Psalms 148

Psalms 148:1-14

Psalms 148THE 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, Psalms 148:1-6. 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 dealings with his chosen people, Psalms 148:7-14. Even the most sceptical critics are constrained to acknowledge that this psalm and the two which follow are admirably suited to their purpose.

1. (Psalms 148:1) Hallelujah! Praise ye Jehovah from the heavens! Praise him inthe 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 Psalms 18:16. The preposition from denotes the direction of the sound, the preposition in the place where it is uttered.

2. (Psalms 148:2) 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 Psalms 24:10; Psalms 29:1; Psalms 103:21.

3. (Psalms 148:3) Praise ye him, sun and moon! Praise him, all ye stars of light! This is a specification of the general term, his hosts, in Psalms 148:2. Stars of light is a beautiful poetical expression for bright or shining stars.

4. (Psalms 148:4) Praise him, 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 Psalms 68:33) and compare Deuteronomy 10:14, 1 Kings 8:27, 2 Corinthians 12:2. The waters meant are the watery clouds above the lower heavens, as in Genesis 1:7. See above, on Psalms 104:3.

5. (Psalms 148:5) Let 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 Psalms 33:9, and compare Genesis 1:3.

6. (Psalms 148:6) And made them stand to perpetuity and eternity; a limit he gave (them) and they cannot pass (it). The immutability ascribed to the frameof nature, Psalms 72:5; Psalms 89:2; Psalms 89:36, 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 Psalms 102:27. 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 Psalms 2:7.

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 Matthew 5:18. But the highest authorities appear to be agreed that the analogy of Job 14:5, Psalms 104:9, Jeremiah 5:22, requires the verb to be taken in the sense of transcending or transgressing, and construed with the aggreoate of the heavenly bodies.

7. (Psalms 148:7) 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 Psalms 148:1. 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 (Psalms 74:13, and the one translated depths to large bodies of water (Psalms 33:7). As the first, however, sometimes means serpents (Psalms 91:13), it may here be the connecting link between land and water.

8. (Psalms 148:8) 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 Psalms 105:32. 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. Psalms 119:83 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 Psalms 103:20; Psalms 104:4.

9. (Psalms 148:9) The mountains and all hills, fruit-trees and all cedars. Not 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, Psalms 80:10.

10. (Psalms 148:10) 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 Psalms 148:9. The Hebrew wordtranslated 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, Psalms 104:25. 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 Psalms 11:1; Psalms 84:3; Psalms 104:17; Psalms 124:7. 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. (Psalms 148:11) 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, 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. (Psalms 148:12) 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 Psalms 78:63, where it stands in precisely the same combination. The two nouns in the last clause may be considered as of common gender.

13. (Psalms 148:13) 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 Psalms 104:27. Exalted is his name, as in Isaiah 12:4. His glory or majesty, a Hebrew word especially applied to royal dignity. See above, on Psalms 21:5; Psalms 45:3; Psalms 96:6; Psalms 104:1; Psalms 111:3. 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 Psalms 8:1; Psalms 57:5.

14. (Psalms 148:14) And he has raised np 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 Psalms 75:5-6; Psalms 92:10. The previous condition of the chosen people might be well represented by the opposite figure used in Job 16:15.

Raised up 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 (Leviticus 10:3, Ezekiel 42:13) is here applied to Israel as “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6).