Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 104

Bless the Lord, O my soul - See (Psalms 103:1).

O Lord my God, thou art very great - This is a reason why the psalmist calls on his soul to bless God; namely, for the fact that He is so exalted; so vast in His perfections; so powerful, so wise, so great.

Thou art clothed with honor and majesty - That is, with the emblems of honor and majesty, as a king is arrayed in royal robes. Creation is the garment with which God has invested Himself. Compare the notes at (Psalms 93:1).

Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment - Referring to the first work of creation (Genesis 1:3), And God said, Let there be light, and there was light. He seemed to put on light as a garment; he himself appeared as if invested with light. It was the first manifestation of God. He seemed at once to have put on light as his robe.

Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain - As an expanse spread over us. The word used here means a curtain or hanging, so called from its tremulous motion, from a word meaning to tremble. Thus it is applied to a curtain before a door; to a tent, etc. It is applied here to the heavens, as they seem to be spread out like the curtains of a tent, as if God had spread them out for a tent for himself to dwell in. See the notes at (Isaiah 40:22).

Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters - The word here rendered “layeth”—from קרה qârâh—properly means to meet; then, in Hiphil, to cause to meet, or to fit into each other, as beams or joists do in a dwelling. It is a word that would be properly applied to the construction of a house and to the right adjustment of the different materials employed in building it. The word rendered “beams”—עליה ‛ălı̂yâh—means “an upper chamber, a loft,” such as rises in oriental houses above the flat roof; in the New Testament, the ὑπερῷον huperōon—rendered “upper room” (Acts 1:13; Acts 9:37, 39; Acts 20:8).

This chamber refers here to the exalted abode of God—as if raised above all other edifices, or above the world. The word “waters” here refers to the description of the creation in Genesis 1:6-7—the waters “above the firmament,” and the waters “below the firmament.”

The allusion here is to the waters above the firmament. The meaning is that God had constructed the place of his own abode—the room where he dwelt—in those waters; that is, in the most exalted place in the universe. It does not mean that he made it of the waters, but that his home—his dwelling-place—was in or above those waters, as if he had built his dwelling not on solid earth or rock, but in the waters, giving stability to that which seems to have no stability, and making the very waters a foundation for the structure of his abode.

Who maketh the clouds his chariot - Who rides on the clouds as in a chariot. See the notes at Isaiah 19:1. Compare the notes at Psalm 18:11.

Who walketh upon the wings of the wind - See the notes at Psalm 18:10.

Who makes his angels spirits - The meaning here literally would be, “Who makes the winds his messengers,” or “his angels;” that is, who employs them to execute his purpose; who sends them out as messengers or angels to do his will.

His ministers a flaming fire - That is, Fire is employed by him—in lightnings—to accomplish his purpose as his ministers or his servants. They are entirely under his command. They are sent by him to do his will, to carry out his designs. This is intended to describe the majesty and the power of God—that he can employ wind and lightning, tempest and storm, to go on errands that he commands, to fulfill his plans, to do his bidding. For the application of this to the angels, and as employed by the apostle Paul to prove the inferiority of the angels to the Messiah, see the notes at Hebrews 1:7.

Who laid the foundations of the earth - Referring still to the creation of the earth. The margin is, “He has founded the earth upon her bases.” The Hebrew word rendered in the margin “her bases” properly means a place, then a basis or foundation. The idea is that there was something, as it were, placed under the earth to support it. This idea is not uncommon in the Scriptures. Compare the notes at Job 38:4.

That it should not be removed for ever - So that it cannot be shaken out of its place. That is, it is fixed, permanent, and solid. Its foundations do not give way, as edifices built by man, but it remains the same from age to age—the most fixed and stable object of which we have any knowledge. Compare the notes at Psalm 78:69.