Psalm 104:26 Komentář

It is very probable that this psalm was penned by the same hand, and at the same time, as the former; for as that ended this begins, with "Bless the Lord, O my soul!" and concludes with it too. The style indeed is somewhat different, because the matter is so: the scope of the foregoing psalm was to celebrate the goodness of God and his tender mercy and compassion, to which a soft and sweet style was most agreeable; the scope of this is to celebrate his greatness, and majesty, and sovereign dominion, which ought to be done in the most stately lofty strains of poetry. David, in the former psalm, gave God the glory of his covenant-mercy and love to his own people; in this he gives him the glory of his works of creation and providence, his dominion over, and his bounty to, all the creatures. God is there praised as the God of grace, here as the God of nature. And this psalm is wholly bestowed on that subject; not as Psa 19:1-14, which begins with it, but passes from it to the consideration of the divine law; nor as Psa 8:1-9, which speaks of this but prophetically, and with an eye to Christ. This noble poem is thought by very competent judges greatly to excel, not only for piety and devotion (that is past dispute), but for flight of fancy, brightness of ideas, surprising turns, and all the beauties and ornaments of expression, the Greek and Latin poets upon any subject of this nature. Many great things the psalmist here gives God the glory of I. The splendour of his majesty in the upper world (Psa 104:1-4). II. The creation of the sea and the dry land (Psa 104:5-9). III. The provision he makes for the maintenance of all the creatures according to their nature (Psa 104:10-18, Psa 104:27, Psa 104:28). IV. The regular course of the sun and moon (Psa 104:19-24). V. The furniture of the sea (Psa 104:25, Psa 104:26). IV. God's sovereign power over all the creatures (Psa 104:29-32). And, lastly, he concludes with a pleasant and firm resolution to continue praising God (Psa 104:33-35), with which we should heartily join in singing this psalm.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 104 This psalm, though without a title, was probably written by David, since it begins and ends as the former does, as Aben Ezra observes; and to him the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions, ascribe it. The inscription of the Syriac version is, "a psalm of David, when he went to worship before the ark of the Lord with the priests; and as to us, it teaches us confession and prayer; and intimates to us the constitution of the beginning of the creatures; and declares some things concerning the angels.'' Some copies of the Septuagint version have it, "a psalm of David concerning the constitution of the world;'' which indeed is the subject matter of it; for it treats of the creation of all things, of the heavens and the earth, and of all creatures in them; and of the providence of God in taking care of them. Christ is the divine Person addressed and described throughout the whole, as appears from the quotation of Psa 104:5 and the application of it to him in Heb 1:7.

There go the ships,.... From place to place, from one end of the world to the other, for the sake of merchandise (r); this is one of the four things that were too wonderful for Solomon, "the way of a ship in the midst of the sea", Pro 30:19 though navigation was improved in his times indeed not so much as it is now. The original of ships was doubtless Noah's ark, so that they owe their first draught to God himself. They seem to be an emblem of the church and people of God passing through the sea of this world to the haven of eternal rest. The ship is but a small vessel, and takes up but a small room in comparison of the vast ocean on which it is; and so the church of Christ is but small, a little city, and few men in it, a little flock, a small remnant: a ship is unfixed and unsettled, sometimes here and sometimes there; so the church of Christ is sometimes in one place, and sometimes in another; nor is this world the rest of God's people, nor have they any continuing city here; for, as a ship is tossed with tempests, so are they with the waves of afflictions, the temptations of Satan, and the persecutions of men; and sometimes, like Paul, and the mariners with him, have no sight of sun and stars for many days, of the sun of righteousness, or of the stars, the ministers of the word; when sailing is dangerous it bodes perilous times, through the impure lives of professors, and impious doctrines of false teachers, whereby many suffer shipwreck; yet all the Lord's people get safe ashore, having a good pilot, Christ, to conduct them; and the good anchor of hope, sure and steadfast. There is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein; the Targum adds, "for the righteous at the feast of the house of his habitation.'' Of this creature there is an account in Job 41:1. Some take it to be the crocodile, which is both a sea and river fish; the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Ethiopic, and Arabic versions, and so Apollinarius, call it the dragon; it is more generally thought to be the whale; Aben Ezra says it is the name of every great fish; it is a sportive creature, tumbles about in the great sea, and plays with the waters of it, which it tosses up in great quantities; and with the fishes of the sea, which it devours at pleasure; and laughs at the shaking of the spear; and to which mariners throw out their empty casks to play with, when near them, and they in danger by it; see Job 41:5. This creature is generally reckoned by the ancients a figure of Satan, it being king over all the children of pride, Job 41:34 as he is the prince of the power of the air, and god of this world; who has been playing his tricks in it from the beginning of it, not only deceiving our first parents, but all the nations of the world; nor are saints ignorant of his devices. It sometimes describes a tyrannical prince, as the kings of Babylon and of Egypt, Isa 27:1 and is a true picture of antichrist, the beast which rose out of the sea; nor is there any like him on earth; see Rev 13:1. (r) So Homer calls ships , Iliad. 3. v. 46.

