the voyages recently made into high northern latitudes, where the sun did not rise for three months, the crews of the ships were made to adhere, with the utmost punctuality, to the hallit of retiring to rest at nine, and rising a quarter before six; and they enjoyed, under circumstances apparently the most trying, a state of salubrity quite remarkable. This shows, that according to the common constitution of such men, the cycle of twenty-four hours is very commodious, though not imposed on them by external circumstances."— William Whewell (1795-1866).
Verse 21. The young lions...seek their meat from God. God feeds not only sheep and lambs, but wolves and lions. It is a strange expression that young lions when they roar after their prey, should be said to seek their meat of God; implying that neither their own strength nor craft could feed them without help from God. The strongest creatures left to themselves cannot help themselves. As they who fear God are fed by a special providence of God, so all creatures are fed and nourished by a general providence. The lion, though he be strong and subtle, yet cannot get his own prey; we think a lion might shift for himself; no, it is the lord that provides for him; the young lions seek their meat of God. Surely, then, the mightiest of men cannot live upon themselves; as it is of God that we receive life and breath, so all things needful for the maintenance of this life. Joseph Caryl.
Verse 21. The young lions roar. The roar of a lion, according to Burcheil, sometimes resembles the sound which is heard at the moment of an earthquake; and is produced by his laying his head on the ground, and uttering a half stifled growl, by which means the noise is conveyed along the earth. The instant it is heard by the animals reposing m the plains, they start up in alarm, fly in all directions, and even rush into the danger which they seek to avoid. From Cassell's Popular Natural History.
Verse 21. The roaring of the young lions, like the crying of the ravens, is interpreted, asking their meat of God. Both God put this construction upon the language of mere nature, even in venomous creatures, and shall he not much more interpret favourably the language of grace in his own people, though it be weak and broken groanings which cannot be uttered?— Matthew Henry.
Verse 22. The sun ariseth...they lay them down in their dens. As wild beasts since the fall of man may seem to be born to do us hurt, and to rend and tear in pieces all whom they meet with, this savage cruelty must be kept under check by the providence of God. And in order to keep them shut up within their dens, the only means which he employs is to inspire them with terror, simply by the light of the sun. This instance of divine goodness, the prophet commends the more on account of its necessity; for were it otherwise, men would have no liberty to go forth to engage in the labours and business of life. John Calvin.
Verse 23. Man goeth forth unto his work, etc. Man alone, among all creatures, in distinction from the involuntary instruments of the Almighty, has a real daily work. He has a definite part to play in life; and can recognize it. Carl Bernhard Moll , in Lange's Commentary.
Verse 23. When the light of truth and righteousness shineth, error and iniquity fly away before it, and the "roaring lion" himself departeth for a time. Then the Christian goeth forth to the work of his salvation, and to his labour of love, until the evening of old age warns him to prepare for his last repose, in faith of a joyful resurrection. George Horne.
Verse 24. O Lord, how manifold are thy works! etc. If the number of the creatures be so exceeding great, how great, nay, immense, must needs be the power and wisdom of him who formed them all! For (that I may borrow the words of a noble and excellent author) as it argues and manifests more skill by far in an artificer, to be able to frame both clocks and watches, and pumps and mills, and granadoes and rockets, than he could display in making but one of those sorts of engines; so the Almighty discovers more of his wisdom in forming such a vast multitude of different sorts of creatures, and all with admirable and irreprovable art, than if he had created but a few; for this declares the greatness and unbounded capacity of his understanding. Again, the same superiority of knowledge would be displayed by contriving engines of the same kind, or for the same purposes, after different fashions, as the moving of clocks by springs instead of weights: so the infinitely wise Creator hath shown in many instances that he is not confined to one only instrument for the working one effect, but can perform the same thing by divers means. So, though feathers seem necessary for flying, yet hath he enabled several creatures to fly without them, as two sorts of fishes, one sort of lizard, and the bat, not to mention the numerous tribes of flying insects. In like manner, though the air bladder in fishes seems necessary for swimming, yet some are so formed as to swim without it, viz., First, the cartilaginous kind, which by what artifice they poise themselves, ascend and descend at pleasure, and continue in what depth of water they list, is as yet unknown to us. Secondly, the cetaceous kind, or sea beasts, differing in nothing almost but the want of feet. The air which in respiration these receive into their lungs, may serve to render their bodies equiponderant to the water; and the construction or dilatation of it, by the help of the diaphragm and muscles of respiration, may probably assist them to ascend or descend in the water, by a light impulse thereof with their fins. . . . Again, the great use and convenience, the beauty and variety of so many springs and fountains, so many brooks and rivers, so many lakes and standing pools of water, and these so scattered and dispersed all the earth over, that no great part of it is destitute of them, without which it must, without a supply other ways, be desolate and void of inhabitants, afford abundant arguments of wisdom and counsel: that springs should break forth on the sides of mountains most remote from the sea: that there should way be made for rivers through straits and rocks, and subterraneous vaults, so that one would think that nature had cut a way on purpose to derive the water, which else would overflow and drown whole countries. John Ray (1678-1705), in "The Wisdom, of God manifested in the Works of the Creation."
