성경 주석서

Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens: praise him in the heights.

Praise the Lord — And again, "Praise ye the Lord"; and so often, in this the rest of the hallelujatical psalms. In praising God the saints are unsatisfiable, and would be infinite (as his perfections are infinite), so that they make a circle (as one phraseth it), the beginning, middle, and end whereof is hallelujah.

From the heavens: praise him in the heights — Or, high places. As God in framing the world began above and wrought downward, so doth the psalmist in this his exhortation to all creatures to praise the Lord.

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Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.

Praise ye him, all his angels — Whose proper office it is to adore and praise God, Job 38:7 Isaiah 6:3 Hebrews 1:6 , which also they do constantly and completely; as those that both perfectly know him and love him. Jacob saw them, 1. Ascending, to contemplate and praise the Lord, and minister to him, Luke 2:13 Daniel 7:10 Matthew 18:10 Psalms 103:20 . Psalms 103:2 . Descending, to execute God’s will upon men, for mercy to some, and for judgment to others; which tendeth much to his praise. And David, by calling upon these heavenly courtiers, provoketh and pricketh on himself to praise God.

Praise ye him, all his hosts — i.e. His creatures (those above especially, which are as his cavalry), called his hosts for their, 1. Number 2. Order; 3. Obedience.

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Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.

Praise ye him, sun and moon — These do, after a sort, declare the glory of God, Psalms 19:1-2 Habakkuk 3:3 ; not with mind and affection, as if they were understanding creatures (as Plato held, In Epimenide), but by their light influences, admirable motions, and obedience, whereby quasi mutis vocibus, by a dumb kind of eloquence, saith Nazianzen, they give praise to God, and bid check to us for our dulness and disorders.

Praise him, all ye stars of light — A light, then, they have of their own (besides what they borrow of the sun), which they withhold at God’s appointment, Isaiah 13:10 , and influences they have which cannot be restrained or resisted, Job 38:31-32 .

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Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that [be] above the heavens.

Praise him, ye heavens of heavens — Whereby he meaneth not the lowest heavens, the air whereon we breathe, and wherein birds fly, clouds swim, …, as some would have it; but the highest heaven, called by St Paul the third heaven, the habitation of the crowned saints and glorious angels; called by philosophers coelum Empyreum, and here by the psalmist the heavens of heavens, as King of kings, Song of songs, …, by an excellence. See Deuteronomy 10:14 .

And ye waters that be above the heavens — i.e. Above the air, and that do distinguish between the air and the sky, as the Primmn Mobile doth between the sky and the highest heavens, Superius suspensae aquarum fornices.

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Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.

For he commanded, and they were created — His fiat only made all; this is celebrated by that heavenly choir, Revelation 4:11 .

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He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass.

He hath also stablished them for ever — viz. The course and appointed motions of the heavens, which he hath settled by a covenant, and hath not falsified with them, Jeremiah 33:25 ; much less will he with his faithful people.

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Praise the LORD from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps:

Praise the Lord from the earth — The psalmist proceedeth to factor for God among the inferior creatures; beginning with the lowest in the waters beneath, as the dragons or great whales; and then coming to rain and snow, …, which are made out of the waters above.

Ye dragons, and all deeps — Of sea dragons, see Aelian. lib. 4, Animal. cap. 12: they live partly in the sea and partly on the land, as do crocodiles. These also yield matter of God’s praise.

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Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling his word:

Ver 8. Fire, and hail; snow, and vapours — This latter is the matter of those former meteors which he purposely mingleth with those forementioned miracles of land and waters, the more to set forth the power of God, because these seem to have no settledness of subsistence, and yet in them he is made visible.

Stormy wind fuelling his word — The winds blow not at random, but by a Divine decree; and God hath ordered that whether north or south blow they shall blow good to his people, Song of Solomon 4:16 . He saith to all his creatures, as David did to his captains concerning Absalom, Handle them gently for my sake.

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