| Barnes' Notes on the Bible Let the heaven and earth praise him - All things; all above and all below. The seas - The waters - the oceans. This is in accordance with what often occurs in the Scriptures, when all things, animate and inanimate, are called on to praise God. Compare Psalm 148:1-14. And everything that moveth therein - Margin, as in Hebrew, "creepeth." Compare the notes at Psalm 8:8. See also the notes at Isaiah 55:12.
Clarke's Commentary on the BibleLet the heaven and earth praise him - The psalmist has the fullest confidence that God will turn their captivity, and therefore calls upon all creatures to magnify him for his mercy.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleLet the heaven and earth praise him,.... As those, by a prosopopoeia, are often called upon to do, to express the greatness of the favour enjoyed, and to excite those that are possessed of it to greater joy and thankfulness; see Psalm 96:11; or the inhabitants of the heavens and earth may be meant, as the angels of heaven; and so the Targum interprets it; who, as they praised the Lord at the incarnation of Christ, Luke 2:14; so doubtless they did at his ascension, when he was seen and accompanied by them, 1 Timothy 3:16, Psalm 68:17; and also the spirits of just men made perfect in heaven, who were there when Christ was received into it; and the inhabitants of the earth, as the Targum also paraphrases it; of the continent, particularly the Roman empire, when the Gospel was sent thither, which brought the good news of an incarnate, suffering, risen, ascended, and exalted Saviour; the seas, and everything that moveth therein; the inhabitants of the isles in the seas, such as ours of Great Britain and Ireland, who waited for the doctrine of the Messiah, and to whom he calls to listen to what he says; and which is a sufficient reason for praise and thanksgiving in them; even in as many as have spiritual life and motion, who are quickened, influenced, and moved by the Spirit of God; see Isaiah 42:4.
Geneva Study BibleLet the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and every thing that moveth therein.
King James Translators' Notesmoveth: Heb. creepeth
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary34-36. The call on the universe for praise is well sustained by the prediction of the perpetual and extended blessings which shall come upon the covenant-people of God. Though, as usual, the imagery is taken from terms used of Palestine, the whole tenor of the context indicates that the spiritual privileges and blessings of the Church are meant.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary69:30-36 The psalmist concludes the psalm with holy joy and praise, which he began with complaints of his grief. It is a great comfort to us, that humble and thankful praises are more pleasing to God than the most costly, pompous sacrifices. The humble shall look to him, and be glad; those that seek him through Christ shall live and be comforted. God will do great things for the gospel church, in which let all who wish well to it rejoice. A seed shall serve him on earth, and his servants shall inherit his heavenly kingdom. Those that love his name shall dwell before him for ever. He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Arise, thou great Restorer of the ancient places to dwell in, and turn away ungodliness from thy people.
Matthew Henry's Whole Bible CommentaryVerses 30-36 The psalmist here, both as a type of Christ and as an example to Christians, concludes a psalm with holy joy and praise which he began with complaints and remonstrances of his griefs. I. He resolves to praise God himself, not doubting but that therein he should be accepted of him (v. 30, 31): "I will praise the name of God, not only with my heart, but with my song, and magnify him with thanksgiving;" for he is pleased to reckon himself magnified by the thankful praises of his people. It is intimated that all Christians ought to glorify God with their praises, in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs. And this shall please the Lord, through Christ the Mediator of our praises as well as of our prayers, better than the most valuable of the legal sacrifices (v. 31), an ox or bullock. This is a plain intimation that in the days of the Messiah an end should be put, not only to the sacrifices of atonement, but to those of praise and acknowledgment which were instituted by the ceremonial law; and, instead of them, spiritual sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving are accepted-the calves of our lips, not the calves of the stall, Heb. 13:15. It is a great comfort to us that humble and thankful praises are more pleasing to God than the most costly pompous sacrifices are or ever were. II. He encourages other good people to rejoice in God and continue seeking him (v. 32, 33): The humble shall see this and be glad. They shall observe, to their comfort, 1. The experiences of the saints. They shall see how ready God is to hear the poor when they cry to him, and to give them that which they call upon him for, how far he is from despising his prisoners; though men despise them, he favours them with his gracious visits and will find a time to enlarge them. The humble shall see this and be glad, not only because when one member is honoured all the members rejoice with it, but because it is an encouragement to them in their straits and difficulties to trust in God. It shall revive the hearts of those who seek God to see more seals and subscriptions to this truth, that Jacob's God never said to Jacob's seed, Seek you me in vain. 2. The exaltation of the Saviour, for of him the psalmist had been speaking, and of himself as a type of him. When his sorrows are over, and he enters into the joy that was set before him, when he is heard and discharged from his imprisonment in the grave, the humble shall look upon it and be glad, and those that seek God through Christ shall live and be comforted, concluding that, if they suffer with him, they shall also reign with him. III. He calls upon all the creatures to praise God, the heaven, and earth, and sea, and the inhabitants of each, v. 34. Heaven and earth, and the hosts of both, were made by him, and therefore let heaven and earth praise him. Angels in heaven, and saints on earth, may each of them in their respective habitations furnish themselves with matter enough for constant praise. Let the fishes of the sea, though mute to a proverb, praise the Lord, for the sea is his, and he made it. The praises of the world must be offered for God's favours to his church, v. 35, 36. For God will save Zion, the holy mountain, where his service was kept up. He will save all that are sanctified and set apart to him, all that employ themselves in his worship, and all those over whom Christ reigns; for he was King upon the holy hill of Zion. He has mercy in store for the cities of Judah, of which tribe Christ was. God will do great things for the gospel church, in which let all that wish well to it rejoice. For, 1. It shall be peopled and inhabited. There shall be added to it such as shall be saved. The cities of Judah shall be built, particular churches shall be formed and incorporated according to the gospel model, that there may be a remnant to dwell there and to have it in possession, to enjoy the privileges conferred upon it and to pay the tributes and services required from it. Those that love his name, that have a kindness for religion in general, shall embrace the Christian religion, and take their place in the Christian church; they shall dwell therein, as citizens, and of the household of God 2. It shall be perpetuated and inherited. Christianity was not to be res unius aetatis-a transitory thin. No: The seed of his servants shall inherit it. God will secure and raise up for himself a seed to serve him, and they shall inherit the privileges of their fathers; for the promise is to you and your children, as it was of old. I will be a God to thee, and thy seed after thee. The land of promise shall never be lost for want of heirs, for God can out of stones raise up children unto Abraham and will do so rather than the entail shall be cut off. David shall never want a man to stand before him. The Redeemer shall see his seed, and prolong his days in them, till the mystery of God shall be finished and the mystical body completed. And since the holy seed is the substance of the world, and if that were all gathered in the world would be at an end quickly, it is just that for this assurance of the preservation of it heaven and earth should praise him. |
