The universe, in all its parts, is summoned to praise God as its maker, and as infinitely worthy of its adoration. The invitation is addressed, in the first instance, to heaven and its inhabitants, exhorting them to praise God as their maker and preserver, ver. 1-6. It is then addressed to the earth and its inhabitants, exhorting them to praise him for his infinite perfection, as displayed in his works, but especially in his deahags with his chosen people, ver. 7-14. Even the most sceptical critics are constrained to acknowledge that this psalm and the two which follow are admirably suited to their purpose.
1. Hallelujah I Praise ye Jehovah from the heavens! Praise him in the heights! This verse designates the place, or part of the creation, from which the praise is to proceed. Heights, or high-places, is a simple equivalent to heavens, the plural form of which it takes by assimilation. Compare the singular in Ps. xviii. 17 (16). The preposition/row denotes the direction of the sound, the preposition in the place where it is uttered.
2. Praise ye him, all his angels! Praise ye him, all his hosts! As this last expression is applied both to the angels and the heavenly bodies, it here affords a natural transition from the one to the other. See above, on Ps. xxiv. 10, xxix. 1, ciii. 21.
8. Praise ye him, sun and moon! Praise him, all ye stars of light! This is a specification of the general term, his hosts, in ver. 2. Stars of light is a beautiful poetical expression for bright or shining stars.
4. Praise hiyn, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters which are above the heavens! The object of address in the first clause is the highest heaven, the heaven of that which is heaven to us. See above, on Ps. kviii. 34 (33), and compare Deut. x. 14,1 Kings viii. 27, 2 Cor. xii. 2. The waters meant are the watery clouds above the lower heavens, as in Gen. i. 7. See above, on Ps. civ. 3.
6. het them praise the name of Jehovah, for he commanded and they were created. The direct invitation to the heavens is followed by a statement of the reason why they should comply with it, expressed in the third person, as if addressed to others. The pronoun he is emphatic. (It was) he (that) commanded (and no other). See above, on Ps. xxxiii. 9, and compare Gen. i. 3.
6. And made them stand to perpetuity and eternity; a limit he gave (them) and they cannot pass (it). The immutability ascribed to the frame of nature, Ps. lxxii. 6, lxxxix, 3, 37 (2, 36), is not absolute but relative to the will of the Creator. All that is required by the context in such cases is, that they cannot change in opposition to his will or independently of it. See Ps. cii. 27. The first word in the second clause is here used in its primary sense of a definite boundary or limit, from which may be readily deduced the usual one of statute or permanent enactment. See above, on Ps. ii. 7. As the last verb is in the singular number, the most obvious construction is the one given in the English Bible, a decree which shall not pass. Compare Matt. v. 18. But the highest authorities appear to be agreed that the analogy of Job xiv. 5, Ps. civ. 9, Jer. v. 22, requires the verb to be taken in the sense of transcending or transgressing, and construed with the aggregate of the heavenly bodies.
7. Praise Jehovah from the earth, ye dragons and all depths. Here begins the second part, in which the address is to the earth and its inhabitants. From the earth is in.antithesis to from the heavens in ver. 1. Earth here includes land and water; hence the last clause makes exclusive mention of the latter, as the word translated dragons is applied to huge aquatic animals (Ps. lxxiv. 13), and the one translated depths to large bodies of water (Ps. xxxiii. 7). As the first, however, sometimes means serpents (Ps. xci. 13), it may here be the connecting link between land and water.
8. Fire and hail, snow and vapour, stormy wind doing his word. The address here passes to the inanimate and unconscious agencies of nature. Fire and hail, as in Ps. cv. 32. The fire meant is commonly supposed to be lightning; but according to Hengstenberg the word is to be taken in its ordinary sense, and is separated from its natural attendant smoke (for such is the meaning of the Hebrew word elsewhere, e. g. Ps. cxix. 83) only for the purpose of contrasting hot and cold, white and black, which seems a little fanciful and far-fetched. The storm-wind (or stormy wind) is mentioned as a natural agent the least likely to be under control, and it is expressly described as doing God’s word, i. e. executing his command. See above, on Ps. ciii. 20, civ. 4.