Verse 24. How manifold are thy works! When we contemplate the wonderful works of Nature, and walking about at leisure, gaze upon this ample theatre of the world, considering the stately beauty, constant order, and sumptuous furniture thereof; the glorious splendour and uniform motion of the heavens; the pleasant fertility of the earth; the curious figure and fragrant sweetness of plants; the exquisite frame of animals; and all other amazing miracles of nature, wherein the glorious attributes of God, especially his transcendant goodness, are more conspicuously displayed: so that by them, not only large acknowledgments, but even gratulatory hymns, as it were, of praise have been extorted from the mouths of Aristotle, Pliny, Galen, and such like men, never suspected guilty of an excessive devotion; then should our hearts be affected with thankful sense, and our lips break forth in praise. William Barrow , 1754-1836.
Verse 24. He does not undertake to answer his own question, "How manifold?" for he confesses God's works to be greater than his own power of expression; whether these "works" belong to the creation of nature or to that of grace. And observe how the concurrent operation of the Blessed Trinity is set forth: "O Lord, how manifold are thy works , "teaches of the Father, the Source of all things: " in wisdom hast thou made them all , "tells of the Son, the Eternal Word, "Christ the power of God and the Wisdom of God, by whom were all things made, and without him was not anything made that was made, "(1Co 1:24 Joh 1:3); "the earth is full of thy riches, " is spoken of the Holy Ghost, who filleth the world. Augustine, Hugo, and Uassiodorus , in Neale and Littledale.
Verse 24. In wisdom hast thou made them all. Not only one thing, as the heavens, Ps 136:5; but everything is wisely contrived and made; there is a most glorious display of the wisdom of God in the most minute things his hands have made; he has made everything beautiful in its season. A skilful artificer, when he has finished his work and looks it over again, often finds some fault or another in it: but when the Lord had finished his works of creation, and looked over them, he saw that all was good; infinite wisdom itself could find no blemish in them: what weak, foolish, stupid creatures must they be that pretend to charge any of the works of God with folly, or want of wisdom?— John Gill.
Verse 24. The earth is full of thy riches, literally, thy possessions; these thou keepest not to thyself, but blessest thy creatures with. A.R. Fausset.
Verse 25. Things innumerable. The waters teem with more life than the land. Beneath a surface less varied than that of the continents, the sea enfolds in its bosom an exuberance of life, of which no other region of the globe can afford the faintest idea. Its life extends from the poles to the equator, from east to west. Everywhere the sea is peopled; everywhere, down to its unfathomable depths, live and sport creatures suited to the locality. In every spot of its vast expanse the naturalist finds instruction, and the philosopher meditation, while the very varieties of life tend to impress upon our souls a feeling of gratitude to the Creator of the universe. Yes, the shores of the ocean and its depths, its plains and its mountains, its valleys and its precipices, even its debris, are enlivened and beautified by thousands of living beings. There are the solitary or sociable plants, upright or pendant, stretching in prairies, grouped in oases, or growing in immense forests. These plants give a cover to and feed millions of animals which creep, run, swim, fly, burrow in the soil, attach themselves to roots, lodge in the crevices, or build for themselves shelters, which seek or fly from one another, which pursue or fight each other, which caress each other with affection or devour each other without pity. Charles Darwin truly says that the terrestrial forests do not contain anything like the number of animals as those of the sea. The ocean, which is for man the element of death, is for myriads of animals a home of life and health. There is joy in its waves, there is happiness upon its shores, and heavenly blue everywhere. Moquin Tandon , in "The World of the Sea", Translated and enlarged by H. Martin Hart , 1869.
