18:9 He made the sky sink 1 as he descended;
a thick cloud was under his feet.
36:5 O Lord, your loyal love reaches to the sky; 2
your faithfulness to the clouds. 3
57:5 Rise up 4 above the sky, O God!
May your splendor cover the whole earth! 5
57:10 For your loyal love extends beyond the sky, 6
and your faithfulness reaches the clouds.
57:11 Rise up 7 above the sky, O God!
May your splendor cover the whole earth! 8
68:33 to the one who rides through the sky from ancient times! 9
Look! He thunders loudly. 10
78:23 He gave a command to the clouds above,
and opened the doors in the sky.
85:11 Faithfulness grows from the ground,
and deliverance looks down from the sky. 11
96:5 For all the gods of the nations are worthless, 12
but the Lord made the sky.
97:6 The sky declares his justice,
and all the nations see his splendor.
104:12 The birds of the sky live beside them;
they chirp among the bushes. 13
105:40 They asked for food, 14 and he sent quails;
he satisfied them with food from the sky. 15
108:4 For your loyal love extends beyond the sky, 16
and your faithfulness reaches the clouds.
108:5 Rise up 17 above the sky, O God!
May your splendor cover the whole earth! 18
113:4 The Lord is exalted over all the nations;
his splendor reaches beyond the sky. 19
113:6 He bends down to look 20
at the sky and the earth.
144:5 O Lord, make the sky sink 21 and come down! 22
Touch the mountains and make them smolder! 23
148:1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the sky!
Praise him in the heavens!
148:4 Praise him, O highest heaven,
and you waters above the sky! 25
1 tn The Hebrew verb נָטָה (natah) can carry the sense “[cause to] bend, bow down.” For example, Gen 49:15 pictures Issachar as a donkey that “bends” its shoulder or back under a burden. Here the
2 tn Heb “[is] in the heavens.”
3 sn The Lord’s loyal love/faithfulness is almost limitless. He is loyal and faithful to his creation and blesses mankind and the animal kingdom with physical life and sustenance (vv. 6-9).
4 tn Or “be exalted.”
5 tn Heb “over all the earth [be] your splendor.” Though no verb appears, the tone of the statement is a prayer or wish. (Note the imperative form in the preceding line.)
6 tn Heb “for great upon the sky [or “heavens”] [is] your loyal love.”
7 tn Or “be exalted.”
8 tn Heb “over all the earth [be] your splendor.” Though no verb appears, the tone of the statement is a prayer or wish. (Note the imperative form in the preceding line.)
9 tc Heb “to the one who rides through the skies of skies of ancient times.” If the MT is retained, one might translate, “to the one who rides through the ancient skies.” (שְׁמֵי [shÿmey, “skies of”] may be accidentally repeated.) The present translation assumes an emendation to בַּשָּׁמַיִם מִקֶּדֶם (bashamayim miqqedem, “[to the one who rides] through the sky from ancient times”), that is, God has been revealing his power through the storm since ancient times.
10 tn Heb “he gives his voice a strong voice.” In this context God’s “voice” is the thunder that accompanies the rain (see vv. 8-9, as well as Deut 33:26).
11 sn The psalmist already sees undeniable signs of God’s faithfulness and expects deliverance to arrive soon.
12 tn The Hebrew term אֱלִילִים (’elilim, “worthless”) sounds like אֱלֹהִים (’elohim, “gods”). The sound play draws attention to the statement.
13 tn Heb “among the thick foliage they give a sound.”
14 tn Heb “he [i.e., his people] asked.” The singular form should probably be emended to a plural שָׁאֲלוּ (sha’alu, “they asked”), the vav (ו) having fallen off by haplography (note the vav at the beginning of the following form).
15 tn Or “bread of heaven.” The reference is to manna (see Exod 16:4, 13-15).
16 tn Heb “for great upon the sky [or “heavens”] [is] your loyal love.”
17 tn Or “be exalted.”
18 tn Heb “over all the earth [be] your splendor.” Though no verb appears, the tone of the statement is a prayer or wish. (Note the imperative form in the preceding line.)
19 tn Heb “above the sky [is] his splendor.”
20 tn Heb “the one who makes low to see.”
21 tn The Hebrew verb נָטָה (natah) can carry the sense “to [cause to] bend; to [cause to] bow down.” For example, Gen 49:15 pictures Issachar as a donkey that “bends” its shoulder or back under a burden. Here the
22 tn Heb “so you might come down.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose after the preceding imperative. The same type of construction is utilized in v. 6.
23 tn Heb “so they might smolder.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose after the preceding imperative.
24 sn Psalm 148. The psalmist calls upon all creation to praise the Lord, for he is the creator and sovereign king of the world.
25 sn The “water” mentioned here corresponds to the “waters above” mentioned in Gen 1:7. See also Ps 104:3. For a discussion of the picture envisioned by the psalmist, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 47.