9. The mountains and all hills, fruit-trees and all cedars, “^oi fruitful trees, as distinguished from barren trees, but fruit-trees (literally tree of fruit), as distinguished from forest-trees, here represented by the cedar, which is usually spoken of in Scripture as the noblest species, and therefore called the cedar of God, Ps. lxxx. 11 (10).
10. The wild (beast) and all cattle, creeping thing and flying fowl. The contrast in the first clause is analogous to that between fruit-trees and cedars in ver. 9. The Hebrew word (K^tSl) translated creeping thing has no exact equivalent in English. It seems strictly to denote animal or vital motion, or as a concrete term whatever so moves, and is even applied to aquatic animals, Ps. civ. 25. But when used distinctively, it denotes the smaller classes of terrestrial animals, including insects, reptiles, and the smallest quadrupeds. It is here added simply to complete the expression of the general idea, all animals whatever. Flying fowl, literally bird of wing. The first of the Hebrew words is specially applied to the smaller birds, and sometimes specifically to the sparrow. See above, on Ps. xi. 1, lxxxiv. 4 (3), civ. 17, cxxiv. 7. This and the preceding item in the catalogue, suggesting the idea of the smallest animals, may possibly have been used to denote the universality of the call here made upon all creatures, from the greatest to the smallest, to praise God their maker.
11. Kings of the earth and all nations, chiefs and all judges of the earth. He here passes from the lower animals to man. Kings and the nations whom they represent. Princes is not an exact translation of the Hebrew (D^ltt^), which is especially, though not exclusively, applied to military leaders of various rank, and may therefore be represented by the English chiefs or chieftains.
12. Young men and also maidens, old men with children. The obvious meaning of this verse is, all men, without distinction of sex or age. There is no need, therefore, of refining on the several particulars, or undertaking to explain why old men and young men are both mentioned, since neither of them could have been omitted without failing to accomplish the design of the enumeration. For the etymology and primary meaning of the first word in Hebrew see above, on Ps. lxxviii. 63, where it stands in precisely the same combination. The two nouns in the last clause may be considered as of common gender.
13. Let (all these) praise the name of Jehovah, for exalted is his name alone, his glory is above earth and heaven. The mention of earth and heaven shews that the first verb relates not merely to that which immediately precedes, but to the whole enumeration of God’s creatures with which the psalm is occupied. See above, on Ps. civ. 27. Exalted is his name, as in Isa. xii. 4. His glory or majesty, a Hebrew word especially applied to royal dignity. See above, on Ps. xxi. 6 (5), xlv. 4 (3), xcvi. 6, civ. 1, cxi. 3. Above earth and heaven, i. e. superior to their mere material splendour, or on earth and heaven, i. e. placed upon them as a crown. See above, on Ps. viii. 2 (1), lvii. 6 (5).
14. And he has raised up a horn for his people—praise for all his saints —for the children of Israel—a people near to him. Hallelujah! While all the creatures before mentioned have abundant cause to praise God for his infinite perfection and his goodness to themselves, a peculiar obligation is incumbent on his people: first, for his distinguishing favour through all periods of their history; and then, for a special mercy recently experienced, namely, the restoration from captivity, now completed by the renewal of the temple and the reconstruction of the city walls. This restoration is described, by a favourite Davidic figure, as exalting or lifting up the horn of Israel. See above, on Ps. lxxv. 6, 7 (5, 6), xcii. 11 (10). The previous condition of the chosen people might be well represented by the opposite figure used in Job xvi. 15. Raised a horn for his people seems to be only another way of saying raised the horn of his people. The first form of expression may have been here used for the purpose of assimilating this clause to the next, where praise is still dependent on the verb at the beginning, and to raise up praise for his people is to give them fresh occasion of still higher praise than they had ever yet been called to utter. The ancient church is here described in a fourfold manner: first, simply as his people; then, as his saints or gracious ones, the objects of his mercy and the subjects of his grace; then, by their national title, as the sons (or descendants) of Israel; and lastly, as the people near him, i. e. nearer to him than all others, sustaining a more intimate relation to him. The same expression which is elsewhere applied to the priests (Lev. x. 3, Ezek. xlii. 13) is here applied to Israel as “ a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exod. xix. 6).