Verse 25. Both small and great beasts.
The sounds and seas, each creek and bay,
With fry innumerable swarm, and shoals
Of fish that with their fins and shining scales
Glide under the green wave, in shoals that oft
Bank the mid sea; part single, or with mate,
Graze the seaweed their pasture, and through groves
Of coral stray; or sporting with quick glance,
Show to the sun their waved coats drop it with gold;
Or, in their pearly shells at ease, attend
Moist nutriment; or under rocks their food
In jointed armour watch: on smooth the seal
And bended dolphins play: part huge of bulk
Wallowing unwieldy, enormous in their gait,
Tempest the ocean: there leviathan,
Hugest of living creatures, on the deep
Stretched like a promontory sleeps or swims,
And seems a moving land; and at his gills
Draws in, and at his trunk spouts out, a sea.
— John Milton.
Verse 26. Ships. The original of ships was doubtless Noah's ark, so that they owe their first draught to God himself. John Gill.
Verse 26. There go the ships. Far from separating from each other the nations of the earth (as the ancients, still inexperienced in navigation, supposed), the sea is the great highway of the human race, and unites all its various tribes into one common family by the beneficial bonds of commerce. Countless fleets are constantly furrowing its bosom, to enrich, by perpetual exchanges, all the countries of the globe with the products of every zone, to convey the fruits of the tropical world to the children of the chilly north, or to transport the manufactures of colder climes to the inhabitants of the equatorial regions. With the growth of commerce civilization also spreads athwart the wide cause way of the ocean from shore to shore; it first dawned on the borders of the sea, and its chief seats are still to be found along its confines. G. Hartwig , in "The Harmonies of Nature," 1866.
Verse 26. Leviathan. There is ground for thinking (though this is denied by some) that in several passages the term leviathan is used generically, much as we employ dragon; and that it denotes a great sea monster. E.P. Barrows , in "Biblical Geography and Antiquities."
Verse 26. To play therein. Dreadful and tempestuous as the sea may appear, and uncontrollable in its billows and surges, it is only the field of sport, the playground, the bowling green, to those huge marine monsters. Adam Clarke.
Verse 26. Leviathan... made to play therein. With such wonderful strength is the tail of the whale endowed, that the largest of these animals, measuring some eighty feet in length, are able by its aid to leap clear out of the water, as if they were little fish leaping after flies. This movement is technically termed "breaching, "and the sound which is produced by the huge carcase as it falls upon the water is so powerful as to be heard for a distance of several miles. J.G. Wood , in "The Illustrated Natural History," 1861.
Verse 26. Leviathan...made to play therein. Though these immense mammiferous fish have no legs, they swim with great swiftness, and they gambol in the mountains of water lashed up by the storms. Moquin Tandon.
Verse 26. Leviathan...made to play. He is made to "play in the sea"; he hath nothing to do as man hath, that "goes forth to his work"; he hath nothing to fear as the beasts have, that lie down in their dens; and therefore he plays with the waters: it is pity any of the children of men, that have nobler powers, and were made for nobler purposes, should live as if they were sent into the world like the leviathan into the waters, to play therein, spending all their time in pastime. Matthew Henry.
Verse 26. Therein. Fish, great and small, sport and play in the element, but as soon as they are brought out of it, they languish and die. Mark, O soul! what thy element is, if thou wouldest live joyful and blessed. Starke , in Lange's Commentary.
Verse 27. There are five things to be observed in God's sustaining all animals. His power, which alone suffices for all: "These wait all upon thee." Wisdom, which selects a fitting time: "That thou mayest give them their meat in due season." His majesty rising above all: "That thou givest them they gather, "like the crumbs falling from the table of their supreme Lord. His liberality, which retains nothing in his open hand that it does not give: "Thou openest thine hand." His original goodness that flows down to all: "They are filled with good, "that is, with the good things that spring from thy goodness. Le Blanc.
