7 Give praise to the Lord from the earth, you great sea-beasts, and deep places:
And God made great sea-beasts, and every sort of living and moving thing with which the waters were full, and every sort of winged bird: and God saw that it was good.
The sea was parted in two by your strength; the heads of the great sea-beasts were broken. The heads of the great snake were crushed by you; you gave them as food to the fishes of the sea.
He is so cruel that no one is ready to go against him. Who then is able to keep his place before me? Who ever went against me, and got the better of me? There is no one under heaven! I will not keep quiet about the parts of his body, or about his power, and the strength of his frame. Who has ever taken off his outer skin? who may come inside his inner coat of iron? Who has made open the doors of his face? Fear is round about his teeth. His back is made of lines of plates, joined tight together, one against the other, like a stamp. One is so near to the other that no air may come between them. They take a grip of one another; they are joined together, so that they may not be parted. His sneezings give out flames, and his eyes are like the eyes of the dawn. Out of his mouth go burning lights, and flames of fire are jumping up. Smoke comes out of his nose, like a pot boiling on the fire. His breath puts fire to coals, and a flame goes out of his mouth. Strength is in his neck, and fear goes dancing before him. The plates of his flesh are joined together, fixed, and not to be moved. His heart is as strong as a stone, hard as the lower crushing-stone. When he gets ready for the fight, the strong are overcome with fear. The sword may come near him but is not able to go through him; the spear, or the arrow, or the sharp-pointed iron. Iron is to him as dry grass, and brass as soft wood. The arrow is not able to put him to flight: stones are no more to him than dry stems. A thick stick is no better than a leaf of grass, and he makes sport of the onrush of the spear. Under him are sharp edges of broken pots: as if he was pulling a grain-crushing instrument over the wet earth. The deep is boiling like a pot of spices, and the sea like a perfume-vessel. After him his way is shining, so that the deep seems white. On earth there is not another like him, who is made without fear. Everything which is high goes in fear of him; he is king over all the sons of pride.
There is the great, wide sea, where there are living things, great and small, more than may be numbered. There go the ships; there is that great beast, which you have made as a plaything.
In that day the Lord, with his great and strong and cruel sword, will send punishment on Leviathan, the quick-moving snake, and on Leviathan, the twisted snake; and he will put to death the dragon which is in the sea.
Awake! awake! put on strength, O arm of the Lord, awake! as in the old days, in the generations long past. Was it not by you that Rahab was cut in two, and the dragon Wounded? Did you not make the sea dry, the waters of the great deep? did you not make the deep waters of the sea a way for the Lord's people to go through?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Psalms 148
Commentary on Psalms 148 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
PSALM 148
Ps 148:1-14. The scope of this Psalm is the same as that of the preceding.
1. heavens [and] heights—are synonymous.
2. hosts—(compare Ps 103:21).
4. heavens of heavens—the very highest.
waters—clouds, resting above the visible heavens (compare Ge 1:7).
5. praise the name—as representing His perfections.
he commanded—"He" is emphatic, ascribing creation to God alone.
6. The perpetuity of the frame of nature is, of course, subject to Him who formed it.
a decree … pass—His ordinances respecting them shall not change (Jer 36:31), or perish (Job 34:20; Ps 37:36).
7-10. The call on the earth, as opposed to heaven, includes seas or depths, whose inhabitants the dragon, as one of the largest (on leviathan, see on Ps 104:26), is selected to represent. The most destructive and ungovernable agents of inanimate nature are introduced.
8. fulfilling his word—or, law, may be understood of each. Next the most distinguished productions of the vegetable world.
9. fruitful trees—or, "trees of fruit," as opposed to forest trees. Wild and domestic, large and small animals are comprehended.
11, 12. Next all rational beings, from the highest in rank to little children.
princes—or, military leaders.
13. Let them—all mentioned.
excellent—or, exalted (Isa 12:4).
his glory—majesty (Ps 45:3).
above the earth and heaven—Their united splendors fail to match His.
14. exalteth the horn—established power (Ps 75:5, 6).
praise of—or literally, "for"
his saints—that is, occasions for them to praise Him. They are further described as "His people," and "near unto Him," sustaining by covenanted care a peculiarly intimate relation.