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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 104:19-30

We are here taught to praise and magnify God, I. For the constant revolutions and succession of day and night, and the dominion of sun and moon over them. The heathen were so affected with the light and influence of the sun and moon, and their serviceableness to the earth, that they worshipped them as deities; and therefore the scripture takes all occasions to show that the gods they worshipped are the creatures and servants of the true God (Ps. 104:19): He appointed the moon for seasons, for... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 104:31-35

The psalmist concludes this meditation with speaking, I. Praise to God, which is chiefly intended in the psalm. 1. He is to be praised, (1.) As a great God, and a God of matchless perfection: The glory of the Lord shall endure for ever, Ps. 104:31. It shall endure to the end of time in his works of creation and providence; it shall endure to eternity in the felicity and adorations of saints and angels. Man's glory is fading; God's glory is everlasting. Creatures change, but with the Creator... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 104:24

O Lord, how manifold are thy works ,.... The psalmist having taken notice of many of the works of creation, stops and wonders at the number of them; though he had not gone through them all, and there were even things innumerable behind; see Psalm 104:25 , he admires the sum of them, how great it was; and not only the quantity but the quality of them; for so the words may be rendered, "how great are thy works" F7 מה רבו "quam multa ac magna", Gejerus. , as for number, so for... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 104:25

So is this great and wide sea ,.... One of the great and manifold works of God, made in his wisdom, and full of his riches and possessions, as the earth is; this is that collection of waters which God called seas, Genesis 1:10 and is, as Kimchi observes, great in length, and wide and spacious in breadth; or "broad of hands" F9 רחב ידים "latum manibus", Montanus; "spatiosum manibus", V. L. "amplum manibus", Vatablus. , as in the original; or spacious in borders, as the Targum; it... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 104:26

There go the ships ,.... From place to place, from one end of the world to the other, for the sake of merchandise F18 So Homer calls ships νηας ποντυπορους , Iliad. 3. v. 46. ; this is one of the four things that were too wonderful for Solomon, "the way of a ship in the midst of the sea", Proverbs 30:19 though navigation was improved in his times indeed not so much as it is now. The original of ships was doubtless Noah's ark, so that they owe their first draught to God himself.... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 104:27

These wait all upon thee ,.... Or "hope in thee" F19 ישברון "sperant", Pagninus, Cocceius, Michaelis; "sperabunt", Montanus. ; not only the fishes of the sea, but the beasts of the field; for to them the psalmist returns, as Aben Ezra observes; to whom hope and expectation of their food and waiting for it at the hands of God, are ascribed; the allusion seems to be to tame creatures, who come at their certain times and wait on them that have been used to give them their food; and it... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 104:28

That thou givest them they gather ,.... What God bestows upon them as a bounty of Providence they take and make use of, and in their way thankfully, and without repining; some gather it up for immediate use and service, and not into barns; others gather it up for time to come, as the ant, Matthew 6:26 . Kimchi understands this of a time of scarcity, when they gather here a little and there a little; as he does the following clause of a time of plenty. Thou openest thine hand, they are... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 104:29

Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled ,.... God may be said to hide his face from the creatures when he withholds their food from them, when there is a scarcity of provisions, a famine in the land; when there is no pasture for them to feed on, nor brooks of water to drink of; then are they troubled or perplexed, as in Joel 1:18 and know not what to do, nor where to go for help, but faint, and sink, and die. So in a spiritual sense when God hides his face from his people, removes his... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 104:30

Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created ,.... Thy Holy Spirit, as the Targum, who was at first concerned in the creation of all things, the heavens and the earth, and man upon it, Genesis 1:2 , Job 26:13 which may be alluded to here; though it seems chiefly to intend the generation and production of creatures in the room of those that die off; that so their species may be preserved, and there may be a constant succession of them, as there is in all ages, Ecclesiastes 1:4 . ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 104:31

The glory of the Lord shall endure for ever ,.... The glory which arises from the works of his hands, which is due unto him, and shall be given him; this is opposed to the perishing and fading glory of all created beings: and as Christ is the person spoken of throughout the whole psalm, this may be understood of his glory as the only begotten of the Father; and which is equal to his Father's glory, and is the same yesterday, today, and for ever; and of the glory of his office as Mediator:... read more

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