Verse 27. That thou mayest give them their meat in due season; or, in his time; every one in its own time which is natural to them, and they have been used to, at which time the Lord gives it to them, and they take it; it would be well if men would do so likewise, eat and drink in proper and due time, Ec 10:17. Christ speaks a word in season to weary souls; his ministers give to every one his portion of meat in due season; and a word spoken in due season, how good and sweet is it? Isa 7:4 Lu 7:12 Pr 15:23. John Gill.
Verse 27.
These, Lord, all wait on thee, that thou their food may it give them;
Thou to their wants attendest;
They gather what thou sendest;
Thine hand thou openest, all their need supplying,
Over lookest not the least, the greatest satisfying.
When thou dost hide thy face a sudden change comes over them
Their breath in myriads taken,
They die no more to awaken;
But myriads more thy Spirit soon createth,
And the whole face of nature quickly renovateth.
The glory of the Lord, changeless, endures for ever;
In all his works delighting,
Nor even the smallest slighting;
Yet, if he frown, earth shrinks with fear before him,
And, at his touch, the hills with kindling flames adore him.
— John Burton.
Verse 28. That thou givest them they gather. This sentence describes The Commissariat of Creation. The problem is the feeding of "the creeping things innumerable, both small and great beasts, "which swarm the sea; the armies of birds which fill the air, and the vast hordes of animals which people the dry land; and in this sentence we have the problem solved, "That thou givest them they gather." The work is stupendous, but it is done with ease because the Worker is infinite: if he were not at the head of it the task would never be accomplished. Blessed be God for the great They of the text. It is every way our sweetest consolation that the personal God is still at work in the world: leviathan in the ocean, and the sparrow on the bough, may be alike glad of this; and we, the children of the great Father, much more. The general principle of the text is, God gives to his creatures, and his creatures gather. That general principle we shall apply to our own case as men and women; for it is as true of us as it is of the fish of the sea, and the cattle on the hills: "That thou givest them they gather."
1. We have only to gather, for God gives. In temporal things: God gives us day by day our daily bread, and our business is simply to gather it. As to spirituals, the principle is true, most emphatically, we have, in the matter of grace, only to gather what God gives. The natural man thinks that he has to earn divine favour; that he has to purchase the blessing of heaven; but he is in grave error: the soul has only to receive that which Jesus freely gives.
2. We can only gather what God gives; however eager we may be, there is the end of the matter. The diligent bird shall not be able to gather more than the Lord has given it; neither shall the most avaricious and covetous man. "It is vain for you to rise up early and to sit up late, to eat the bread of carefulness; for so he giveth his beloved sleep."
3. We must gather what God gives, or else we shall get no good by his bountiful giving. God feeds the creeping things innumerable, but each creature collects the provender for itself. The huge leviathan receives his vast provision, but he must go ploughing through the boundless meadows and gather up the myriads of minute objects which supply his need. The fish must leap up to catch the fly, the swallow must hawk for its food, the young lions must hunt for their prey.
4. The fourth turn of the text gives us the sweet thought that, we may gather what he gives. We have divine permission to enjoy freely what the Lord bestows.
5. The last thing is, God will always give us something to gather. It is written, "The Lord will provide." Thus is it also in spiritual things. If you are willing to gather, God will always give. C.H.S.
Verse 28. Gather. The verb rendered "gather" means to pick up or collect from the ground. It is used in the history of the manna (Ex 16:1,5,16), to which there is obvious allusion. The act of gathering from the ground seems to presuppose a previous throwing down from heaven. J.A. Alexander.
Verse 28. Thou openest thine hand. The Greek expositors take the opening of the hand to indicate facility. I am of opinion that it refers also to abundance and liberality, as in Ps 145:16:—"Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing." Using this same formula, God commands us not to close the hand, but to open it to the poor. Lorinus.
Verse 29. They are troubled. They are confounded; they are overwhelmed with terror and amazement. The word "troubled" by no means conveys the sense of the original word—Nab, bahal—which means properly to tremble; to be in trepidation; to be filled with terror; to be amazed; to be confounded. It is that kind of consternation which one has when all support and protection are withdrawn, and when inevitable ruin stares one in the face. So when God turns away, all their support is gone, all their resources fail, and they must die. They are represented as conscious of this; or this is what would occur if they were conscious. Albert Barnes.
