infinitely insignificant in the comparison with these worlds strewn
over all space—that his destinies, his enjoyments, and sacrifices,
to which he attaches such a minute importance—how all these fade
like nothing before such immense objects; then, that the
constellations bind together all the races of man, and all the eras
of earth, that they have beheld all that has passed since the
beginning of time, and will see all that passes until its end; in
thoughts like these I can always lose myself with a silent delight in
the view of the starry firmament. It is, in very truth, a spectacle
of the highest solemnity, when, in the stillness of night, in a
heaven quite clear, the stars, like a choir of worlds, arise and
descend, while existence, as it were, falls asunder into two separate
parts; the one, belonging to earth, grows dumb in the utter silence
of night, and thereupon the other mounts upward in all its elevation,
splendour, and majesty. And, when contemplated from this point of
view, the starry heavens have truly a moral influence on the mind.
Alexander Von Humboldt, 1850.
Verse 3. "When I consider thy heavens," etc. Could we
transport ourselves above the moon, could we reach the highest star
above our heads, we should instantly discover new skies, new stars,
new suns, new systems, and perhaps more magnificently adorned. But
even there, the vast dominions of our great Creator would not
terminate; we should then find, to our astonishment, that we had only
arrived at the borders of the works of God. It is but little that we
can know of his works, but that little should teach us to be humble,
and to admire the divine power and goodness. How great must that
Being be who produced these immense globes out of nothing, who
regulates their courses, and whose mighty hand directs and supports
them all! What is the clod of earth which we inhabit, with all the
magnificent scenes it presents to us, in comparison of those
innumerable worlds? Were this earth annihilated, its absence would no
more be observed than that of a grain of sand from the sea shore.
What then are provinces and kingdoms when compared with those worlds?
They are but atoms dancing in the air, which are discovered to us by
the sunbeams. What then am I, when reckoned among the infinite number
of God's creatures? I am lost in mine own nothingness! But little as
I appear in this respect, I find myself great in others. There is
great beauty in this starry firmament which God has chosen for his
throne! How admirable are those celestial bodies! I am dazzled with
their splendour, and enchanted with their beauty! But notwithstanding
this, however beautiful, and however richly adorned, yet this sky is
void of intelligence. It is a stranger to its own beauty, while I,
who am mere clay, moulded by a divine hand, am endowed with sense and
reason. I can contemplate the beauty of these shining worlds; nay,
more, I am already, to a certain degree, acquainted with their
sublime Author; and by faith I see some small rays of his divine
glory. O may I be more and more acquainted with his works, and make
the study of them my employ, till by a glorious change I rise to
dwell with him above the starry regions. Christopher Christian
Sturm's "Reflections", 1750-1786.
Verse 3. "Work of God's fingers." That is most
elaborate and accurate: a metaphor from embroiderers, or from them
that make tapestry. John Trapp.
Verse 3. "When I consider thy heavens," etc. It is
truly a most Christian exercise to extract a sentiment of piety from
the works and the appearance of nature. It has the authority of the
sacred writers upon its side, and even our Saviour himself gives it
the weight and the solemnity of his example. "Behold the lilies of
the field; they toil not, neither do they spin, yet your heavenly
Father careth for them." He expatiates on the beauty of a single
flower, and draws from it the delightful argument of confidence in
God. He gives us to see that taste may be combined with piety, and
that the same heart may be occupied with all that is serious in the
contemplation of religion, and be at the same time alive to the
charms and the loveliness of nature. The psalmist takes a still
loftier flight. He leaves the world, and lifts his imagination to
that mighty expanse which spreads above it and around it. He wings
his way through space, and wanders in thought over its immeasurable
regions. Instead of a dark and unpeopled solitude, he sees it crowded
with splendour, and filled with the energy of the divine presence.
Creation rises in its immensity before him, and the world, with all
which it inherits, shrinks into littleness at a contemplation so vast
and overpowering. He wonders that he is not overlooked amid the
granduer and the variety which are on every side of him; and, passing
upward from the majesty of nature to the majesty of nature's
Architect, he exclaims, "What is man, that thou art mindful of him,
or the son of man that thou shouldest deign to visit him?" It is not
for us to say whether inspiration revealed to the psalmist the
wonders of modern astronomy. But, even though the mind be a perfect
stranger to the science of these enlightened times, the heavens
present a great and an elevating spectacle, an immense concave
reposing upon the circular boundary of the world, and the innumerable
lights which are suspended from on high, moving with solemn
regularity along its surface. It seems to have been at night that the
piety of the psalmist was awakened by this contemplation; when the
moon and the stars were visible, and not when the sun had risen in
his strength and thrown a splendour around him, which bore down and
eclipsed all the lesser glories of the firmament. Thomas Chalmers,
D.D., 1817.
