Paraphrase Upon the Books of the Psalms, Book 5 · Psalm 148
The Hundred Fourty Eighth Psalm.
‖Hallelujah.Praise ye the Lord. The hundred fourty eighth is a solemn invitation to all the several ranks of creatures in the world, to joyne in the celebration of Gods praises, and is intitled Hallelujah, as a forme of praising God (see note on Psal. cvi. a.)
1. PRaise ye the Lord from the heavens, praise him in the heights.
2. Praise ye him all his angels, praise ye him all his hosts.
Paraphrase. The majesty, and power, and wisdome, and mercy, and all other the glorious Attributes of God are such, and so likewise the emanations and effluxions of all and each of these unto his creatures, that they exact the united acclamations, and most humble acknowledgments of all the creatures in the world; and all that but a poor unsufficient tribute to be returned to the great and glorious creator of them all. And first and principally the Angels of heaven are obliged to come in and pay this tribute, those blessed immortal spirits that allwayes wait on his throne in the highest heavens, those many bands of celestial souldiers, regularly marshal'd in their creation one under another in several ranks and orders, but all in perfect subordination to the eternal God, the supreme Governor and commander of all.
3. Praise ye him Sun and Moon; praise him all ye starrs of light.
Next to them in respect of situation are those glorious creatures, the Sun, Moon and Starrs, and the sphaeres wherein they move, the works of his creation, made by him (though by ignorant men they are themselves deified and adored) and so obliged in serving him to honour and glorify him.
4. Praise him yea. heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.
Then all the regions of the aire, in which are those treasuries of God placed, the clouds of water which at his pleasure are distilld down upon the earth, and so by obeying him, and relieving, or sometimes (for our sins) punishing us, bring in their tribute of honour and praise to their Creator.
5. Let them praise the name of the Lord; for he commanded, and they were created.
6. He hath also established them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass.
All these, as they were first created by the command of God, so have they been governed and managed ever since by the same creative omnipotent power, performing a perfect constant obedience to his precepts or directions, doing nothing but what he will have done, and so setting forth the glory of the great Creator and supreme Governor of the world.
7. Praise the Lord from the earth, ye‖or whales foreign dragons and all deeps,
8. Fire and haile, snow and vapours, stormy winds fulfilling his word,
9. Mountains and all hills, fruitfull trees and all cedars,
10. Beasts and all cattell, creeping things and flying foule,
11. Kings of the earth and all people, Princes and all judges of the earth,
12. Both young men and maidens, old men and children.
Lastly, this earth of ours, together with the vast ocean in the cavities and bowells of it, both making up but one region, and neither infesting nor annoying the other, were certeinly thus ordered and disposed and governed by the omnipotent power of God, which therefore they make known and proclaim to all men in the world, and preach the knowledge of this one God and ruler of all, and so silently praise him, and leave all men without excuse which do not so also. And as the whole bodies of both these, the earth and ocean, so all the several creatures that are in either, the whales and other great and lesser fishes in the sea, the meteors that are begotten in the aire, and descend upon the earth, the lightenings and thunder, haile and snow, congeled vapours, frost, ice and dews, the violent winds and tempests, every one of which are instrumental to him, performe his pleasure, are wholly commanded by him, and doe whatever he directs them, the mountains and hills, and forrests adorned with stately, tall, but fruitless trees, and the valleys full of trees bearing fruit, and the cattel of daily use for man to do their work, and affording them their flesh for their food, and their skins for their cloathing, and those also of a wilder sort, which dwell in the forrests and woods and mountains (see note on Psal. cxlvii. b.) yet are made usefull also, to the benefit of men, and so all that creeps, or swimms, or flies: what have all these to doe but to sing forth the glories of the Creator and Governor and disposer of them all? and so doe, by being used to the ends to which he designed them. Lastly, all the men of the earth, the greatest Potentates, their subordinate rulers and all inferior subjects, of what sex or age soever.
13. Let them praise the name of the Lord; for his name alone is excellent, his glory is above the earth and heaven.
14. He also exalteth the horne of his people, the praise of all his saints, even of the children of Israel, a people neer unto him. Praise ye the Lord.
Let them all joyne in the same quire of praises to the great and glorious and sole Creator and Governor of the world, whose mercy is such and so eminent, his gracious dealing with his people the Jews, and all the spiritual children of Abraham and Jacobs faith, (in reveling his will, and giving them the Messiah, and in him all things necessary to this life and another, in advancing their spiritual good, and rendring them acceptable to himself, and to all whose approbation or praise is worth the having) that they are for ever obliged to praise and adore and cleave fast unto him. For ever blessed be his holy Name.
Annotations on Psalm CXLVIII.
