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Expanded Comments | Additional Comments |
| 1 Bless Jehovah, O my soul! Jehovah my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with majesty and splendour; |
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| 2 Covering thyself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent-curtain; -- |
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| 3 Who layeth the beams of his upper chambers in the waters, who maketh clouds his chariot, who walketh upon the wings of the wind; |
Clouds his chariot – "Behold, he cometh with clouds." (Rev 1:7) R153:3
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| 4 Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flame of fire. |
Maketh his angels – "Who maketh the winds his angels and flaming fire his servants." R2382:2
God is as able to use winds or waves, lightnings or sandstorms, or pestilence, as any other agency in the execution of his will. R2382:2
Spirits – Spirit beings. R5043:1; Q838:4
His ministers – God can use anybody or anything as his agency, his messenger. R5815:3
A flaming fire – Spirit beings can appear as a flame of fire, as in the burning bush. (Exo. 3:2) HG28:4
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| 5 He laid the earth upon its foundations: it shall not be removed for ever. |
Of the earth – The new, perfect, conditions of human society. R1814:1
For ever – Not to be burned up, but to "abide forever." (Eccl. 1:4) R6013:5
The same physical earth remains, and is the scene of great revolutionary changes, justifying the use of the symbols of a new heaven and a new earth. R1615:4
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| 6 Thou hadst covered it with the deep, as with a vesture; the waters stood above the mountains: |
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| 7 At thy rebuke they fled, at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away; -- |
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| 8 The mountains rose, the valleys sank, unto the place which thou hadst founded for them; -- |
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| 9 Thou hast set a bound which they may not pass over, that they turn not again to cover the earth. |
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| 10 He sendeth the springs into the valleys: they run among the mountains; |
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| 11 They give drink to every beast of the field; the wild asses quench their thirst. |
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| 12 The birds of heaven dwell by them; they give forth their voice from among the branches. |
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| 13 He watereth the mountains from his upper-chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works. |
Earth is satisfied – Not envious of the Gospel Church and its reward. R613:2
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| 14 He maketh the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man; bringing forth bread out of the earth, |
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| 15 And wine which gladdeneth the heart of man; making his face shine with oil; and with bread he strengtheneth man's heart. |
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| 16 The trees of Jehovah are satisfied, the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted, |
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| 17 Where the birds make their nests; as for the stork, the fir trees are her house. |
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| 18 The high mountains are for the wild goats; the cliffs, a refuge for the rock-badgers. |
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| 19 He made the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth its going down. |
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| 20 Thou makest darkness, and it is night, wherein all the beasts of the forest creep forth: |
Beasts – Wild beasts; not man-eating Negroes, as some claim. R3044:5
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| 21 The young lions roar after the prey, and to seek their food from *God. |
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| 22 The sun ariseth, they retreat, and lay them down in their dens. |
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| 23 Man goeth forth unto his work, and to his labour until the evening. |
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| 24 How manifold are thy works, O Jehovah! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches. |
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| 25 Yonder is the great and wide sea: therein are moving things innumerable, living creatures small and great. |
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| 26 There go the ships; there that leviathan, which thou hast formed to play therein. |
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| 27 These all look unto thee, that thou mayest give their food in its season: |
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| 28 That thou givest unto them, they gather; thou openest thy hand, they are filled with good. |
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| 29 Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled; thou takest away their breath, they expire and return to their dust. |
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| 30 Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created, and thou renewest the face of the earth. |
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| 31 The glory of Jehovah will endure for ever; Jehovah will rejoice in his works. |
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| 32 He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth; he toucheth the mountains, and they smoke. |
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| 33 I will sing unto Jehovah as long as I live; I will sing psalms to my God while I have my being. |
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| 34 My meditation shall be pleasant unto him; I will rejoice in Jehovah. |
My meditation – Only in pondering the Word of the Lord can we receive its nourishment. A hasty reading of the Scriptures makes a spiritual dyspeptic. R1390:3
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| 35 Sinners shall be consumed out of the earth, and the wicked shall be no more. Bless Jehovah, O my soul. Hallelujah! |
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