Let us, therefore, in the faith of the disciples, converse frequently with our Master. For the world is like the sea to us, my brothers, of which it is written, “This is the great and wide sea, there go the ships; the Leviathan, which you have created to play therein.” We float on this sea, as with the wind, through our own free will, for everyone directs his course according to his will, and either, under the pilotage of the Word, he enters into rest, or, laid hold on by pleasure, he suffers shipwreck and is in peril by storm. For as in the ocean there are storms and waves, so in the world there are many afflictions and trials.

"There shall go the ships" [Psalm 104:26]. Lo, ships float upon that which alarmed you, and sink not. By ships we understand churches; they go among the storms, among the tempests of temptations, among the waves of the world, among the beasts, both small and great. Christ on the wood of His cross is the Pilot. "There shall go the ships." Let not the ships fear, let them not much mind where they float, but by Whom they are steered. "There shall go the ships." What voyage do they find tedious, when they feel that Christ is their Pilot? They will sail safely, let them sail diligently, they will reach their promised haven, they will be led to the land of rest.

And because God, when he created him, was certainly not ignorant of his future malignity, and foresaw the good which he Himself would bring out of his evil, therefore says the psalm, "This leviathan whom Thou hast made to be a sport therein," that we may see that, even while God in his goodness created him good, he yet had already foreseen and arranged how he would make use of him when he became wicked.

There is a passage, too, in the Book of Job, of which the devil is the subject: "This is the beginning of the creation of God, which he made to be a sport to his angels," which agrees with the psalm, where it is said, "There is that dragon which Thou hast made to be a sport therein." But these passages are not to lead us to suppose that the devil was originally created to be the sport of the angels, but that he was doomed to this punishment after his sin. His beginning, then, is the handiwork of God; for there is no nature, even among the least, and lowest, and last of the beasts, which was not the work of Him from whom has proceeded all measure, all form, all order, without which nothing can be planned or conceived. How much more, then, is this angelic nature, which surpasses in dignity all else that he has made, the handiwork of the Most High!

Furthermore, the words “The sea also, great and wide, where ships move about” are not to be understood relative to the ships of wood that are carried over the sea by the force of the wind but to the catholic church. While the latter desires to reach the port of paradise by holy, just works, it is beaten by many waves of tribulation and the winds of various storms. Moreover, although it is tossed by the violent beating of the winds, it is so well directed by the oars of holy discipline, so well driven by the breath of the Holy Spirit, that it is carried to eternal life by the Festal very adversities that oppose it. In this sea there is also that dragon of which it is written: “This sea dragon that you formed to make sport of it.” That dragon is understood as the devil. He is apt to play in the wicked in such a way that not only does he persuade them to sin but, using them as his ministers, he does not cease to persecute even those who are holy and just. This dragon was made a good angel by God, but since he exalted himself against God by pride and fell from that happy angelic state, deceiving himself by pride, through God’s hidden but just judgment he is permitted to deceive with his cunning careless people.

After an exhortation to praise God, addressed especially to the chosen people, the writer presents the special reason for praise, in a summary of their history from the calling of Abraham to their settlement in Canaan, and reminds them that their obedience was the end of all God's gracious dealings. (Psa. 105:1-45) call . . . name-- (Psa 79:6; Rom 10:13). Call on Him, according to His historically manifested glory. After the example of Abraham, who, as often as God acquired for Himself a name in guiding him, called in solemn worship upon the name of the Lord (Gen 12:8; Gen 13:4). among the people--or, "peoples" (Psa 18:49). deeds--or, "wonders" (Psa 103:7).

leviathan-- (Job 40:20) heightens the estimate of the sea's greatness, and of His power who gives such a place for sport to one of His creatures.