John Gill Commentary Psalms 104

Who cover yourself with light as with a garment
Referring, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi think, to the light, which was first created; and indeed this was commanded out of darkness by God the Word, or by the essential Word of God. Light is expressive of the nature of God himself, who is light, and in him is no darkness at all, and who dwells in light ^F8 inaccessible, and so may be said to be clothed with it. This is applicable to Christ as a divine Person, (1 John 1:5) (1 Timothy 6:16) .

and to whom this term "light" agrees well. Light is one of the names of the Messiah in the Old Testament, (Psalms 43:3) (Daniel 2:22) , and is often given him in the New Testament, as the author of the light of nature, grace, and glory, (John 1:9) (8:12) (Revelation 21:23) . He is now possessed of the light and glory of the heavenly state, of which his transfiguration on the mount was an emblem, when his face shone like the sun, and his raiment was as the light, (Matthew 17:2) .

Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain ;
alluding to the firmament or expanse, which, being spread out like a curtain, divided between the waters and the waters, (Genesis 1:6Genesis 1:7) . Heaven is represented as a tent stretched out, with curtains drawn around it, to hide the dazzling and unapproachable light in which the Lord dwells, (Isaiah 40:22) and it is as a curtain or canopy stretched out and encompassing this earth; the stretching of it out belongs to God alone, and is a proof of the deity of Christ, to whom it is here and elsewhere ascribed, (Job 9:8) (Zechariah 12:1) (Isaiah 44:24) . Here Christ dwells invisible to us at present; he is received up into heaven, retained there, and from which will descend at the last day; and in the mean while is within the curtains of heaven, unseen by us.

FOOTNOTES:

• F8: Pura in luce refulsit alma parens", Virgil. Aeneid. 2. "Et paulo post, pallas insedit, nimbo effulgens".

And David came to Saul, and stood before him
As a servant, and ministered to him in the way, and for the purpose for which he was sent:

and he loved him greatly ;
being a comely person, and a well behaved youth, and especially as he was serviceable to him with his music, in driving away melancholy from him:

and he became his armourbearer ; that is, he appointed him to this office, though we never read that he exercised it; nor did he go with Saul in this capacity to the battle related in the following chapter. It may be literally rendered: "and he was to him a bearer of vessels", or "instruments" ^F17 ; and Abarbinel thinks this is to be understood not of instruments of war, but of instruments of music to play with; which he brought in and bore before him when he went in to the king.

FOOTNOTES:

• F17: (Mylk avn wl yhyw) "et fuit ei ferens vasa", Montanus; "ferens instrumenta", Piscator.

Who lays the beams of his chambers in the waters
Or "his upper rooms" ^F9 ; one story over another being built by him in the heavens, (Amos 9:6) , the chambers where he resides; his courts, as the Targum; his palace and apartments, his presence chamber particularly, the floor and beams of them are the waters bound up in the thick clouds; or the region of the air, from where the rain descends to water the hills, as in (Psalms 104:13) .

Who makes the clouds his chariot ;
to ride in; in these sometimes Jehovah rides to execute judgment on his enemies, (Isaiah 19:1) and in these sometimes he appears in a way of grace and mercy to his people, (Exodus 13:21) (19:9) (1 Kings 8:11) (Matthew 17:5) , in these, as in chariots, Christ went up to heaven; and in these will he come a second time; and into these will the saints be caught up to meet the Lord in the air at his coming, (Acts 1:9) (Revelation 1:7) (1 Thessalonians 4:17) .

Who walks upon the wings of the wind ;
see (Psalms 18:10) which is expressive of his swiftness in coming to help and assist his people in time of need; who helps, and that right early; and may very well be applied both to the first and second coming of Christ, who came leaping upon the mountains, and skipping upon the hills, when he first came; and, when he comes a second time, will be as a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of spices, (Song of Solomon 2:8) (8:14) . The Targum is,

FOOTNOTES:

• F9: (wytwyle) , (uperwa) , Sept. "coenacula sua superiora", Gejerus; so Michaelis.
• F11: Vid. Horat. Camin. l. 1. Ode 34. v. 5. "Namque diespiter" Et. Ode 12. v. 58. "Tu gravi curru quaties Olympum".

Who maketh his angels spirits
The angels are spirits, or spiritual substances, yet created ones; and so differ from God, who is a spirit, and from the Holy Spirit of God, who are Creators and not creatures; angels are spirits without bodies, and so differ from the souls or spirits of men, and are immaterial, and so die not; these are made by Christ, by whom all things are made, (Colossians 1:16) and so he must be greater and more excellent than they; for which purpose the passage is quoted in (Hebrews 1:7) .

Some render it, "who maketh his angels as the winds"; to which they may be compared for their invisibility, they being not to be seen, no more than the wind, unless when they assume an external form; and for their penetration through bodies in a very surprising manner; see (Acts 12:6–10) , and for their great force and power, being mighty angels, and said to excel in strength, (Psalms 103:20) , and for their swiftness in obeying the divine commands; so the Targum, ``he maketh his messengers, or angels, swift as the wind.''

His ministers a flaming fire ;
angels are ministers to God, stand before him, behold his face, wait for and listen to his orders, and execute them; they are ministers to Christ, they were so at his incarnation, in his infancy, when in the wilderness and in the garden, at his resurrection and ascension, and will attend him at his second coming; and these are ministers to his people, take the care of them, encamp about them, do many good offices to them in life, and at death carry their souls to Abraham's bosom:

These are made a flaming fire, or "as" flaming fire, for their force and power; so the Targum, ``his ministers strong as flaming fire;'' and for their swiftness as before; and because of their burning love to God, Christ, and his people, and their flaming zeal for his cause and interest; hence thought by some to be called "seraphim": and because they are sometimes the executioners of God's wrath; and have sometimes appeared in fiery forms, as in forms of horses of fire and chariots of fire, and will descend with Christ in flaming fire at the last day; see (2 Kings 2:11) (6:7) (2 Thessalonians 1:7 2 Thessalonians 1:8) .

Some invert the words, both reading and sense, thus, "who maketh the winds his angels, or messengers, and flaming fire his ministers"; so Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Kimchi; we read of stormy wind fulfilling his word, (Psalms 148:8) , he sends out his winds at his pleasure to do his errands; as to dry up the waters of the flood, to drive back the waters of the Red sea, and make dry land, to bring quails from thence, and scatter them about the camp of Israel, and in many other instances. So flaming fire was used as his ministers in burning Sodom and Gomorrah; and multitudes of the murmuring Israelites, and the captains with their fifties; but this sense is contrary to the order of the words, and the design of them, and to the apostle's sense of them, (Hebrews 1:7) which is confirmed by the Targum, Septuagint, and all the Oriental versions.

Who laid the foundations of the earth
Or "founded the earth upon its bases" ^F12 ; which some take to be the waters, according to (Psalms 24:2) , others the centre of gravity in it; others the mountains; others the circumambient air, by which it is poised; rather the almighty power of God, by which it subsists; this is the work of Christ the Almighty; see (Hebrews 1:3Hebrews 1:10) .

That it should not be removed for ever :
for though it may be shaken by earthquakes, yet not removed; nor will it be until the dissolution of all things, when it shall flee away before the face of the Judge, and a new earth shall succeed, (Revelation 20:11) (21:1) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F12: (hynwkm le) "super bases ejus", Montanus, Musculus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; so the Tigurine version, Gejerus, Michaelis.