_The Psalmist exhorteth the celestial, the terrestrial, and the
rational creatures to praise God._
Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens: praise him in
the heights.
Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.
Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.
Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that _be_ above the
heavens.
Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were
created.
He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree
which shall not pass.
Praise the LORD from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps:
Fire and hail; snow and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling his word:
Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars:
Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl:
Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the
earth:
Both young men and maidens; old men and children:
Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent;
his glory _is_ above the earth and heaven.
He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints;
_even_ of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye
the LORD.
This is a Psalm of thanksgiving; wherein the Psalmist calls upon, and
exhorts all creatures, both in heaven and in earth, to praise God;
calling more especially on his saints, the children of Israel, among
whom is the word and the worship of God.
In this Psalm you may remark this blessed doctrine, that all orders of
men, all kinds of life, which are created of God, are good,—that is,
kings, magistrates, judges, young men, old men, &c. For if to hold the
office of a magistrate and to hear and judge causes were of itself
wicked, then such magistrates could not call upon and praise God, nor
would the Holy Spirit exhort them in this Psalm to that praise of God.
And where there are magistrates and laws, kings and princes, there
also there are subjects, town-sergeants and constables. And there also
there must be artificers in the cities, and men-servants and
maid-servants, and countrymen, and soldiers, &c. And, again, where
there are young men and old men, there are also wives and children,
and so whole families and households.
All these things are good and holy gifts of God, and by no means to be
condemned or refused, as the pope blasphemously saith they are. All
these things, moreover, show that their all-high and Almighty Creator
is good; and that all these his good creatures ought to speak his
praise, to sound it forth with thousands of tongues, and to celebrate
this infinite goodness and the countless and unspeakable mercies of
God!
If, therefore, thou desirest, contrary to the blasphemous doctrine of
the pope, and all like him, to know how supremely good all the
creatures of God are, from the least of them even to the greatest of
them; then, suppose to thyself that one of these creatures, out of the
universal whole, were deficient or wanting, for one short moment;
suppose there were no fire or no sun for a moment’s space even;
suppose there were no women, no infantine offspring;—suppose, I say,
any deficiency of this kind: by this thought thou wilt immediately
feel that no one can sufficiently praise God, even for one of his
creatures? And how many creatures has he formed! What worlds of
goodness has he created!