Psalms 148:8

⁷Praise the LORD from the earth, all great sea creatures and ocean depths, ⁸lightning and hail, snow and clouds, powerful wind fulfilling His word, ⁹mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars,

Sermons

Fire, and Hail; Snow and Vapours; Stormy Wind Fulfilling His Word

John Calvin

Summary

This verse from Psalm 148 calls on various elements of creation, including fire, hail, snow, clouds, and stormy winds, to praise the Lord. It emphasizes the universal nature of worship, as all aspects of creation are called to acknowledge and glorify God. The imagery used highlights the power and sovereignty of God over all creation, showcasing His majesty and authority. It serves as a reminder that everything in the natural world ultimately belongs to and reflects the glory of the Creator. The verse encourages believers to join in this chorus of praise and recognize the beauty and wonder of God's handiwork.

Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill
Tyndale

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

fulfilling his word--or, law, may be understood of each. Next the most distinguished productions of the vegetable world.

John Gill Bible Commentary

Fire, and hail,.... These, and what follow in this verse, are in the air, but are what are exhaled or drawn up from the earth or water; "fire" is lightning, which is very swift in its motion, and powerful in its effects; this is the fire which consumed Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities of the plain; which in Elijah's time came down and destroyed the captains and their fifties; and which attended the Lord's appearance on Mount Sinai; when "the voice of his thunder was in the heaven, the lightnings lightened the world, and the earth trembled and shook", Psa 77:18; and by which the power, majesty, and glory of God are greatly displayed; see Psa 29:3; "hail", which is water frozen in the air and congealed; this was one of the plagues of Egypt; and with hailstones many of the Canaanites were slain in the times of Joshua; and by these God has shown his power, and has got himself praise from his people by destroying their enemies, though they have blasphemed his name on account of them, as they will when the great hailstorm of all shall fall, Rev 16:21; snow, and vapour; the former is a gift of God, and very beneficial to the earth, and the cause of praise and thankfulness to God; See Gill on Psa 147:16; the word (f) for "vapour" signifies smoke, and is what rises out of the earth like smoke, as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe; and is hot and dry, and forms lightnings and winds, and has its place among things that occasion praise; stormy wind fulfilling his word; which is raised up by a word of his command; he creates it, brings it out of his treasures, holds it in his lists, and lets it go out at his pleasure to fulfil his will; either, as at some times in a way of mercy, as to dry up the waters of the flood, to make a way for Israel through the Red sea, to bring quails to them in the wilderness, and rain to the land of Israel in Ahab's time; and sometimes in a way of judgment, to drown Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea, to break the ships of Tarshish, to fetch Jonah the disobedient prophet back, and to distress him afterwards; see Psa 107:25; to do all this is an argument of divine power, and a proof of deity, as it is of our Lord's, Mat 8:27. The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions, read it in the plural number, "which do his word"; referring it not to the stormy wind only, but to fire and hail, snow and vapour; but the Hebrew text restrains it to the stormy wind. (f) "vapor seu fumus", Piscator, Muis, Gejerus.