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Selected Verse: Psalms 115:3 - Strong Concordance
Verse |
Translation |
Text |
Ps 115:3 |
Strong Concordance |
But our God [0430] is in the heavens [08064]: he hath done [06213] whatsoever he hath pleased [02654]. |
|
King James |
But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
But our God is in the heavens - The Septuagint adds, "and in the earth." This is not, however, in the Hebrew. The idea is, Our God really exists. He is the true God. He reigns in heaven. His plans are such as are and should be formed in heaven: lofty, vast, incomprehensible. But he is still our God; our Ruler; our Protector. He is not a god of earth - whose origin is earth - who dwells on earth alone - like the idols of the pagan; but the whole vast universe is under his control.
He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased - And, therefore, what has been done is right, and we should be submissive to it. He is a sovereign God; and mysterious as are his doings, and much as there seems to be occasion to ask the question "Where is now your God?" yet we are to feel that what has occurred has been in accordance with his eternal plans, and is to be submitted to as a part of his arrangements. It is, in fact, always a sufficient answer to the objections which are made to the government of God, as if he had forsaken his people in bringing affliction on them, and leaving them, apparently without interposition, to poverty, to persecution, and to tears, that he is "in the heavens;" that he rules there and everywhere; that he has his own eternal purposes; and that all things are ordered in accordance with his will. There must, therefore, be some good reason why events occur as they actually do. |
Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
The poet, with "And our God," in the name of Israel opposes the scornful question of the heathen by the believingly joyous confession of the exaltation of Jahve above the false gods. Israel's God is in the heavens, and is therefore supramundane in nature and life, and the absolutely unlimited One, who is able to do all things with a freedom that is conditioned only by Himself: quod vult, valet (Psa 115:3 = Psa 135:6, Wisd. 12:18, and frequently). The carved gods (עצב, from עצב, cogn. חצב, קצב) of the heathen, on the contrary, are dead images, which are devoid of all life, even of the sensuous life the outward organs of which are imagined upon them. It cannot be proved with Ecc 5:16 that ידיהם and רגליחם are equivalent to ידים להם, רגלים. They are either subjects which the Waw apodosis cf. Gen 22:24; Pro 23:24; Hab 2:5) renders prominent, or casus absoluti (Ges. ֗145, 2), since both verbs have the idols themselves as their subjects less on account of their gender (יד and רגל are feminine, but the Hebrew usage of genders is very free and not carried out uniformly) as in respect of Psa 115:7: with reference to their hands, etc. ימישׁוּן is the energetic future form, which goes over from משׁשׁ into מוּשׁ, for ימשּׁוּ. It is said once again in Psa 115:7 that speech is wanting to them; for the other negations only deny life to them, this at the same time denies all personality. The author might know from his own experience how little was the distinction made by the heathen worship between the symbol and the thing symbolized. Accordingly the worship of idols seems to him, as to the later prophets, to be the extreme of self-stupefaction and of the destruction of human consciousness; and the final destiny of the worshippers of false gods, as he says in Psa 115:8, is, that they become like to their idols, that is to say, being deprived of their consciousness, life, and existence, they come to nothing, like those their nothingnesses (Isa 44:9). This whole section of the Psalm is repeated in Ps 135 (Psa 115:6, Psa 115:15). |
Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
He hath done whatsover he hath pleased - There was too much cause for his abandoning us to our enemies; yet he still lives and rules in heaven and in earth. |
15 Ye are blessed [01288] of the LORD [03068] which made [06213] heaven [08064] and earth [0776].
6 They have ears [0241], but they hear [08085] not: noses [0639] have they, but they smell [07306] not:
9 They that make [03335] a graven image [06459] are all of them vanity [08414]; and their delectable things [02530] shall not profit [03276]; and they are their own witnesses [05707]; they see [07200] not, nor know [03045]; that they may be ashamed [0954].
8 They that make [06213] them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth [0982] in them.
7 They have hands [03027], but they handle [04184] not: feet [07272] have they, but they walk [01980] not: neither speak [01897] they through their throat [01627].
7 They have hands [03027], but they handle [04184] not: feet [07272] have they, but they walk [01980] not: neither speak [01897] they through their throat [01627].
5 Yea also, because he transgresseth [0898] by wine [03196], he is a proud [03093] man [01397], neither keepeth at home [05115], who enlargeth [07337] his desire [05315] as hell [07585], and is as death [04194], and cannot be satisfied [07646], but gathereth [0622] unto him all nations [01471], and heapeth [06908] unto him all people [05971]:
24 The father [01] of the righteous [06662] shall greatly [01524] rejoice [01523]: and he that begetteth [03205] a wise [02450] child shall have joy [08055] of him.
24 And his concubine [06370], whose name [08034] was Reumah [07208], she bare [03205] also Tebah [02875], and Gaham [01514], and Thahash [08477], and Maachah [04601].
16 And this [02090] also is a sore [02470] evil [07451], that in all points [05980] as he came [0935], so shall he go [03212]: and what profit [03504] hath he that hath laboured [05998] for the wind [07307]?
6 Whatsoever the LORD [03068] pleased [02654], that did [06213] he in heaven [08064], and in earth [0776], in the seas [03220], and all deep places [08415].
3 But our God [0430] is in the heavens [08064]: he hath done [06213] whatsoever he hath pleased [02654].