Verse 30. Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created. The Spirit of God creates every day: what is it that continueth things in their created being, but providence? That is a true axiom in divinity, Providence is creation continued. Now the Spirit of God who created at first, creates to this day: "Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created." The work of creation was finished in the first six days of the world, but the work of creation is renewed every day, and so continued to the end of the world. Successive providential creation as well as original creation is ascribed to the Spirit. "And thou renewest the face of the earth." Thou makest a new world; and thus God makes a new world every year, sending forth his Spirit, or quickening power, in the rain and sun to renew the face of the earth. And as the Lord sends forth his power in providential mercies, so in providential judgments. Joseph Caryl.
Verse 31. The Lord shall rejoice in his works. Man alone amongst the creatures grieves God, and brought tears from the eyes of Christ, who rejoiced in Spirit, because the Father had deigned to reveal the mysteries to the little ones. It repented God that he had made men, because as a wise son maketh a glad father, so a foolish one is a vexation to him. Lorinus.
Verse 31 (last clause). What the Psalmist adds, Let Jehovah rejoice in his works, is not superfluous, for he desires that the order which God has established from the beginning may be continued in the lawful use of his gifts. As we read in Ge 6:6, that "it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth; "so when he sees that the good things which he bestows are polluted by our corruptions, he ceases to take delight in bestowing them. And certainly the confusion and disorder which take place, when the elements cease to perform their office, testify that God, displeased and wearied out, is provoked to discontinue, and put a stop to the regular course of his beneficence; although anger and impatience have strictly speaking no place in his mind. What is here taught is, that he bears the character of the best of fathers, who takes pleasure in tenderly cherishing his children, and in bountifully nourishing them. John Calvin.
Verse 32. He looketh on the earth and it trembleth. As man can soon give a cast with his eye, so soon can God shake the earth, that is, either the whole mass of the earth, or the inferior sort of men on the earth when he "looketh, "or casteth an angry eye "upon the earth it trembleth." "He toucheth the hills, "(that is, the powers and principalities of the world), "and they smoke; "if he do but touch them they smoke, that is, the dreadful effects of the power and judgment of God are visible upon them. Joseph Caryl.
Verse 32. No one save a photographer can sketch the desert around Sinai. Roberts' views are noble, and to a certain extent true; but they do not represent these desert cliffs and ravines. No artist can rightly do it. Only the photographer can pourtray the million of minute details that go to make up the bleakness, the wildness, the awfulness, and the dismal loneliness of these unearthly wastes. About noon I went out and walked upon the convent roof. The star light over the mountain peaks was splendid, while the gloom that hung round these enormous precipices and Impenetrable ravines was quite oppressive to the spirit. This is the scene of which David spoke. "He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: he toucheth the hills, and they smoke." This is the mountain "that was touched, and that burned with fire" (Heb 7:18). Not the mount that "might be touched, "as our translators have rendered it, but the mount "that was touched, " qhla fwmena,—the mount on which the finger of God rested. We could imagine the black girdle of the thick darkness with which the mountain was surrounded, and the lightnings giving forth their quick fire through tiffs covering, making its blackness blacker. We could imagine, too, the supernatural blaze, kindled by no earthly hand, that shot up out of the midst of this, like a living column of fire, ascending, amid the sound of angelic trumpets and superangelic thunders, to the very heart of heaven. Horatius Bonar , in "The Desert of Sinai", 1858.
Verse 32. The philosopher labours to investigate the natural cause of earthquakes and volcanoes. Well, let him account as he will, still the immediate power of Jehovah is the true and ultimate cause. God works in these tremendous operations. "He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth; he toucheth the hills, and they smoke." This is the philosophy of Scripture: this, then, shall be my philosophy. Never was a sentence uttered by uninspired man so sublime as this sentence. The thought is grand beyond conception; and the expression clothes the thought with suitable external majesty. God needs no means by which to give effect to his purpose by his power, yet, in general, he has established means through which he acts. In conformity with this Divine plan, he created by means, and he governs by means. But the means which he has employed in creation, and the means which he employs in providence, are effectual only by his almighty power. The sublimity of the expression in this passage arises from the infinite disproportion between the means and the end. An earthly sovereign looks with anger, and his courtiers tremble. God looks on the earth, and it trembles to its foundation. He touches the mountains, and the volcano smokes, vomiting forth torrents of lava. Hills are said to melt at the presence of the Lord. "Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob." How chill and withering is the breath of that noxious philosophy, that would detach our minds from viewing God in his works of Providence! The Christian who lives in this atmosphere, or on the borders of it, will be unhealthy and unfruitful in true works of righteousness. This malaria destroys all spiritual life. Alexander Carson.