Verse 3. "Thy heavens:"
This prospect vast, what is it?—weigh'd aright,
'Tis natures system of divinity,
And every student of the night inspires.
'Tis elder Scripture, writ by God's own hand:
Scripture authentic! uncorrupt by man.
Edward Young.
Verse 3. "The stars." When I gazed into these stars,
have they not looked down on me as if with pity from their serene
spaces, like eyes glistening with heavenly tears over the little lot
of man! Thomas Carlyle.
Verses 3, 4. "When I consider the heavens," etc. Draw
spiritual inferences from occasional objects. David did but wisely
consider the heavens, and he breaks out into self-abasement and
humble admiration of God. Glean matter of instruction to yourselves,
and praise to your Maker from everything you see; it will be a degree
of restoration to a state of innocency, since this was Adam's task in
paradise. Dwell not upon any created object only as a
virtuoso, to gratify your rational curiosity, but as a
Christian, call religion to the feast, and make a spiritual
improvement. No creature can meet our eyes but affords us lessons
worthy of our thoughts, besides the general notices of the power and
wisdom of the Creator. Thus may the sheep read us a lesson of
patience, the dove of innocence, the ant and bee raise blushes in us
for our sluggishness, and the stupid ox and dull ass correct and
shame our ungrateful ignorance. . . . . He whose eyes are open cannot
want an instructor, unless he wants a heart. Stephen
Charnock.
Verse 4. "What is man that thou art mindful of him?"
etc. My readers must be careful to mark the design of the psalmist,
which is to enhance, by this comparison, the infinite goodness of
God; for it is, indeed, a wonderful thing that the Creator of heaven,
whose glory is so surpassingly great as to ravish us with the highest
admiration, condescends so far as graciously to take upon him the
care of the human race. That the psalmist makes this contrast must be
inferred from the Hebrew word (Heb.,) enosh , which we have
rendered man , and which expresses the frailty of man rather
than any strength or power which he possesses. . . . . Almost all
interpreters render (Heb.), pakad, the last word of this
verse, to visit; and I am unwilling to differ from them, since
this sense suits the passage very well. But as it sometimes signifies
to remember, and as we will often find in the Psalms the
repetition of the same thought in different words, it may here be
very properly translated to remember; as if David had said,
"This is a marvelous thing, that God thinks upon men, and remembers
them continually." John Calvin, 1509-1564.
Verse 4. "What is man?" But, O God, what a little lord
hast thou made over this great world! The least corn of sand is not
so small to the whole earth, as man is to the heaven. When I see the
heavens, the sun, the moon, and stars, O God, what is man? Who would
think that thou shouldest make all these creatures for one, and that
one well-near the least of all? Yet none but he can see what thou
hast done; none but he can admire and adore thee in what he seeth:
how had he need to do nothing but this, since he alone must do it!
Certainly the price and value of things consist not in the quantity;
one diamond is worth more than many quarries of stone; one lodestone
hath more virtue than mountains of earth. It is lawful for us to
praise thee in ourselves. All thy creation hath not more wonder in it
than one of us: other creatures thou madest by a simple command; MAN,
not without a divine consultation: others at once; man thou didst
form, then inspire: others in several shapes, like to none but
themselves; man, after thine own image: others with qualities fit for
service; man, for dominion. Man had his name from thee; they had
their names from man. How should we be consecrated to thee above all
others, since thou hast bestowed more cost on us than other!
Joseph Hall, D.D., Bishop of Norwich, 1574-1656.
Verse 4. "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the
son of man, that thou shouldst visit him?" And (Job 7:17, 18)
"What is man, that thou shouldst magnify him? and that thou shouldst
set thy heart upon him? and that thou shouldst visit him every
morning?" Man, in the pride of his heart, seeth no such great matter
in it; but a humble soul is filled with astonishment. "Thus saith the
high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I
dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite
and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive
the heart of the contrite ones." Isaiah 57:15. Oh, saith the humble
soul, will the Lord have respect unto such a vile worm as I am? Will
the Lord acquaint himself with such a sinful wretch as I am? Will the
Lord open his arms, his bosom, his heart to me? Shall such a
loathsome creature as I find favour in his eyes? In Ezekiel 16: 1 -
5, we have a relation of the wonderful condescension of God to man,
who is there resembled to a wretched infant cast out in the day of
its birth, in its blood and filthiness, no eye pitying it; such
loathsome creatures are we before God; and yet when he passed by, and
saw us polluted in our blood, he said unto us, "Live." It is doubled
because of the strength of its nature; it was "the time of love"
(verse 8). This was love indeed, that God should take a filthy,
wretched thing, and spread his skirts over it, and cover its
nakedness and swear unto it, and enter into a covenant with it, and
make it his: that is, that he should espouse this loathsome thing to
himself, that he would be a husband to it; this is love unfathomable,