Psalm 135:7

He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(7) Adapted from Jeremiah 10:13; Jeremiah 51:16.

Causeth the vapours to ascend.—Mr. Burgess is undoubtedly right in referring this to the mist which went up from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground “before the useful trouble of the rain” (Genesis 2:6), since the original passage in Genesis has a plain reference to the story of the Creation, and the rain is immediately mentioned as coming into existence after the vapours. That a different term is used in Genesis does not make against this since the Hebrew term here is a general one derived from the verb “to ascend.”

Lightnings for the rain—i.e., “to bring rain.” Such was the Oriental notion, see Zechariah 10:1 and compare 1Samuel 12:17. Both of these places refer to showers out of the ordinary rainy season, such as thunder-storms in the harvest season. The sudden downfall of sheets of rain after a flash and peal is even in this climate sufficiently striking to make such a notion as the dependence of rain on lightning quite conceivable, how much more in tropical countries, and where, except in the due rainy season, it would never probably fall without thunder and lightning.

Wind out of his treasuries.—Comp. the Greek and Latin ideas of the “caves” of the winds.

Benson Commentary

Psalm 135:7. He causeth the vapours to ascend, &c. — “They who in old time paid their devotions to the elements, imagined those elements to be capable of giving or withholding rain at pleasure. Therefore we find the Prophet Jeremiah reclaiming that power to Jehovah, as the God who made and governed the world, Jeremiah 14:22. Among the Greeks and Romans we meet with a Jupiter, possessed of the thunder and the lightning, and an Æolus ruling over the winds. The psalmist teacheth us to restore the celestial artillery to its rightful owner. