mh_parser/vol_split/19 - Psalms/Chapter 148.xml

<div2 id="Ps.cxlix" n="cxlix" next="Ps.cl" prev="Ps.cxlviii" progress="71.58%" title="Chapter CXLVIII">
<h2 id="Ps.cxlix-p0.1">P S A L M S</h2>
<h3 id="Ps.cxlix-p0.2">PSALM CXLVIII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ps.cxlix-p1">This psalm is a most solemn and earnest call to
all the creatures, according to their capacity, to praise their
Creator, and to show forth his eternal power and Godhead, the
invisible things of which are manifested in the things that are
seen. Thereby the psalmist designs to express his great affection
to the duty of praise; he is highly satisfied that God is praised,
is very desirous that he may be more praised, and therefore does
all he can to engage all about him in this pleasant work, yea, and
all who shall come after him, whose hearts must be very dead and
cold if they be not raised and enlarged, in praising God, by the
lofty flights of divine poetry which we find in this psalm. I. He
calls upon the higher house, the creatures that are placed in the
upper world, to praise the Lord, both those that are intellectual
beings, and are capable of doing it actively (<scripRef id="Ps.cxlix-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.148.1-Ps.148.2" parsed="|Ps|148|1|148|2" passage="Ps 148:1,2">ver. 1, 2</scripRef>), and those that are not, and are
therefore capable of doing it only objectively, <scripRef id="Ps.cxlix-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.148.3-Ps.148.6" parsed="|Ps|148|3|148|6" passage="Ps 148:3-6">ver. 3-6</scripRef>. II. He calls upon the lower
house, the creatures of this lower world, both those that can only
minister matter of praise (<scripRef id="Ps.cxlix-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.148.7-Ps.148.10" parsed="|Ps|148|7|148|10" passage="Ps 148:7-10">ver.
7-10</scripRef>) and those that, being endued with reason, are
capable of offering up this sacrifice (<scripRef id="Ps.cxlix-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.148.11-Ps.148.13" parsed="|Ps|148|11|148|13" passage="Ps 148:11-13">ver. 11-13</scripRef>), especially his own people,
who have more cause to do it, and are more concerned to do it, than
any other, <scripRef id="Ps.cxlix-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.148.14" parsed="|Ps|148|14|0|0" passage="Ps 148:14">ver. 14</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Ps.cxlix-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.148" parsed="|Ps|148|0|0|0" passage="Ps 148" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ps.cxlix-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.148.1-Ps.148.6" parsed="|Ps|148|1|148|6" passage="Ps 148:1-6" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.148.1-Ps.148.6">
<h4 id="Ps.cxlix-p1.8">An Invitation to Praise.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.cxlix-p2">1 Praise ye the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cxlix-p2.1">Lord</span>. Praise ye the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cxlix-p2.2">Lord</span> from the heavens: praise him in the
heights.   2 Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all
his hosts.   3 Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye
stars of light.   4 Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye
waters that <i>be</i> above the heavens.   5 Let them praise
the name of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cxlix-p2.3">Lord</span>: for he
commanded, and they were created.   6 He hath also stablished
them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not
pass.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxlix-p3">We, in this dark and depressed world, know
but little of the world of light and exaltation, and, conversing
within narrow confines, can scarcely admit any tolerable
conceptions of the vast regions above. But this we know,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxlix-p4">I. That there is above us a world of
blessed angels by whom God is praised, an innumerable company of
them. <i>Thousand thousands minister unto him, and ten thousand
times ten thousand stand before him;</i> and it is his glory that
he has such attendants, but much more his glory that he neither
needs them, nor is, nor can be, any way benefited by them. To that
bright and happy world the psalmist has an eye here, <scripRef id="Ps.cxlix-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.148.1-Ps.148.2" parsed="|Ps|148|1|148|2" passage="Ps 148:1,2"><i>v.</i> 1, 2</scripRef>. In general, to
<i>the heavens,</i> to <i>the heights.</i> The heavens are the
heights, and therefore we must lift up our souls above the world
unto God in <i>the heavens,</i> and <i>on things above</i> we must
<i>set our affections.</i> It is his desire that God may be praised
<i>from the heavens,</i> that thence a praising frame may be
transmitted to this world in which we live, that while we are so
cold, and low, and flat, in praising God, there are those above who
are doing it in a better manner, and that while we are so often
interrupted in this work they rest not day nor night from it. In
particular, he had an eye to God's <i>angels,</i> to <i>his
hosts,</i> and calls upon them to praise God. That God's angels are
his hosts is plain enough; as soon as they were made they were
enlisted, armed, and disciplined; he employs them in fighting his
battles, and they keep ranks, and know their place, and observe the
word of command as his hosts. But what is meant by the psalmist's
calling upon them, and exciting them to praise God, is not so easy
to account for. I will not say, They do not heed it, because we
find that <i>to the principalities and powers is known by the
church the manifold wisdom of God</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.cxlix-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Eph.3.10" parsed="|Eph|3|10|0|0" passage="Eph 3:10">Eph. iii. 10</scripRef>); but I will say, They do not
need it, for they are continually praising God and there is no
deficiency at all in their performances; and therefore when, in
singing this psalm, we call upon the angels to praise God (as we
did, <scripRef id="Ps.cxlix-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.103.20" parsed="|Ps|103|20|0|0" passage="Ps 103:20">Ps. ciii. 20</scripRef>), we
mean that we desire God may be praised by the ablest hands and in
the best manner,—that we are pleased to think he is so,—that we
have a spiritual communion with those that dwell in his house above
and are still praising him,—and that we have come by faith, and
hope, and holy love, to the <i>innumerable company of angels,</i>
<scripRef id="Ps.cxlix-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Heb.12.22" parsed="|Heb|12|22|0|0" passage="Heb 12:22">Heb. xii. 22</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxlix-p5">II. That there is above us not only an
assembly of blessed spirits, but a system of vast bodies too, and
those bright ones, in which God is praised, that is, which may give
us occasion (as far as we know any thing of them) to give to God
the glory not only of their being, but of their beneficence to
mankind. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxlix-p6">1. What these creatures are that thus show
us the way in praising God, and, whenever we look up and consider
the heavens, furnish us with matter for his praises. (1.) There are
the <i>sun, moon,</i> and <i>stars,</i> which continually, either
day or night, present themselves to our view, as looking-glasses,
in which we may see a faint shadow (for so I must call it, not a
resemblance) of the glory of him that is <i>the Father of
lights,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cxlix-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.148.3" parsed="|Ps|148|3|0|0" passage="Ps 148:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>.
The greater lights, the sun and moon, are not too great, too
bright, to praise him; and the praises of the less lights, the
stars, shall not be slighted. Idolaters made the sun, moon, and
stars, their gods, and praised them, worshipping and serving the
creature, because it is seen, more than the Creator, because he is
not seen; but we, who worship the true God only, make them our
fellow-worshippers, and call upon them to praise him with us, nay,
as Levites to attend us, who, as priests, offer this spiritual
sacrifice. (2.) There are the <i>heavens of heavens</i> above the
sun and stars, the seat of the blessed; from the vastness and
brightness of these unknown orbs abundance of glory redounds to
God, for <i>the heavens of heavens are the Lord's</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.cxlix-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.115.16" parsed="|Ps|115|16|0|0" passage="Ps 115:16">Ps. cxv. 16</scripRef>) and yet <i>they cannot
contain him,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cxlix-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.8.27" parsed="|1Kgs|8|27|0|0" passage="1Ki 8:27">1 Kings viii.
