_A meditation upon the mighty power and wonderful providence of God. God's glory is eternal. The prophet voweth perpetually to praise God._ THOUGH this psalm has no title in the original, it is said to be David's by all the old versions, except the Chaldee; and certainly the thoughts and expressions... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HEAVENS LIKE A CURTAIN— _Like a tilt—a tent._ Or, _Like a canopy._ Mudge. A _tent_ seems the most proper translation, as comprehending, not the uppermost part of the tent or the canopy only, but the whole tent, both canopy and curtains: for by that _the air_ which encompasseth the earth is most... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO LAYETH THE BEAMS OF HIS CHAMBERS— _He flooreth his chambers with waters: i.e._ "The clouds make the flooring of his heavens." Mudge. By these _chambers_ are meant, though not the supreme, yet the superior or middle regions of the air. It is here described as an upper story in a house, laid firm... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO LAID THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH— _Who hath built the earth upon her bases._ Bishop Lowth, in his 8th Prelection, of _images taken from things sacred,_ observes, that we have a remarkable example hereof in this psalm. "The exordium (says he) is peculiarly magnificent, wherein the majesty of God... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU COVEREDST IT WITH THE DEEP, &C.— That is, at the first creation, the earth, while yet _without form,_ was covered all over, and, as it were, clothed with the great deep; that vast expansion of air and waters; and those which are now the highest mountains, were then all under that liquid element... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY GO UP TO THE MOUNTAINS— _They went up mountains, they went down vallies, to the place which thou hast founded for them._ Here a noble image is lost in our translation, for want of considering that the sacred writer is describing the motion of the waters over mountains and in vallies, when, at G... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WILD ASSES QUENCH THEIR THIRST— It is particularly remarked of the asses, that though they are dull and stupid creatures, yet by Providence they are taught the way to the waters in the dry and sandy desarts; and that there is no better guide for the thirsty traveller to follow, than to observe t... [ Continue Reading ]
THE EARTH IS SATISFIED, &C.— _That the earth may be satiated with the fruit of thy works:_ Psalms 104:14 _to cause the grass to grow,_ &c. Mudge.... [ Continue Reading ]
ARE FULL OF SAP— Or, _Shall be satisfied._... [ Continue Reading ]
THE ROCKS FOR THE CONIES— See Leviticus 11:5. The meaning of the Psalmist is, that even those parts of the earth which may seem barren and useless have yet their uses, and serve to shelter certain animals which are adapted to them. None, says Dr. Delaney, but one who had surveyed the venerable shade... [ Continue Reading ]
HE APPOINTED THE MOON FOR SEASONS— See Genesis 1:14.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE YOUNG LIONS ROAR AFTER THEIR PREY— Dr. Hammond observes, that lions are not provided with great swiftness of foot to pursue those beasts on which they prey. It is necessary, therefore, that this defect should be provided for some other way; and it has been affirmed, that their very _roaring_ is... [ Continue Reading ]
SO IS THIS GREAT AND WIDE SEA, &C.— _So is the sea, great and wide in extent, wherein are moving things, both small and great animals._ Mudge.... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT LEVIATHAN— See Job 41.... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU OPENEST THINE HAND— The ideas in these verses can be excelled by nothing but by the concise elegance of the expressions; which convey to the human mind the most sublime and awful conceptions of that tremendous Being, _who doth but look on the earth, and it trembleth; who doth but touch the hill... [ Continue Reading ]
MY MEDITATION OF HIM SHALL BE SWEET— _I shall delight in making him my theme._ Mudge. It is literally, _My theme upon him will be sweet._ The next verse may be rendered, _While the sinners shall be consumed out of the earth, and the wicked shall be no more,_ &c. The reader desirous of seeing a more... [ Continue Reading ]