V. 4. Heavens of heavens] What this phrase foreign foreignheavens of heavens signifies here, will best be gathered from the context, and by comparing this place with Ps. civ. 3. In that place, after the description of the highest heavens, by the style of light covering God, (a luminous palace) is mentioned the stretching out the heavens like a curtain, (which that it signifies the whole body of the aire, see Note a. on that Psalm) and laying the beams of his chambers in the waters, (which that it belongs to the clouds of raine in the middle region of the aire, see Note b.) And just so here, after the Sun, Moon, and Starrs of light, by which the whole body and sphaeres of the heavens are signified, there follows next the heavens of heavens, and the waters above the heavens: where, as in all reason the heavens of heavens are but the highest of those heavens, above some part of which the waters are here said to be placed; so in case the waters be no higher than that region of the aire where the clouds are, the uppermost regions of the body of the aire must be resolved to be that which is here meant by the heavens of heavens, and not the aethereal globe, which we call heaven. That this is so, may be farther approved by the use of the word foreign in Scripture; and that cannot better be fetcht than from the first chapter of Genesis. There 'tis certein the word is used first more generally for all the other parts of the world, beside the terrestrial globe, as when v. 1. (and in many other places) the heaven and earth are the dichotomie, by which the whole world was designed to be set down, all that God created. 2. 'Tis as evident that the word is used for the aethereal or caelestial globe, as v. 14. when he saith, Let there be light in the firmament of the heavens, and v. 16. 'tis specified what that light was, the Sun to rule the day— by which 'tis evident that foreign the expansum of the heavens notes that aethereal body where the Sun and Moon, &c. are. 3. 'Tis still as manifest that the word is used also for the aire, v. 20, 26, 28, 30. where the place wherein the birds f…y is styled foreign the firmament of the heavens, and simply the heavens; for which the Targum of Jonathan reads foreign the aire of the firmament, or expansion of heavens, v. 20. and foreign the aire of heavens, v. 26. and simply foreign the heavens, v. 28.30. So again when foreign an expansion is made in the midst of the waters, that divided the waters from the waters, v. 6. this expansion v. 8. is called heaven (foreign in probability from foreign waters in the dual number, those two sorts of waters above, and below the firmament) which consequently must be the aire, that intercedes and divides betwixt the watery clouds, and the waters on the face of the earth: and accordingly those upper waters are affirmed by the Hebrews, R. Solomon, &c. to be still foreign pendulous in the aire, and that, saith he, foreign by the word or command of the King: and so when the raine came down in the Flood, 'tis said the windows or floodgates or cataracts of the heavens were opened, Gen. vii. 11. as in a drought the heaven is made iron, Lev. xxvi. 19. and shut up, and many the like phrases. The aire then being those heavens, above part of which are those clouds of waters, the heavens of heavens (immediately foregoing) cannot probably signify more than the whole body of the aire, all the regions of it, or else the uppermost region of it, as Lord of lords is the supreme or sovereign Lord of all others. 'Tis true, when the context requires it, the heavens of heavens may signify the highest heavens, otherwise called the highest, or the height in the abstract, the place of Gods throne: so Deut. x. 14. (and Nehem. ix. 6.) where by the heaven and the heaven of heavens, and the earth, the whole creation is signified; and therefore Jonathans Targum there addes, foreign and the assembly of Angels that are therein, that they may be ministers before him. And so, I suppose, 1 King. viii. 27. when of Gods immensity 'tis said, behold, the heaven, the heaven of heavens (that habitation of his throne) cannot contein him, and Psal. cxv. 16. the heavens of heavens are the Lords, in opposition to the earth following. But that hinders not but that here, the place of the Sun, Moon and Starrs being before mentioned, and the waters above the heavens, or clouds, after, the heavens of heavens in the midst betwixt these may be the upper region of the aire. And so I suppose Psal. Lxviii. 33. where of God it is said, that he rideth upon the heavens of heavens, and sends out his voice, and that a mighty voice, it may well referr to the coming of God by the presence and ministery of his Angels, and thundering in the aire, and declaring his will to his people in mount Sinai, as at the giving the Law it is described, and as elswhere God is said to come in the clouds, and his voice to be heard there, and to ride upon the Cherub, and to come flying upon the wings of the wind, whereas in that Psalm the highest heavens are exprest by another style, that of foreign v. 4. (of which see note a. on that Psal.) As for any eternal or incorruptible waters, which from this text some mens phansies have produced, and then found a ground for their phansy v. 6. he hath established them for ever and ever, that place will never be able to conclude for them; the full importance whereof is no more than that all that was forenamed, being the good creatures of God, were by him preserved and continued also, (and so God to be praised for his works of preservation as well as creation) and ruled and managed by him, as it there follows, he hath made a decree which shall not pass. The Chaldee, which may seem to have understood the heavens of heavens here for the aethereal globe, and above the heavens, for the place of Gods residence, have given another kind of Paraphrase of it, Praise him ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that depend on the word of him which is above the heavens; according to that of the Jews, which acknowledge the key of raine, as that of the womb, to be in peculiar manner kept in Gods hand. But so it well may be, and yet be no higher elevated than the aire, and there hang in clouds, till God please they shall dissolve and distill upon the earth. And considering how frequently the place of rain and of thunder, and of all other meteors, is called the heavens, there is no cause to doubt but the aire is here meant by the heavens above which the waters are. Aben Ezra here calls it foreign the sphaere of fire, which is above the things which are here, after this, recited. Kimchi is observed somewhere to say, that the heaven of heavens may signify the lowest heavens, as a servant of servants doth the meanest of servants, Gen. ix. 25.