27</scripRef>. The learned Dr. Hammond understands her, by <i>the
heavens of heavens,</i> the upper regions of the air, or all the
regions of it, as <scripRef id="Ps.cxlix-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.68.33" parsed="|Ps|68|33|0|0" passage="Ps 68:33">Ps. lxviii.
33</scripRef>. We read of the heaven of heavens, whence <i>God
sends forth his voice, and that a mighty voice,</i> meaning the
thunder. (3.) There are <i>the waters that are above the
heavens,</i> the clouds that hang above in the air, where they are
reserved <i>against the day of battle and war,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cxlix-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.38.23" parsed="|Job|38|23|0|0" passage="Job 38:23">Job xxxviii. 23</scripRef>. We have reason to
praise God, not only that these waters do not drown the earth, but
that they do water it and make it fruitful. The Chaldee paraphrase
reads it, <i>Praise him, you heavens of heavens, and you waters
that depend on the word of him who is above the heavens,</i> for
the key of the clouds is one of the keys which God has in his hand,
wherewith he opens and none can shut, he shuts and none can
open.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxlix-p7">2. Upon what account we are to give God the
glory of them: <i>Let them praise the name of the Lord,</i> that
is, let us praise the name of the Lord for them, and observe what
constant and fresh matter for praise may be fetched from them. (1.)
Because he made them, gave them their powers and assigned them
their places: <i>He commanded</i> them (great as they are) out of
nothing, <i>and they were created</i> at a word's speaking. God
created, and therefore may command; for he commanded, and so
created; his authority must always be acknowledged and acquiesced
in, because he once spoke with such authority. (2.) Because he
still upholds and preserves them in their beings and posts, their
powers and motions (<scripRef id="Ps.cxlix-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.148.6" parsed="|Ps|148|6|0|0" passage="Ps 148:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>): <i>He hath established them for ever and ever,</i>
that is, to the end of time, a short ever, but it is their ever;
they shall last as long as there is occasion for them. <i>He hath
made a decree,</i> the law of creation, <i>which shall not
pass;</i> it was enacted by the wisdom of God, and therefore needs
not be altered, by his sovereignty and inviolable fidelity, and
therefore cannot be altered. All the creatures that praised God at
first for their creation must praise him still for their
continuance. And we have reason to praise him that they are kept
within the bounds of a decree; for to that it is owing that the
waters above the heavens have not a second time drowned the
earth.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ps.cxlix-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.148.7-Ps.148.14" parsed="|Ps|148|7|148|14" passage="Ps 148:7-14" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.148.7-Ps.148.14">
<h4 id="Ps.cxlix-p7.3">An Invitation to Praise.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.cxlix-p8">7 Praise the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cxlix-p8.1">Lord</span>
from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps:   8 Fire, and hail;
snow, and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling his word:   9
Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars:   10
Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl:   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:   13 Let them praise the name of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cxlix-p8.2">Lord</span>: for his name alone is excellent; his glory
<i>is</i> above the earth and heaven.   14 He also exalteth
the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; <i>even</i>
of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cxlix-p8.3">Lord</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxlix-p9">Considering that this earth, and the
atmosphere that surrounds it, are the very sediment of the
universe, it concerns us to enquire after those considerations that
may be of use to reconcile us to our place in it; and I know none
more likely than this (next to the visit which the Son of God once
made to it), that even in this world, dark and as bad as it is, God
is praised: <i>Praise you the Lord from the earth,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cxlix-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.148.7" parsed="|Ps|148|7|0|0" passage="Ps 148:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. As the rays of the sun,
which are darted directly from heaven, reflect back (though more
weakly) from the earth, so should the praises of God, with which
this cold and infected world should be warmed and perfumed.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxlix-p10">I. Even those creatures that are not
dignified with the powers of reason are summoned into this concert,
because God may be glorified in them, <scripRef id="Ps.cxlix-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.148.7-Ps.148.10" parsed="|Ps|148|7|148|10" passage="Ps 148:7-10"><i>v.</i> 7-10</scripRef>. Let the <i>dragons</i> or
<i>whales,</i> that sport themselves in the mighty waters
(<scripRef id="Ps.cxlix-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.104.26" parsed="|Ps|104|26|0|0" passage="Ps 104:26">Ps. civ. 26</scripRef>), dance
before the Lord, to his glory, who largely proves his own
omnipotence by his dominion over the leviathan or whale, <scripRef id="Ps.cxlix-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.41.1" parsed="|Ps|41|1|0|0" passage="Ps 41:1">Job xli. 1</scripRef>, &amp;c. <i>All deeps,</i>
and their inhabitants, praise God—the sea, and the animals
there—the bowels of the earth, and the animals there. <i>Out of
the depths</i> God may be praised as well as prayed unto. If we
look up into the atmosphere we meet with a great variety of
meteors, which, being a king of new productions (and some of them
unaccountable), do in a special manner magnify the power of the
great Creator. There are fiery meteors; lightning is fire, and
there are other blazes sometimes kindled which may be so called.
