Psalm 104:13

He watereth the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(13) Chambers—i.e., of cloud, as in Psalm 104:3.

Thy works.—If we go by the parallelism, this means the “rain,” here called God’s works, as in Psalm 65:9 (see Note), his “river.” Others prefer to see a general reference to the operations of nature which produce fruit.

Benson Commentary

Psalm 104:13-15. He watereth the hills — Which most need moisture, and have least of it in themselves; from his chambers — From those chambers spoken of Psalm 104:3, the beams of which he lays in the waters, those store- chambers, the clouds that distil the fruitful showers. The earth, &c. — By this means all the parts of the earth, the hills as well as the dales, the mountains as well as the valleys, are satisfied with the fruit of thy works — With those sweet showers which they drink in, or rather with the effect of them, the fruitfulness caused thereby. “Hence all the glory and beauty of the vegetable world; hence grass that nourishes the cattle, that they may nourish the human race; hence the green herb for food and for medicine; hence fields covered with corn, for the support of life; hence vines and olive-trees, laden with fruits, whose juices exhilarate the heart, and brighten the countenance.” — Horne.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

104:10-18 When we reflect upon the provision made for all creatures, we should also notice the natural worship they render to God. Yet man, forgetful ungrateful man, enjoys the largest measure of his Creator's kindness. the earth, varying in different lands. Nor let us forget spiritual blessings; the fruitfulness of the church through grace, the bread of everlasting life, the cup of salvation, and the oil of gladness. Does God provide for the inferior creatures, and will he not be a refuge to his people?

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

He watereth the hills from his chambers - The waters, as stated before, run in the valleys - in the natural channels made for them among the hills, Psalm 104:10. But still, it was a fact that the hills themselves were watered; that there were springs far up their heights; and that vegetation was sustained above the reach of the fountains and streams below; and it was a proof of the divine skill and beneficence that, in some way, water was furnished on the summits and sides of the hills themselves. This was caused, the psalmist says, by God's pouring water on them, as it were, from his own "chambers" - his abode on high. The allusion is, doubtless, to rain, which seems to be poured down from the very abode of God. The word rendered "chambers" means "upper rooms," (see the notes at Psalm 104:3); and the reference is to the dwelling-place of God, as far above the earth.

The earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works - Thy doings; with what thou hast done. All the needs of the earth seem to be met and "satisfied;" all that it could desire to make it fertile and beautiful; and the proper abode of man, of beast, and of fowl, has been granted. It has no cause of complaint; nothing has been left undone, in the valleys or on the hills, on the dry land or in the waters, that was needful to be done to carry out the purpose for which it has been called into being.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

10-13. Once destructive, these waters are subjected to the service of God's creatures. In rain and dew from His chambers (compare Ps 104:3), and fountains and streams, they give drink to thirsting animals and fertilize the soil. Trees thus nourished supply homes to singing birds, and the earth teems with the productions of God's wise agencies,

Matthew Poole's Commentary

He watereth the hills; which most need moisture, and have least of it in them.

From his chambers; from the clouds, as above, Psalm 104:3.

The earth is satisfied; by this means all the parts of the earth, the mountains as well as the valleys, are made fruitful.

With the fruit of thy works; with the effects of those sweet showers, which he calls God’s works, because he alone can and doth give them, as is noted, Jeremiah 10:13 14:22.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

He watereth the hills from his chambers,.... The house of his superior treasures, as the Targum. The airy regions, Psalm 104:3 with the clouds of heaven, by the rain which they drop down upon them; the usefulness of which blessings of nature is largely described in this and some following verses. "The hills", which are naturally dry and barren, and receive but little advantage from the springs, fountains, and rivers below, are supplied with water from above; and become fruitful, bear herbage, and are clothed with flocks. This seems to refer to the first rain that was upon the earth, Genesis 2:5 and which favour is continued to all lands, excepting some part of the land of Egypt, and in all ages since; see Psalm 65:9. So ministers of the word, who are set in the first place, and are eminent in the church of God, and who water others, are watered themselves with the gifts and graces of the Spirit descending from above, as the apostles were, in an extraordinary manner, at the day of Pentecost; and as others in a more ordinary manner daily are. So likewise the churches of Christ, comparable to hills and mountains for firmness and visibility, and the several members thereof, are watered with the dews of divine favour, with the rain of the divine word; which comes down from heaven as the rain does, and drops and distils like that; and with the grace of the divine Spirit, whereby their souls become as a watered garden, whose springs fail not.

The earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works; with the fruits which grow out of it by means of rain, as are after mentioned; herbs, grass, and trees, so Aben Ezra: or with the influences of the heavens, which are the work of God's hands, and by which the earth is made fruitful; or more particularly with the virtue and efficacy of the rain, so Kimchi; which is the Lord's peculiar work, Jeremiah 14:22. This the earth drinking in, is as satisfied with as a thirsty man is with drinking a draught of water; see Deuteronomy 11:11. So the people of God, comparable to the good earth that drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, are satisfied with the love of God, with the blessings of his grace, with the doctrines of his Gospel, and with the ordinances of his house.

Geneva Study Bible

He watereth the hills from his {g} chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.

(g) From the clouds.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

13. Who giveth the mountains drink from his upper chambers. Palestine was “a land of mountains and valleys, drinking water of the rain of heaven” (Deuteronomy 11:11). It is not inaccessible mountain tops which the poet is thinking of, so much as the upland corn fields (Psalm 72:16), watered by the rain which God sends down from His “upper chambers” (Psalm 104:3), as the valleys are watered by streams.

the fruit of thy works] Generally explained to mean the rain, as a product of the clouds which God has made. But this is harsh: it is much more natural to take the phrase in the simple sense of “fruit produced by God’s manifold operations.” Earth is fertilised by the rain and springs, and rejoices in its abundant produce. The thought is further developed in Psalm 104:14-18.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 13. - He (i.e. God) watereth the hills from his chambers (comp. ver. 3). The mountains themselves, even their highest tops, are not left dry. Where springs cannot reach, rain falls from God's "chambers" in the sky, and spreads equal refreshment. The earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works. The whole earth - mountains, hills, plains, valleys - is thus "satisfied," i.e. sufficiently supplied with water, by the means which God has elaborated. Psalm 104:13

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The third decastich, passing on to the third day of creation, sings the benefit which the shore-surrounded waters are to the animal creation and the growth of the plants out of the earth, which is irrigated from below and moistened from above. God, the blessed One, being the principal subject of the Psalm, the poet (in Psalm 104:10 and further on) is able to go on in attributive and predicative participles: Who sendeth springs בּנּחלים, into the wads (not: בּנחלים, as brooks). נחל, as Psalm 104:10 shows, is here a synonym of בּקעה, and there is no need for saying that, flowing on in the plains, they grow into rivers. The lxx has ἐν φάραγξιν. חיתו שׂדי is doubly poetic for חיּת השּׂדה. God has also provided for all the beasts that roam far from men; and the wild ass, swift as an arrow, difficult to be hunted, and living in troops (פּרא, Arabic ferâ, root פר, Arab. fr, to move quickly, to whiz, to flee; the wild ass, the onager, Arabic himr el-wahs, whose home is on the steppes), is made prominent by way of example. The phrase "to break the thirst" occurs only here. עליהם, Psalm 104:12, refers to the מעינים, which are also still the subject in Psalm 104:11. The pointing עפאים needlessly creates a hybrid form in addition to עפאים (like לבאים) and עפיים. From the tangled branches by the springs the poet insensibly reaches the second half of the third day. The vegetable kingdom at the same time reminds him of the rain which, descending out of the upper chambers of the heavens, waters the waterless mountain-tops. Like the Talmud (B. Ta‛anı̂th, 10a), by the "fruit of Thy work" (מעשׂיך as singular) Hitzig understands the rain; but rain is rather that which fertilizes; and why might not the fruit be meant which God's works (מעשׂיך, plural) here below (Psalm 104:24), viz., the vegetable creations, bear, and from which the earth, i.e., its population, is satisfied, inasmuch as vegetable food springs up as much for the beasts as for man? In connection with עשׂב the poet is thinking of cultivated plants, more especially wheat; לעבדת, however, does not signify: for cultivation by man, since, according to Hitzig's correct remonstrance, they do not say עבד העשׂב, and להוציא has not man, but rather God, as its subject, but as in 1 Chronicles 26:30, for the service (use) of man.