Verse 32. He toucheth the hills, and they smoke. It's therefore ill falling into his hands, who can do such terrible things with his looks and touches. John Trapp.
Verse 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", ywxb bechaiyai, "with my lives, "the life that I now have, and the life that I shall have hereafter. "I will sing praise to my God, "ydweb beodi, "in my eternity; " my going on, my endless progression. What astonishing ideas! But then, how shall this great work be brought about? and how shall the new earth be inhabited with righteous spirits only? The answer is Ps 104:35, "Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more."— Adam Clarke.
Verse 33. All having been admonished to glorify God, he discloses what he himself is about to do; with his voice he will declare his praises, "I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live:" with his hand he will write psalms, and set them to music, "I will sing psalms to my God while I have my being:" with his mind he will make sweet meditations, "My meditation of him shall be sweet:" with will and affection he will seek after God alone, "I will be glad in the Lord:" he predicts and desires the destruction of all sinners who think not of praising God, but dishonour him in their words and works, "Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more:" lastly, with his whole soul and all his powers he will bless God, "Bless thou the Lord, O my soul."— Le Blanc.
Verse 34. My meditation of him shall be sweet. A Christian needs to study nothing but Christ, there is enough in Christ to take up his study and contemplation all his days; and the more we study Christ, the more we may study him; there will be new wonders still appearing in him. John Pox , 1680.
Verse 34. My meditation of him shall be sweet. The last words ever written by Henry Martyn, dying among Mohammedans in Persia, was: I sat in the orchard and thought with sweet comfort and peace of my God, in solitude my company, my Friend and Comforter.
Verse 34. My meditation of him shall be sweet. I must meditate on Christ. Let philosophers soar in their contemplations, and walk among the stars; what are the stars to Christ, the Sun of righteousness, the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of his person? God manifest in the flesh is a theme which angela rejoice to contemplate. Samuel Lavington.
Verse 34. My meditation of him shall be sweet. First. Take this as an assertion. The meditation on God is sweet. And the sweetness of it should stir us up to the putting of it in practice. Secondly. Take it as a resolution—that he would make it for his own practice; that is, that he would comfort himself in such performances as these are; whilst others took pleasure in other things, he would please himself in communion with God, this should be his solace and delight upon all occasions. David promises himself a great deal of contentment in this exercise of divine meditation which he undertook with much delight: and so likewise do others of God's servants of the same nature and disposition with him in the like undertakings. Thirdly. Take it as a prayer and petition. It "shall be, "that is, let it be, the future put for the imperative, as it frequently uses to be; and so the word "gnatam" is to be translated, not, of God, but to God. Let my meditation, or prayer, or converse, be sweet unto him. Place at "illi meditatio mea", so some good authors interpret it. The English translation, "Let my words be acceptable, "and the other before that, "Oh, that my words might please him, "which comes to one and the same effect, all taking it in the notion of a prayer: this is that which the servants of God have still thought to be most necessary for them (as indeed it is); God's acceptance of the performances which have been presented by them. Condensed from Thomas Horton.
Verse 34. (first clause) —All the ancients join in understanding it thus, "My meditation shall be sweet to him, "or, as the Jewish Arab, hdge with him, according to that of the Psalmist, Ps 14:14 "Let the meditation of my heart be always acceptable in thy sight." Thus the Chaldee here, ywmrq, before him; the LXXII hdunyeih antw, "Let it be sweet to him"; the Syriac to him, and so the others also. And so Ke signifies to as well as on. Henry Hammond.