There are watery meteors, <i>hail,</i> and <i>snow,</i> and the
<i>vapours</i> of which they are gendered. There are airy meteors,
<i>stormy winds;</i> we know not whence they come nor whither they
go, whence their mighty force comes nor how it is spent; but this
we know, that, be they ever so strong, so stormy, they <i>fulfil
God's word,</i> and do that, and no more than that, which he
appoints them; and by <i>this</i> Christ showed himself to have a
divine power, that he <i>commanded even the winds and the seas,</i>
and <i>they obeyed him.</i> Those that will not fulfil God's word,
but rise up in rebellion against it, show themselves to be more
violent and headstrong than even the stormy winds, for they fulfil
it. Take a view of the surface of the earth (<scripRef id="Ps.cxlix-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.148.9" parsed="|Ps|148|9|0|0" passage="Ps 148:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>), and there are presented to our
view the exalted grounds, <i>mountains and all hills,</i> from the
barren tops of some of which, and the fruitful tops of others, we
may fetch matter for praise; there are the exalted plants, some
that are exalted by their usefulness, as the <i>fruitful trees</i>
of various kinds, for the fruits of which God is to be praised,
others by their stateliness, as <i>all cedars,</i> those <i>trees
of the Lord,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cxlix-p10.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.104.16" parsed="|Ps|104|16|0|0" passage="Ps 104:16">Ps. civ.
16</scripRef>. Cedars, the high trees, are not the fruitful trees,
yet they had their use even in God's temple. Pass we next to the
animal kingdom, and there we find God glorified, even by the
<i>beasts</i> that run wild, <i>and all cattle</i> that are tame
and in the service of man, <scripRef id="Ps.cxlix-p10.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.148.10" parsed="|Ps|148|10|0|0" passage="Ps 148:10"><i>v.</i>
10</scripRef>. Nay, even the <i>creeping things</i> have not sunk
so low, nor do the <i>flying fowl</i> soar so high, as not to be
called upon to <i>praise the Lord.</i> Much of the wisdom, power,
and goodness of the Creator appears in the several capacities and
instincts of the creatures, in the provision made for them and the
use made of them. When we see all so very strange, and all so very
good, surely we cannot but acknowledge God with wonder and
thankfulness.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxlix-p11">II. Much more those creatures that are
dignified with the powers of reason ought to employ them in
praising God: <i>Kings of the earth and all people,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cxlix-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.148.11-Ps.148.12" parsed="|Ps|148|11|148|12" passage="Ps 148:11,12"><i>v.</i> 11, 12</scripRef>. 1. God is to be
glorified in and for these, as in and for the inferior creatures,
for their hearts are in the hand of the Lord and he makes what use
he pleases of them. God is to be praised in the order and
constitution of kingdoms, the <i>pars imperans—the part that
commands,</i> and the <i>pars subdita—the part that is subject:
Kings of the earth and all people.</i> It is by him that kings
reign, and people are subject to them; the <i>princes and judges of
the earth</i> have their wisdom and their commission from him, and
we, to whom they are blessings, ought to bless God for them. God is
to be praised also in the constitution of families, for he is the
founder of them; and for all the comfort of relations, the comfort
that parents and children, brothers and sisters, have in each
other, God is to be praised. 2. God is to be glorified by these.
