John Gill Commentary Psalms 148

Praise you the Lord Or, hallelujah: which, in some versions, and with some interpreters, is the title of the psalm; expressive of the subject matter of it, the praise of the Lord; and is an exhortation of all creatures to it;

praise you the Lord from the heavens; that is, those that are of the heavens; let their praises of the Lord, of his perfections, works, and benefits, resound from thence; the angels of heaven particularly, who have their habitation and residence there, and sometimes descend from thence on special business, by the order and appointment of their great Creator and Master: so the Targum, "praise the Lord, you holy creatures from heaven." Though some take the phrase, "from heaven", to be descriptive of the Lord, the object of praise, who is the Lord from heaven; the character of Christ, the second Adam, (1 Corinthians 15:47); who is from above; came down from heaven to do the will of God; and was in heaven, as to his divine Person, while here on earth in human nature, working out the salvation of men; for which he justly deserves the praise of all in heaven and in earth.

But as all creatures are distinguished in this psalm into celestial and terrestrial, called upon to praise the Lord; this seems to be the general character of the celestial ones, persons, bodies, and things; as the phrase "from the earth", (Psalms 148:7), includes all in the terraqueous globe;

praise him in the heights; either in the highest heavens where he dwells, or with the highest notes of praise that can be raised; see (Psalms 149:6) (Luke 2:14). The Targum is, "praise him, all the hosts of angels on high:" or the high hosts of angels: but these are particularly mentioned in (Psalms 148:2).

Praise you him, all his angels
The Targum adds, who minister before him: the ministering spirits, the angels of Jehovah, even of Christ, who are his creatures, and at his command; and whom he sends forth to minister to others, (Hebrews 1:7Hebrews 1:14). And great numbers there are of them, thousands and tens of thousands, yea, an innumerable company; and all of them are under obligation to praise the Lord for their creation: for invisible spirits, as well as visible bodies, even the celestial thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers, were created by him, by Christ, (Colossians 1:16). And for their preservation in their beings, and confirmation in that happy estate in which they were created; being chosen and secured in Christ, the head of all principality and power, and so stood while others fell: and also for the various excellent powers, and faculties and properties, they are endowed with; they excel in strength, are possessed of great agility and swiftness; have a large share of knowledge, of things natural, civil, moral, spiritual, and evangelical; are perfectly holy, and without sin; and happy in the enjoyment of God, in whose presence they always are, and whose face they continually behold; and will ever remain in this state, being immaterial and immortal beings.

And as praise is their duty, it is their work; in this they were employed at the creation of all things, then these sons of God and morning stars sang and shouted for joy; and at the incarnation of Christ, when they worshipped him; at the conversion of every sinner; and frequently joins the church in this service, and will be concerned in it to all eternity:

and when the psalmist calls upon them to engage in it, it does not suppose that they were deficient in it, or backward to it, or that he had any authority over them to require it of them; but it shows his great desire that the Lord might be praised by the noblest creatures, and in the best manner that could be, and how much his heart was in this work; and he does it to stir up himself and others the more unto it, from this consideration; that if those heavenly creatures should praise the Lord, then much more such as he and others, who were so very unworthy of the divine favours, and so much beholden to the Lord for them;

praise you him, all his hosts ;
meaning either the angels as before, sometimes called the hosts of heaven, and the heavenly host; there being armies and legions of them, and these encamping about the saints in a military way; see (2 Kings 19:35) (Luke 2:13) (Matthew 26:53) (Psalms 34:7) ; or else the celestial bodies, the sun, moon, and stars, as follow, sometimes called the host of heaven; and who are represented as militant, (Genesis 2:1) (2 Kings 21:3) (Judges 5:20) .

Praise you him, sun and moon
The sun praises the Lord, the Creator of it, by doing the work constantly it is appointed to do; to rule by day, and give light and heat to the earth, and the inhabitants of it; and so is the cause of man's praising the Lord for the benefits they receive from it; for its enlightening, warming, and refreshing rays; and for the precious fruits brought forth by it and so the moon likewise doing its office, ruling by night, and reflecting the light of the sun upon the earth, and producing precious fruits, also praises its Maker, and is the occasion, of others praising him; see (Psalms 136:1Psalms 136:7–9) (Deuteronomy 33:14) ;

praise him, all you stars of light ;
which are very beneficial in the night season, especially to mariners and travellers, and shed their benign influences upon the earth and things in it; which are a means of praising the Lord, and in their way they do it, (Psalms 136:1Psalms 136:9) (Acts 27:20) (Job 38:31) . The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, read it, "stars and light", wrongly; the stars are luminous bodies, and shine in their own light ^F3 , though the moon with a borrowed light from the sun.

FOOTNOTES:

• F3: Macrob. in Somn. Scipion. l. 1. c. 19, 20.

Praise him, you heaven of heavens
All the heavens, the airy and starry heavens; and the third heaven, the residence of God, angels and saints: these are made by the Lord, and declare the glory of his power, wisdom, and goodness, and show forth his handiwork, (Psalms 19:1). A voice was heard from heaven, praising Jehovah the Son, when on earth in our nature; a cloud of the lower heavens received him when he went from hence, and in the clouds thereof he will come again: the highest heavens opened to receive him, and will retain him until the restitution of all things; and from hence he will descend to judge the world in righteousness, (Matthew 3:16) (17:5) (Acts 1:9) (3:21) (Revelation 1:7);

and you waters that [be] above the heavens ;
divided by the firmament from the waters below; and are no other than the thick clouds, in which the waters are bound up, and not rent, but at the pleasure of God, (Genesis 1:7) (Job 26:9); so Seneca ^F4 calls the clouds the celestial waters. And these give men occasion to praise the Lord, that those vast bodies of water that are over their heads are not let down in such large quantities upon them as would destroy them; and that are carried about from place to place, and let down and gentle showers, to water and refresh the earth, and make it fruitful, so that it brings forth food for man and beast.

The Targum is,

``ye waters, that by the Word (of the Lord) hang above the heavens;'' in which is displayed the glory of amazing power, wisdom, and goodness.

The most ancient Syrians and Arabians were thoroughly persuaded, that beyond the bounds of the visible heavens there was a great sea, without any limits; which some ^F5 suppose to be the waters here meant.

FOOTNOTES:

• F4: Nat. Quaest. l. 3. c. 23.
• F5: Vid. Steeb. Coelum Sephirot. Heb. c. 7. s. 3. p. 126, 127. and Gregory's Works, p. 110.

Let them praise the name of the Lord
Set forth the glory of the nature and perfections of God, and celebrate the praise of them; even all celestial creatures, the angels, the hosts of heaven, the sun, moon, and stars; the heavens, and the haven of heavens, and the waters above them; and that for the following reasons;

for he commanded, and they were created ;
they are all his creatures, and therefore should praise him: he is the "Father of spirits", of angelic spirits, as well as the spirits of men; and the "Father of lights", of all the luminaries of the heavens; and he has made the heavens themselves, and all their hosts, and the firmament dividing the waters above and below; and all this by an almighty "fiat", at a word of command; he spoke, and they came into being at once, (Hebrews 12:9) (James 1:17) (Psalms 33:6Psalms 33:9) .