Verse 34. I will be glad in the Lord. Compare this with verse 31, and observe the mutual and reciprocal pleasure and delight between God who is praised and the soul that praises him. God, who rejoices in his works, takes the highest delight in man, the compendium of his other works, and in that work, than which none more excellent can be pursued by man, the work of praising God in which the blessed are employed. Thus in this very praise of God which is so pleasing to him, David professes to be evermore willing to take delight. My beloved is mine, sings the Spouse, and I am his. Lorinus.
Verse 35. Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, etc. It fell to my lot some years ago, to undertake a walk of some miles, on a summer morning, along a seashore of surpassing beauty. It was the Lord's day, and the language of the Hundred and fourth Psalm rose spontaneously in my mind as one scene after another unfolded itself before the eye. About half way to my destination the road lay through a dirty hamlet, and my meditations were rudely interrupted by the brawling of some people, who looked as if they had been spending the night in a drunken debauch. Well, I thought, the Psalmist must have had some such unpleasant experience. He must have fallen in with people, located in some scene of natural beauty, who, instead of being a holy priesthood to give voice to nature in praise of her Creator, instead of being, in the pure and holy tenor of their lives the most heavenly note of the general song, filled it with a harsh discord. His prayer is the vehement expression of a desire that the earth may no longer be marred by the presence of wicked men,—that they may be utterly consumed, and may give place to men animated with the fear of God, just and holy men, men that shall be a crown of beauty on the head of this fair creation. If this be the right explanation of the Psalmist's prayer, it is not only justifiable, but there is something wrong in our meditations on nature, if we are not disposed to join in it. William Binnie.
Verse 35. Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth. This imprecation depends on the last clause of the 31st verse, "Let Jehovah, rejoice in his works." As the wicked infect the world with their pollutions, the consequence is, that God has less delight in his own workmanship, and is even almost displeased with it. It is impossible, but that this uncleanness, which, being extended and diffused through every part of the world, vitiates and corrupts such a noble product of his hands, must be offensive to him. Since then the wicked, by their perverse abuse of God's gifts, cause the world in a manner to degenerate and fall away from its first original, the prophet justly desires that they may be exterminated, until the race of them entirely fails. Let us, then, take care so to weigh the providence of God, as that being wholly devoted to obeying him, we may rightly and purely use the benefits which he sanctifies for our enjoying them. Further, let us be grieved, that such precious treasures are wickedly squandered away, and let us regard it as monstrous and detestable, that men not only forget their Maker, but also, as it were, purposely turn to a perverse and an unworthy end, whatever good things he has bestowed upon them. John Calvin.
Verse 35. The sinners.
All true, all faultless, all in tune,
Creation's wondrous choir,
Opened in mystic unison,
To last till time expire.
And still it lasts: by day and night,
With one consenting voice,
All hymn thy glory, Lord, aright,
All worship and rejoice.
Man only mars the sweet accord,
Overpowering with harsh din
The music of thy works and word,
Ill matched with grief and sin.
— John Keble in "The Christian Year."
Verse 35. Bless thou the Lord, O my soul. Rehearse the first words of the Psalm which are the same as these. They are here repeated as if to hint that the end of good men is like their beginning, and that he is not of the number who begins in the spirit and seeks to be made perfect in the flesh. A worthy beginning of the Psalm, says Cassiodorus, and a worthy end, ever to bless him who never at any time fails to be with the faithful. The soul which blesses shall be made fat... Reined in by this rein of divine praise, he shall never perish. Lorinus.
Verse 35. This is the first place where HALLELUJAH ("Praise ye the Lord") occurs in the Book of Psalms. It is produced by a retrospect of Creation, and by the contemplation of God's goodness in the preservation of all the creatures of his hand, and also by a prospective view of that future Sabbath, when, by the removal of evil men from communion with the good, God will be enabled to look on his works, as he did on the first Sabbath, before the Tempter had marred them, and see "everything very good." See Ge 1:31 2:2-3— Christopher Wordsworth.
Verse 35. Praise ye the Lord. This is the first time that we meet with Hallelujah; and it comes in here upon occasion of the destruction of the wicked; and the last time we meet with it, it is upon the like occasion, when the New Testament Babylon is consumed, this is the burden of the song,—"Hallelujah, "Re 14:1,3,4,6. Matthew Henry.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1. (first clause) —An exhortation to one's own heart.