Let all manner of persons praise God. (1.) Those of each rank, high
and low. The praises of kings, and princes, and judges, are
demanded; those on whom God has put honour must honour him with it,
and the power they are entrusted with, and the figure they make in
the world, put them in a capacity of bringing more glory to God and
doing him more service than others. Yet the praises of the people
are expected also, and God will graciously accept of them; Christ
despised not the hosannas of the multitude. (2.) Those of each sex,
<i>young men and maidens,</i> who are accustomed to make merry
together; let them turn their mirth into this channel; let it be
sacred, that it may be pure. (3.) Those of each age. <i>Old men</i>
must still bring forth this fruit in old age, and not think that
either the gravity or the infirmity of their age will excuse them
from it; <i>and children</i> too must begin betimes to praise God;
even <i>out of the mouth of babes and sucklings</i> this good work
is perfected. A good reason is given (<scripRef id="Ps.cxlix-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.148.13" parsed="|Ps|148|13|0|0" passage="Ps 148:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>) why all these should <i>praise
the name of the Lord,</i> because <i>his name alone is
excellent</i> and worthy to be praised; it is a name above every
name, no name, no nature, but his, has in it all excellency. <i>His
glory is above</i> both <i>the earth and the heaven,</i> and let
all inhabitants both of earth and heaven praise him and yet
acknowledge his name to be exalted <i>far above all blessing and
praise.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxlix-p12">III. Most of all his own people, who are
dignified with peculiar privileges, must in a peculiar manner give
glory to him, <scripRef id="Ps.cxlix-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.148.14" parsed="|Ps|148|14|0|0" passage="Ps 148:14"><i>v.</i>
14</scripRef>. Observe, 1. The dignity God has put upon <i>his
people, even the children of Israel,</i> typical of the honour
reserved for all true believers, who are God's spiritual Israel.
<i>He exalts</i> their <i>horn,</i> their brightness, their plenty,
their power. The people of Israel were, in many respects, honoured
above any other nation, for <i>to them pertained the adoption, the
glory, and the covenants,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cxlix-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.9.4" parsed="|Rom|9|4|0|0" passage="Ro 9:4">Rom. ix.
4</scripRef>. It was their own honour that they were <i>a people
near unto God,</i> his <i>Segulla, his peculiar treasure;</i> they
were admitted into his courts, when a stranger that came nigh must
be put to death. They had him <i>nigh to them in all that which
they called upon him for.</i> This blessing has not come upon the
Gentiles, through Christ, for those that <i>were afar off are</i>
by <i>his blood made nigh,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cxlix-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.13" parsed="|Eph|2|13|0|0" passage="Eph 2:13">Eph.
ii. 13</scripRef>. It is the greatest honour that can be put upon a
man to be brought near to god, the nearer the better; and it will
be best of all when nearest of all in the kingdom of glory. 2. The
duty God expects from them in consideration of this. Let those whom
God honours honour him: <i>Praise you the Lord.</i> Let him be
<i>the praise of all his saints,</i> the object of their praise;
for he is a praise to them. <i>He is thy praise, and he is thy
God,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cxlix-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.21" parsed="|Deut|10|21|0|0" passage="De 10:21">Deut. x. 21</scripRef>. Some
by <i>the horn of his people</i> understand David, as a type of
Christ, whom God has exalted to be <i>a prince and a Saviour,</i>
who is indeed the praise of all his saints and will be so for ever;
for it is through him that they are <i>a people near to
God.</i></p>
</div></div2>