Praise Jehovah from the earth, ye sea-monsters, and all deeps;
The call that began in the heavens now turns downward. The first creatures called from the earth are the great sea creatures and the deeps they live in. Why does the earth's praise start in the ocean depths and not with man? And what does it mean to call a sea monster to praise God?
The psalm has two halves, and verse 7 opens the lower one. From here the call climbs upward until it reaches man.
(vv. 7-13) The earth is called to praise the Lord. The sea monsters and the deep they belong to; the changing elements, lightning and hail, snow and mist, and stormy wind doing His Word; the solid mountains and the hills; the trees and the animals — all of these are called to praise. Last of all comes man, the crown of the earthly scene. Kings and peoples, men and women, old and young are called to join in praising the One whose Name alone is exalted, whose glory is above the earth and the heavens.
Some older translations read "dragons" here. The word behind it covers any huge water creature, and elsewhere it names a fearsome enemy.
The word may mean any great serpent or sea monster, a picture of a huge destructive creature… Scripture calls Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great dragon (Ezekiel 29:3). As one of God's creatures, the dragon is called on to praise the Lord (Psalm 148:7).
The psalm names the sea as well as the land. That matches a scene in Revelation, where praise rises from four realms at once.
Revelation 5 describes the creatures who praise as "every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea." So earthly things as well as heavenly things will join the chorus… Some translate the word "dragons" in verse 7 as "sea monsters," so the sea as well as the earth is in view in the Psalm, just as in Revelation.
The list does not begin where we would begin it. It starts at the edge of what we know.
We have now the lower sphere of earth, and here the call for praise is just as wide. We begin with what is strangest and least known: the monsters and the deeps they seem to belong to.
Most of this sea life stays hidden from us, and there is far more of it than we might guess.
It may seem strange that great sea creatures are called first. This is life mostly hidden from man's view, yet far more plentiful than everything living on the land. "All deeps" is added here. It hints that there are depths beyond what we can see or even understand, and they too call for praise to the Lord (v. 7).
The sea, the storm and the mountains are not the problem. One writer traces the trouble back to man, and to the shadow his fall cast over everything else.
The kings and peoples are not yet subject to God, and all is disorder. The root of the trouble is there. We have to admit that nothing much is wrong with the snow and wind, or with the mountains, trees, animals and birds. The only blight on them came from the fall of man… when man is set right on earth, the curse will lift off the face of creation.
This full chorus is still ahead. Yet one writer says faith need not wait to sing it.
What greets us in this high and beautiful song is the perfect harmony of a freed creation's praise. Its subject is the once-rejected Lord of glory. It is a song worth singing now by a Christian faith that looks ahead, while it still bears the scorn of a world that treats the mystery of a hidden and exalted Christ as little better than a clever fable.
- Downward — Verse 7 turns the psalm from the heavens to the earth. This half climbs from the ocean deeps through storm, mountain, tree and beast up to man, the crown of the scene.
- Deepest — The praise starts with what is strangest and least known, at the edge of what we can see.
- Dragon — The word covers any great sea creature. Elsewhere it names a destroyer like Pharaoh. Here it is just one of God's creatures, called to praise Him.
- Delayed — Nothing is wrong with the wind or the mountains except the blight man's fall laid on them. The curse lifts when man is set right.
- Declared — The song belongs to a freed creation. Yet faith may sing it now, in a world that still counts the exalted Christ a fable.
Fire and hail, snow and vapour, stormy wind fulfilling his word;
The psalm calls the whole creation to praise. Here the call reaches the weather — lightning, ice, cloud and gale. How can weather praise anyone? And what does it mean that a storm "fulfils His word"?
These forces have no mind of their own, yet they shape human life.
Verses 8 and 9 also look at things that are not intelligent in themselves, but that still affect people in remarkable ways. There is fire and hail, no doubt mainly the fire of lightning. There is snow and cloud, amazing creations of God. And there is stormy wind, sent at set times to fulfil the Word of God. Everyone will see these creations magnify the name of the Lord Jesus when He establishes His millennial kingdom.
Their praise is obedience. What we call nature runs under a higher authority.
Scripture declares the supremacy of "the Word" in the workings of what we call nature, as in 2 Peter 3:5-7. (See Ps. 147:15, 18; Ps. 148:8)
Hail is not a neutral item on the list. In Scripture it falls as an instrument of God's judgment, and it is still called to praise.
Hail usually forms from natural causes that we may not understand well yet. Even so, Scripture often refers to it as one of the judgements of God. It formed one of the plagues in Egypt... The hail is called upon to praise Jehovah, because it fulfils His word. Ps. 148:8; Isa. 28:2, 17; Hag. 2:17. It will also form a notable part of the judgements of God in His future dealings with this guilty world.
Judgment is not the only errand these elements run. The same power shows in the storm and in the rain that enriches the land.
All this display of divine power is to carry out His will. "Praise the LORD... fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling his word!" (Ps. 148:7-8). Sometimes it is as an "overflowing scourge", sometimes, "You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it" (Ps. 65:9), but always it is God whose actions, plans and purposes are before the eye of faith.
If the wildest weather runs His errands, nothing else is out of hand either. One writer applies the verse to the life of Joseph.
Faith can discern the hand of God behind the schemes of Satan. If Satan is using man to hinder God's purposes, God is using Satan to carry them out. Every kind of agent is at God's disposal. Angels and archangels, saints and sinners, the devil and his demons, all serve to carry out God's plans. The very elements — fire and hail, snow and mist, and stormy wind — are "fulfilling His word" (Ps. 148:8). Nor is it otherwise with the circumstances of life, as we see in the story of Joseph.
The practical use is rest. What arrives in a life is not random.
Nothing happens but His hand is in it. Stormy wind and rain only fulfil His word. "He causes it to happen, whether for correction, or for His land, or for love" (Job 37:13). This is how we learn the most precious lessons. They are precious because we get past the trial that tests us and reach the loving-kindness of the Lord. Our feet can then stand in a level place.
This full praise is not what we see yet. One writer looks ahead to a day when creation's obedience is complete.
Now Satan has almost unlimited control over the elements of nature. God is above all, and He overrules Satan's activities for His own glory and for the good of His people. Even so, the forces of nature do not always display the true character of God in a public way... When the Lord was here in humiliation He had to rebuke the winds and the sea (Matt. 8:26). But in that day, which will be full of His praises, there will be no occasion for His rebuke, for the stormy winds shall fulfil His will, like everything else (Ps. 148:8).
That greatness is meant to comfort, not to frighten.
Even the stormy wind fulfils His word (Ps. 148:8)... this is the God who loves me! Our hearts bow down before the marvellous wisdom, skill, and greatness of such a God. And this God spans the heavens and measures the sea in the hollow of His hand. Yet He describes Himself as One who notices the falling sparrow and counts the hairs of His people's heads (Matt. 10:29).
- Word. The elements have no mind, yet they answer to a command; His word rules what we call nature.
- Obedience. The psalm calls hail to praise because it carries out that word — the same hail Scripture links with His judgments.
- Reach. If fire, snow and gale run His errands, so does every agent and every circumstance; Joseph's slavery and prison were stages on the road to glory.
- Rest. Nothing happens but His hand is in it, so we can take a storm as correction or as love, and the heart can stand on level ground.
- Result. One day the winds will need no rebuke, and the obedience faith sees now will be open praise.