1. To remember the Lord as the first cause of all good. Bless not man, or fate, but the Lord.
2. To do this in a loving, grateful, hearty, praising manner. Bless the Lord.
3. To do it truly and intensely. O my soul.
4. To do it now—for various reasons and in all possible ways.
Verse 1 (second clause). He is all this essentially, and in nature, providence, grace, and judgment.
Verse 2 (first clause). The clearest revelation of God is still a concealment; even light is but a covering to him. God is clothed with light as we see him in his omniscience, his holiness, his revelation, his glory, in heaven and his grace on earth.
Verse 3 (last clause).
1. God is leisurely in his haste: "he walketh, "etc.
2. God is swift even in his slackness: "he walketh on the wings of the wind."
3. The practical conclusions are that there is time enough for the divine purposes but none for our trifling; and that we should both wait with patience for the victory of his cause and hasten it by holy activity.
Verse 4.
1. The Nature of Angels Spirits.
2. The Lord of Angels. "Who maketh, "etc. What must Iris own spirituality be who maketh spirits?
3. The ministry of Angels.
(a) Their office: "ministers."
(b) Their activity or zeal: "a flaming fire."
(c) Their dependence: made ministers.
— G. Rogers.
Verse 7. The power of the divine word in nature shows its power in other spheres.
Verse 9.
1. All things have their appointed bounds.
2. To pass those bounds without special permission by God is transgression. "Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass."
3. Extraordinary cases should be followed by a return to ordinary duties. "That they turn not again, "etc. G.R.
Verse 10. The thoughtfulness of God for those who, like the valleys, are lowly, hidden, and needy: the abiding character of his supplies: and the joyous results of his care.
Verse 10. God's care for wild creatures, reflections from it.
1. Shall he not much more care for his people?
2. Will he not look after wild, wandering men?
3. Ought we not also to care for all that live?
Verse 10. From the fertility, life and music which mark the course of a stream, illustrate the beneficial influences of the Gospel. C.A. Davis.
Verse 14. In the Hayfield. (See "Spurgeon's Sermons, "No. 757.) "He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle."
1. Grass is in itself instructive.
(a) As a symbol of our mortality: "All flesh is grass."
(b) As an emblem of the wicked.
(c) As a picture of the elect of God. Isa 35:7 44:4 Ps 72:6,16
(d) Grass is comparable to the food wherewith the Lord supplies the necessities of his chosen ones. Ps 23:2 So 1:7
2. God is seen in the growing of the grass.
(a) As a worker: "He causeth, "etc. See God in common things—in solitary things.
(b) See God as a caretaker: "He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle." God cares for the beasts—the helpless—dumb and speechless things—providing suitable food for them: "grass". Let us, then, see his hand in providence at all times.
3. God's working in the grass for the cattle gives us illustrations concerning grace.
(a) God "cares for oxen" and satisfies their wants: there must then be something somewhere to satisfy the needs of the nobler creature man, and his immortal soul.
(b) Though God provides the grass for the cattle, the cattle must eat it themselves. The Lord Jesus Christ is provided as the food of the soul. We must, by faith, receive and feed upon Christ.
(c) Preventing grace may here be seen in a symbol: before the cattle were made, in this world there was grass. There were covenant supplies for God's people before they were in the world.
(d) Here is an illustration of free grace: the cattle bring nothing to purchase the food. Why is this?
(1) Because they belong to him, Ps 1:10.
(2) Because he has entered into a covenant with them to feed them, Ge 9:9,10.
In the text there is a mighty blow to free will: "He causeth the grass to grow." Grace does not grow in the heart without a divine cause. If God cares to make grass grow he will also make us grow in grace. Again; the grass does not grow without an object; it is "for the cattle": but the cattle grow for man. What then, does man grow for? Observe, further, that the existence of the grass is necessary to complete the chain of nature. So the meanest child of God is necessary to the family.
Verse 16. "The Cedars of Lebanon." (See "Spurgeon's Sermons," No. 529.)
1. The absence of all human culture. These trees are peculiarly the Lord's trees, because,
(a) They owe their planting entirely to him: "He hath planted."