Bibelkommentare

Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.

Bless the Lord, O my soul — This was much in David’s mouth, as Deo gratias was in Austin’s. See Psalms 103:1 ; Psalms 103:22 , after which this psalm is fitly set. There he blesseth God for his benefits to himself and the whole Church; here, for his works of creation and government common to the whole world. The Greek and Latin translations prefix this title, David de generatione Mundi. υπερ του κοσμου συστασεως , Continet opera Bereshith, saith Kimchi. It is of the same subject with the first chapter of Genesis, the first five days’ works are here after a sort considered and celebrated, as a mirror wherein God’s majesty may be clearly discerned. This psalm is by some called David’s natural theology.

Thou art very great — Non molis dimensione, sed virtutis et rerum gestarum gloria, Thou hast made thee a great name by thy works of wonder.

Thou art clothed with honour and majesty — i.e. With thy creatures, which are as a garment, both to hide thee in one respect, and to hold thee forth in another, to be seen.

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Who coverest [thyself] with light as [with] a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:

Who coverest thyself with light — That lovely creature that first shone out of darkness, and is chief among all things sensible, as coming nearest to the unapproachable glory of God; like as the robe royal is next unto the king. Herod upon a set day came forth arrayed in royal apparel, in cloth of silver, saith Josephus, which being beaten upon by the sun’s beams, dazzled the eyes of the people, and drew from them that blasphemous acclamation, Acts 12:21 . God, when he made the world, showed himself in all his royalty; neither can we ascribe too much unto him.

Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain — The whole expanse or firmament is as a canopy over God’s throne, or rather as a curtain or screen between us and the Divine majesty, the sight whereof we cannot bear.

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Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind:

Who layest the beams of his chambers in the waters — God, as he hath founded the solid earth upon the fluid waters, Psalms 26:9 ; so the highest heaven upon those waters above the firmament, Genesis 1:7 Psalms 17:11 . This notably sets forth the wisdom and power of this Almighty architect, since artists say, In solido extruendam, The foundation of a building should be hard and rocky, and experience sealeth to it.

Who maketh the clouds, … — These are his chariot royal, drawn (or rather driven) by the winds, as his chariot horses.

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Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire:

Who maketh his angels spirits — Immaterial substances, fit to attend upon the Father of spirits, and with speed to move suddenly and invisibly into most remote parts.

His ministers a flaming fire — Seraphims they are called for their burning zeal, like so many heavenly salamanders; as also for their irresistible power; the angel that destroyed Sennacherib’s army is held to have done it by burning them within, although it appeared not outwardly, as some have been burnt by lightning.

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[Who] laid the foundations of the earth, [that] it should not be removed for ever.

Who laid the foundations of the earth — Heb. He hath founded the earth upon her bases. See Psalms 24:2 Job 38:4 ; Job 38:6 . See Trapp on " Psalms 24:2 " See Trapp on " Job 38:4 " See Trapp on " Job 38:6 "

That it should not be removed for ever — Neither can it be, by reason of its own weightiness whereby it remaineth immovable in the centre of the universe. Say it should move any way, it must move towards heaven, and so ascend, which is utterly against the nature of heavy bodies.

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Thou coveredst it with the deep as [with] a garment: the waters stood above the mountains.

Thou coverest it with the deep as with a garment — Operueras, Thou hadst at first covered it, till thou for man’s sake hadst made a distinction; for else such a garment would this have been to the earth as the shirt made for the murdering of Agamemnon, where he had no issue out.

The waters stood above the mountains — As the garment, in the proper use of it, is above the body; and so they would still, did not God, for our sakes, set them their bounds and borders.

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At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.

At thy rebuke they fled — At thy word of command and angry countenance, overawing that raging and ranging creature: so Christ rebuked the winds and waves.

They hasted away — They ran away headlong, as for life.

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They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them.

They go up by the mountains — They run any way, in post haste, breaking through thick and thin, and nowhere resting, till embodied in the abyss, their elemental place and station. This is check to our dulness and disobedience. If a man had been present, saith one, when God thus commanded the seas to retreat from the earth, he might have seen both a terrible and a joyful spectacle.

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