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Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 104:7

At thy rebuke they fled - At thy command; or when thou didst speak to them. The Hebrew word also implies the notion of “rebuke,” or “reproof,” as if there were some displeasure or dissatisfaction. Proverbs 13:1; Proverbs 17:10; Ecclesiastes 7:5; Isaiah 30:17; Psalms 76:6. It is “as if” God had been displeased that the waters prevented the appearing or the rising of the dry land, and had commanded them to “hasten” to their beds and channels, and no longer to cover the earth. The allusion is to... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Psalms 104:6-7

Psalms 104:6-7. Thou coveredst it with the deep That is, in the first creation, of which the psalmist is here speaking, when 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; the waters stood above the mountains Those which are now the highest mountains were all under that liquid element. At thy rebuke That is, at thy powerful command, which, as it were, rebuked, and thereby corrected and... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Psalms 104:1-35

Psalms 104:0 God’s earthThe theme of this song of praise is the wisdom and power of God as seen in nature. The song begins by considering the splendour of the heavens. The light of the sun, the expanse of sky reaching down to meet the earth on the horizon, the movement of clouds blown by the wind, the flashes of lightning - all these things speak of the magnificence of God who dwells in and rules over the universe (1-4).Land and sea also display the greatness of God. He determined where they... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Psalms 104:1-35

Psalms 104This psalm of descriptive praise is quite similar to Psalms 103. Both begin and end with similar calls to bless God. However, God’s dealing with people is the subject of praise in Psalms 103, whereas His creation and sustenance of the world are the theme of Psalms 104."The structure of the psalm is modelled [sic] fairly closely on that of Genesis 1, taking the stages of creation as starting-points for praise. But as each theme is developed it tends to anticipate the later scenes of... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Psalms 104:5-9

The psalmist described God creating the earth and then covering it with a blanket, as one would cover a new-born infant. He pictured the earth as though it were a building and stressed the stability of what God had made. He did not mean that the earth has literal foundations and is flat. God proceeded to separate the waters on the earth from those above the earth (Psalms 104:6-7; cf. Genesis 1:6-8). Then he separated the dry ground from the waters on the earth (Psalms 104:8-9; cf. Genesis... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 104:1-35

This is a Ps. of Nature, celebrating God’s glory as seen in His works both inanimate and animate. It is an expansion of the closing vv. of Psalms 103, and like that Ps. begins and ends with the phrase, ’Bless the Lord, O my soul!’ The two Pss. are probably the work of the same author. Psalms 104 follows to some extent the order of the creation-poem in Genesis 1, and may be compared also with Job 38-41. Psalms 104:5-9, Psalms 104:19 speak of the creation of the world, but the greater part of the... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 104:5-18

(5–18) The work of the third day of Creation in its two great divisions. (1) The separation of the land and water (Psalms 104:5-9); (2) the clothing of the earth with grass, herbs, and trees (Psalms 104:10-18). The poet, however, ranges beyond the Mosaic account, and already peoples the earth with the living creatures of the fifth day. “It is not a picture of still life like that of Genesis, but a living, moving, animated scene” (Perowne). read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Psalms 104:1-35

Psalms 104:0 The 104th Psalm was a favourite with Alexander von Humboldt. After speaking in his Cosmos of the exalted views of nature given in the Old Testament, as the living expression of the omnipresence of God in the visible world, he refers specially to this Psalm: 'We are astonished to find, in a lyrical form of such limited compass, the whole universe, the heavens and the earth, sketched with a few bold touches. The toilsome labour of man, from the rising of the sun to his setting, when... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Psalms 104:1-35

Psalms 104:1-35LIKE the preceding psalm, this one begins and ends with the psalmist’s call to his soul to bless Jehovah. The inference has been drawn that both psalms have the same author, but that is much too large a conclusion from such a fact. The true lesson from it is that Nature, when looked at by an eye that sees it to be full of God. yields material for devout gratitude no less than do His fatherly "mercies to them that fear Him." The keynote of the psalm is struck in Psalms 104:24,... read more

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