John Calvin Commentary Psalms 104:6

"Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a vesture; The waters stood above the mountains." — Psalms 104:6 (ASV)

He has covered it with the deep as with a garment. This may be understood in two ways: either as implying that now the sea covers the earth as a garment, or that at the beginning, before God by His omnipotent word had gathered the waters together into one place, the earth was covered with the deep.

But the more suitable sense appears to be that the sea is now the covering of the earth. At the first creation, the deep was not so much a garment as a grave, since nothing bears less resemblance to the adorning of apparel than the state of confused desolation and shapeless chaos in which the earth then was.

Accordingly, in my judgment, what is celebrated here is that wonderful arrangement by which the deep, although without form, is yet the garment of the earth. But as the context seems to lead to a different view, interpreters are rather inclined to explain the language as denoting that the earth was covered with the deep before the waters had been collected into a separate place.

This difficulty, however, is easily solved if the words of the prophet, The waters shall stand above the mountains, are resolved into the potential mood thus: The waters would stand above the mountains; which is sufficiently vindicated from the usage of the Hebrew language. Indeed, I have no doubt that the prophet, after having said that God had clothed the earth with waters, adds, by way of exposition, that the waters would stand above the mountains, if they did not flee away at God’s rebuke.

Why are the mountains elevated and the valleys sunk down, if not because bounds are set to the waters, so that they do not return to overwhelm the earth? The passage then, it is obvious, may very properly be understood thus: that the sea, although a mighty deep, which strikes terror by its vastness, is yet like a beautiful garment to the earth.

The reason for the metaphor is that the surface of the earth stands uncovered. The prophet affirms that this does not happen by chance; for, if the providence of God did not restrain the waters, would they not immediately rush forth to overwhelm the whole earth? He, therefore, speaks deliberately when he maintains that the appearance of any part of the earth’s surface is not the effect of nature, but is an evident miracle.

Were God to give free rein to the sea, the waters would suddenly cover the mountains. But now, fleeing at God’s rebuke, they retreat elsewhere. By the rebuke of God, and the voice of His thunder, is meant the awe-inspiring command of God, by which He restrains the violent raging of the sea.

Although at the beginning, by His word alone, He confined the sea within defined bounds and continues to keep it within them to this day, yet if we consider how tumultuously its billows cast up their foam when it is agitated, it is not without reason that the prophet speaks of it as kept in check by the powerful command of God.

This is just as, both in Jeremiah (Jeremiah 5:22) and in Job (Job 28:25), God, with much sublimity, extols His power as displayed in the ocean.

The ascending of the mountains and the descending of the valleys are poetical figures. These figures imply that unless God confined the deep within bounds, the distinction between mountains and valleys, which contributes to the beauty of the earth, would cease to exist, as the deep would engulf the whole earth.

It is said that God has founded a place for the valleys. This is because there would be no dry land at the foot of the mountains; instead, the deep would hold sway if God did not command the space there to be unoccupied by the sea, as if contrary to nature.