I. SUMMONS TO PRAISE (1a). PERSONAL. "Bless Jehovah, 0 my soul." II. SUBJECT OF PRAISE (²b-32). JEHOVAH'S CHARACTER MANI- FESTED IN CREATION. Greatness and Goodness. 1. Days One and Two Recalled (rb-5). 2. Day Three Recalled (6-18). Earth and Waters. 3. Day Four Recalled (19--23). The Luminaries. 4. Day Five Recalled (24-26). Earth and Sea. 5. Days Six and Seven Recalled (27-32). III. SUMMONS TO PRAISE (33-35). PERSONAL. "Bless thouJehovah, 0 my soul." I. Purpose (33-34). Celebration (33); Meditation (34a); Exultation (34b). 2. Prayer (35ab). 3. Prompting (35cd). PRIMARY AssocIATION.-WYter is anonymous and the occasion uZown, but with high probability D[vid is the author. The psalm pairs beautifully with ciii. ( compare analyses). The latter is the testimony of history to the graciousness of Jehovah-His beneficent rule among men; civ., the testimony of creation to the greatness of
REJOICING IN OVENANT RELATIONSHIP Jehovah-His beneficent rule in nature. In ciii. He is seen as the Redeemer; in civ. He is seen as Creator. Both begin and end similarly. Our present psalm is conspicuous for its poetic beauty. Its general arrangement is suggested by. the record of creation in Gen. i., but the treatment is "free." The maintenance of the universal order rather than the process of creation is Úmphasised, i.e. God's providential care; cf. Job xxxviii.-xli. for similar pictures. Keynote here is 24. PROPHETIC ANTICIPATION .-Messiah as the last Adam and Head of the new race leads creat_ion' s praise to the Creator. Another millennial song. Redemption is the key to all the mysteries of. Creation. "Death seems to have been wrought into the constitution of things from the beginning, even before Adam's morq} ruin introduced it into the human race. This is evidenced by geological strata stretching long ages before Adam. '' Forms of life died and Ûsappeared before the earth was prepared as a home for the Adamic race, and Scripture more than hints at sin in the universe as the cause of the great cataclysm, the effects of which are so briefly stated in Gen. i. 2." The fruits of the redemptive work of the Cross will be found-beyond the immediate interests of the human race. God will be glorified in all His works. The psalm ends with the divine Sabbath. PERSONAL APPLICATION.-The rejoicing of the redeemed. Jehovah SaÜour written in brief is "Jesus." Man is the only real spokesman of creation. "Scientist and artist must rise to the psalmist's point. of view if they are to learn the deepest lessons of nature." The Ýverse is the garment of God (2); the visible is the robe.of the Invisible. ''The Uncreated Light arrays Himself in created light which reveals while it veils Him." Physical facts illustrate spiritual truths. Look for . the typical significance throughout the psalm, which is full -of deeply instructive matter along this line. All natural phenomena are issues of God's present will. It is well to remember that God controls all the elemental forces (3 ff.) and a "look," a "touch" from Him is sufficient (32). Matter and motion alone do not explain heavenly phenomena (2-3). Water is one of God's greatest gifts and like all His great gifts to man is free ( r,o ff.). Living water is typical of the Holy Spirit. "By His marvellous alchemy God produces manifold gifts from the grÞund by the agency of water. The element which desolated the world when guided and restrained by divine power effects a beneficent ministry." Throughout the
AN'ALYTiCAL STbDiES .iN THE PSALMS passage the psalmist is thinking of utility rather than beauty. Note that earth is ever dependent upon heaven, man upon God. God provides for man's enjoyment as well as his sustenance (15). It is God who makes the soil respond to man's tillage ( 15). The sun is a punctual servant (19). Who can repress such an exclamation of wonder and admiration when contemplating the variety and wisdom of God's works (24)? Life not death prevails in the world that God rules (30). In nature, preservation is a continual creation (30). Creation is in deep sympathy with its Creator (32). Universal Providence meets universal dependence. VERSE NOTES r. Heb. verbs express an act rather than a state; (c) " Thou hast clothed Thy self ... " In the creative act God has made visible these inherent attributes. 2. Light, the first created element, is universally diffused, a necessary condition of life and emblem of purity; (b) canopy of the sky compared to a tent curtain stretched out over the earth. In next y_erse this "tent" roof pictured as His "floor." The verbs are particles, "covering· ... stretching ... to end of 4, i.e. the original act is regarded as continued in present maintenance. "h b "Ii h b b thfu c am ers t. upper c am ers, so 13; waters, 1.e. a ove e mament; (be) symbolic of His advent; "clouds" = thick clouds. 4. May be translated as R.V. or as the quotation at Heb. i. 7. Both contain profound truth, for God is Creator and Controller of physical and spiritual forces. 5. As R.V.m. 6. Primitive state of the earth; hr. "The waters were standing ... " The graphic imperfect tense denoting process is continued to Sa; "they flee ... haste away ... rise . . . sink down . . . " 8. (b) Er. " ... which Thou didst prepare ... " This decree confirmed after the Flood, Gen. ix. 9. IO. "Who sendeth forth ... " Ir. (a) Wild animals as distinct from domesticated. "-o "d th .ves1 e em ... 13. "Who piveth the mountains drink from ... " i.e. the rains. 14. "herb,' includes all vegetable products; line as marg. 15. "And that wine may gladden ... That He may make his face to shine with oil and that bread may sustain . . . ; " com, wine and oil were the chief products of Palestine. 16. Points to the natural growth of the primeval forest in contra-distinction from that planted by man; "are filled", Le. satisfied with the rain from heaven. 18. "conies," i.e. the Hyrax syriacus, Prov. xxx. 26; not the rabbit. 19. Note that night precedes day as usual in Scripture. 2r. Beasts of prey are also part of God's creation and dependent on His bounty. All life is fitted to its environment; "God" = El.
" 'h " 24. nc es = possessions. 25. The sea was probably in the poet's sight when he wrote; "creeping" or, moving; (c) hr. "Living creatures _both great and small." 6 "1 · th h r al " la " 2 • evia an, = a term ere 1or sea monsters m gener ; p y = sport. 27. "All of them wait for Thee," i.e. not the marine animals only, but all the living creatures. 28 ff. Swift clauses without connecting particles vividly represent divine acts as immediately followed by providential consequences. 29. All are dependent upon God for life as well as for food; "troubled,"= dismayed or, panic-stricken. 30. Life not death rules nature; a new generation replaces the old. God per petually sends forth His Spirit in continued creative acts. • 31. Br. "The glory ... shall be for ever,Jehovah rejoiceth in His own works," Job xiv. rs. 34. "But as for me, my meditation shall be sweet unto Him"; "sweet," or, acceptable, a word used of sacrifices. 35. The last prayer is that the only blot upon the scene may be removed .• Not an imprecation but a desire for restoration of perfect harnomy in creation by the banishment of sin, which is a personal thing and cannot be separated from its agent, the sinner. The intensitive form of the Heb. word for sinner implies incorrigible habit. There is strong reason to believe that the £nal "Hallelujah" really belongs to the beginning of next psalm. It is a phrase never found in the purelyDavidicpsalms; so the LXX.
This book has 150 chapters