Commentary on Psalms Volume 3 John Calvin
JOHN CALVIN
not blow by chance, nor the lightnings flash by a fortuitous impulse, but that God, in the exercise of his sovereign power, rules and controls all the agitations and disturbances of the atmosphere. From this doctrine a twofold advantage may be reaped. In the first place, if at any time noxious winds arise, if the south wind corrupt the air, or if the north wind scorch the corn, and not only tear up trees by the root, but overthrow houses, and if other winds destroy the fruits of the earth, we ought to tremble under these scourges of Providence. In the second place, if, on the other hand, God moderate the excessive heat by a gentle cooling breeze, if he purify the polluted atmosphere by the north wind, or if he moisten the parched ground by south winds; in this we ought to contemplate his goodness.
As the apostle, who writes to the Hebrews, (Hebrews 1:7) quotes this passage, and applies it to the angels, both the Greek and Latin expositors have almost unanimously considered David as here speaking allegorically. In like manner, because Paul, in quoting Psalm 19:4, in his Epistle to the Romans, (Romans 10:18) seems to apply to the apostles what is there stated concerning the heavens, the whole psalm has been injudiciously expounded as if it were an allegory. 179 The design of the apostle, in that part of the Epistle to the Hebrews referred to, was not simply to explain the mind of the prophet in this place; but since God is exhibited to us, as it were, visibly in a mirror, the apostle very properly lays down the analogy between the obedience which the winds manifestly and perceptibly yield to God, and that obedience which he receives from the angels. In short, the meaning is, that as God makes use of the winds as his messengers, turns them hither and thither, calms and raises them whenever he pleases, that by their ministry he may declare his power, so the angels were created to execute his commands. And certainly we profit little in the contemplation of universal nature, if we do not behold with the eyes of faith that spiritual glory of which an image is presented to us in the world.
Psalm 104:5-9
5. He hath founded the earth upon its foundations, so that it shall not be moved for ever. 6. He hath covered it with the deep as with a garment: the waters shall stand above the mountains. 7. At thy rebuke they shall flee; at the voice of thy thunder they shall haste away.
180 8. The mountains shall ascend, and the valleys shall descend 181 to the place which thou hast founded for them. 9. Thou hast fixed a See volume 1, page 314.
"The waters, by a beautiful prosopopoeia, are supposed to be put into a panic at the voice of Jehovah. See Psalm 77:16" — Dimock.
COMMENTARY ON PSALMS - VOLUME 3 bound over which they shall not pass; they shall not return to cover the earth.
5 He hath founded the earth upon its foundations Here the prophet celebrates the glory of God, as manifested in the stability of the earth. Since it is suspended in the midst of the air, and is supported only by pillars of water, how does it keep its place so steadfastly that it cannot be moved? This I indeed grant may be explained on natural principles; for the earth, as it occupies the lowest place, being the center of the world, naturally settles down there. But even in this contrivance there shines forth the wonderful power of God. Again, if the waters are higher than the earth, because they are lighter, why do they not cover the whole earth round about? Certainly the only answer which philosophers can give to this is, that the tendency of the waters to do so is counteracted by the providence of God, that a dwelling-place might be provided for man. If they do not admit that the waters are restrained by the determinate appointment of God, they betray not only their depravity and unthankfulness, but also their ignorance, and are altogether barbarous. The prophet, therefore, not without reason, recounts among the miracles of God, that which would be to us wholly incredible, did not even experience show its truth. We are very base indeed if, taught by such undoubted a proof, we do not learn
Calvin here renders mountains and valleys in the nominative case. In our English version they are rendered in the accusative: "They go up by the mountains, they go down by the valleys." "It is not here certain," says Hammond, "whether,הריםmountains, and,בקעותvalleys or plains, be to be read in the nominative or in the accusative case. If they be in the nominative, then we must read as in a parenthesis, ('the mountains ascend, the plains or valleys slink down,') joining the end of the verse, 'unto the place,' etc. to 'haste away,' verse 7, thus: The waters once stood above the mountains, — those places which now are such; — but at the uttering God's voice, they fled and hasted away (the mountains ascending and the valleys descending) unto the place which thou hast prepared for them.' Thus the LXX. and Latin understand it, ἀναβαίνουσιν ὄρη καταβαίνουσι πεδία, 'ascendunt montes, et descendunt campi,' 'the mountains ascend, and the plains descend,' referring to the change that was made in the earth from being perfectly round and encompassed with waters, into that inequality wherein now it is, great mountains in some parts, and great cavities in other parts, wherein the waters were disposed, which before covered the face of the earth. But they may be more probably in the accusative case, and then,מיםthe 'waters,' verse 6, which were understood, verse 7, though not mentioned, (for it was the waters that there fled and hasted away,) must be here continued also, viz., that 'the waters,יעלוascend,' or 'climb the mountains,' and,ירדו 'descend,' or 'fall down upon the valleys,' or 'fissures,' or 'hollow places,' ditches, and the like receptacles of waters, (for soבקועnow signifies among the Rabbins.) And this sense the Chaldee follows, 'They ascend from the abyss to the mountains, and they descend into the valleys, to the place,' etc. And this is the clearest exposition of it, rendering an account of the course of waters, since the gathering of them together in the ocean, that from thence they are, by the power of God, directed to pass through subterranean meatus to the uppermost parts of the earth, the hills and mountains, where they break forth in springs, and then, by their natural weight, descend, and either find or make channels, by which they run into the ocean again, that,מקוםplace, which God hath hewed out as a receptacle for them; and by their thus passing, they are profitable for the use of men, in watering the cattle, and the fruits that grow in the earth, verse 10, etc."