8 Lightning and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling his word;
He sends out his commandment to the earth. His word runs very swiftly. He gives snow like wool, And scatters frost like ashes. He hurls down his hail like pebbles. Who can stand before his cold? He sends out his word, and melts them. He causes his wind to blow, and the waters flow.
Praise Yahweh, you angels of his, Who are mighty in strength, who fulfill his word, Obeying the voice of his word.
The fourth poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was given to him to scorch men with fire. People were scorched with great heat, and people blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues. They didn't repent and give him glory.
Behold, a great tempest arose in the sea, so much that the boat was covered with the waves, but he was asleep. They came to him, and woke him up, saying, "Save us, Lord! We are dying!" He said to them, "Why are you fearful, oh you of little faith?" Then he got up, rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm. The men marveled, saying, "What kind of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"
Thus the Lord Yahweh showed me and, behold, the Lord Yahweh called for judgment by fire; and it dried up the great deep, and would have devoured the land.
For, behold, he who forms the mountains, And creates the wind, And declares to man what is his thought; Who makes the morning darkness, And treads on the high places of the Earth: Yahweh, the God of hosts, is his name."
For by fire will Yahweh execute judgment, and by his sword, on all flesh; and the slain of Yahweh shall be many.
For he commands, and raises the stormy wind, Which lifts up its waves. They mount up to the sky; they go down again to the depths. Their soul melts away because of trouble. They reel back and forth, and stagger like a drunken man, And are at their wits' end. Then they cry to Yahweh in their trouble, And he brings them out of their distress. He makes the storm a calm, So that its waves are still.
At the brightness before him his thick clouds passed, Hailstones and coals of fire.
Have you entered the treasuries of the snow, Or have you seen the treasures of the hail, Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, Against the day of battle and war? By what way is the lightning distributed, Or the east wind scattered on the earth? Who has cut a channel for the flood water, Or the path for the thunderstorm; To cause it to rain on a land where no man is; On the wilderness, in which there is no man; To satisfy the waste and desolate ground, To cause the tender grass to spring forth? Does the rain have a father? Or who fathers the drops of dew? Out of whose womb came the ice? The gray frost of the sky, who has given birth to it? The waters become hard like stone, When the surface of the deep is frozen. "Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, Or loosen the cords of Orion? Can you lead forth the constellations in their season? Or can you guide the Bear with her cubs? Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you establish the dominion of it over the earth? "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, That abundance of waters may cover you? Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go? Do they report to you, 'Here we are?' Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the mind? Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of the sky,
Hear, oh, hear the noise of his voice, The sound that goes out of his mouth. He sends it forth under the whole sky, And his lightning to the ends of the earth. After it a voice roars. He thunders with the voice of his majesty; He doesn't hold back anything when his voice is heard. God thunders marvelously with his voice. He does great things, which we can't comprehend. For he says to the snow, 'Fall on the earth;' Likewise to the shower of rain, And to the showers of his mighty rain.
It happened, as they fled from before Israel, while they were at the descent of Beth Horon, that Yahweh cast down great stones from the sky on them to Azekah, and they died: they were more who died with the hailstones than they whom the children of Israel killed with the sword.
Fire came forth from Yahweh, and devoured the two hundred fifty men who offered the incense.
Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Yahweh caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all the night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
Yahweh turned an exceeding strong west wind, which took up the locusts, and drove them into the Red Sea. There remained not one locust in all the borders of Egypt.
Moses stretched forth his rod toward the heavens, and Yahweh sent thunder, hail, and lightning flashed down to the earth. Yahweh rained hail on the land of Egypt. So there was very severe hail, and lightning mixed with the hail, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. The hail struck throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and animal; and the hail struck every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field.
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.