Charles Ellicott Commentary Acts 4:24

"And they, when they heard it, lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, O Lord, thou that didst make the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that in them is:" — Acts 4:24 (ASV)

They lifted up their voice to God with one accord. The phrase seems to imply an intonation, or chant, different from that of common speech (Acts 14:11; Acts 22:22). The joint utterance described may be conceived as the result of either:

1. a direct inspiration, suggesting the same words to all who were present;
2. the people following St. Peter, clause by clause; or
3. the hymn being already familiar to the disciples.

On the whole, option (2) seems the most probable, as the special fitness of the hymn for the occasion argues against (3), and (1) involves a miracle of such a startling nature that we can hardly take it for granted without a more definite statement. The recurrence of St. Luke’s favourite phrase (see Note on Acts 1:14) should not be overlooked.

Lord. The Greek word used here is not the common one for Lord (Kyrios), but Despotes, the absolute Master of the Universe. It is a coincidence worth noting that, though seldom used of God in the New Testament, it occurs again, as used by the two Apostles who take part in this prayer (Peter and John), as in 2 Peter 2:1 and Revelation 6:10 (see Note on Luke 2:29). In the Greek version of the Old Testament, it is found applied to the Angel of Jehovah in Joshua 5:14, and to Jehovah Himself in Proverbs 29:25.

This hymn has the special interest of being the earliest recorded utterance of the praises of the Christian Church. As such, it is significant that it begins, as so many of the Psalms do, by setting forth the glory of God as the Creator, and then rises from that to the higher redemptive work. More strictly, the phrasing is “the heaven, the earth, and the sea,” with each region of creation being contemplated in its distinctness.