Psalms 104
DOYLYPsalms 104:3
- Who layeth &c.] That is, the clouds make the flooring of his heavens. Mudge.
- who maketh the clouds his chariot.] See the note on Deut. xxviii. 26.
Psalms 104:4
- Who maketh his angels &c.] From the manner in which these words are introduced, and the place where they stand, one should conceive the meaning of them to be, that God employs the elements of air and fire, the winds and the lightnings, as his messengers and ministers, to execute his commands upon the earth. But the Apostle, Heb. i. 7, informs us, that they have a further reference to immaterial angels; either because those angels often appeared in the likeness, or because they were endued with the properties, of wind and flame. Intellectual beings of the highest order in the realms above, are as ready to fulfil the word of Jehovah, as are the elements of this lower world. Bp. Horne.
Psalms 104:5
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- that it should not &c.] These words do by no means imply, that the earth is stationary, or that it is eternal; but only that it is so constructed as to answer the end, and to last the time for which it was created. Bp. Horne.
Psalms 104:7
- At thy rebuke] At thy omnipotent word. Bp. Patrick.
Psalms 104:8
- They go up &c.] Rather. They go up mountains, they go down valleys, to the places Thou hast appointed for them. Edwards.
A meditation upon the mighty power and wonderful providence of God. place which thou hast founded for them.
Psalms 104:15
15.—and oil to make] See the note on Psalm xxiii. 5.
Psalms 104:17
17.—as for the stork, &c.] The storks breed plentifully in Barbary every summer. They make their nests with dry twigs of trees, which they place upon the highest parts of old ruins or houses, in the canals of ancient aqueducts, and frequently (so familiar they are, by being never molested) upon the very tops of their mosques and dwelling-houses. The fir and other trees likewise (when these are wanting) “are a dwelling for the stork.” Dr. Shaw.
Psalms 104:18
- The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats;] See the note on Job xxxix. 1.
—for the conies.] See notes on Lev. xi. 5; Prov. xxx. 26.
Psalms 104:19
- He appointed the moon for seasons;] The greatest part of the Jewish feasts, as the new moon, the pass-over, the pentecost, &c. were governed by the moon. Dimock.
Psalms 104:26
26.—leviathan.] This word, which in Job xli. signifies the crocodile, and in Psalm lxxiv. 14, is used allegorically for the Egyptians, and in Isa. xxvii. 1, for other mighty oppressors of God’s church, appears to be used in this place for a whale, or large fish of the cetaceous kind. Porkhurst.
Psalms 104:30
- Thou sendest forth thy spirit, &c.] That Spirit of thine, which moved, at the first, upon the face of the waters, is still sent forth by Thee, for the renewing of those several creatures, whose daily mortality requires the supply of a continual succession and propagation. Bp. Hail.
Psalms 104:32
- He looketh on the earth, &c.] At his presence the very earth trembles, and the mountains, as our fathers saw at mount Sinai, are full of fire and smoke. Bp. Patrick.
Since the works of the creation are all of them so many demonstrations of the infinite wisdom and power of God, they may serve to us as so many arguments exciting to the constant fear of God, and to a steady hearty obedience to all his laws. And thus we may make these works as serviceable to our spiritual interest, as they all are to our life and temporal interest. For if, whenever we see them, we would consider that these are the works of our Divine Lord and Master, to whom we are to be accountable for all our thoughts, words, and works, and that in these we may see his infinite power and wisdom; this would check us in sunning, and excite us to serve and please Him who is above all control, and who hath our life and whole happiness in his power. Dr. Derkaw.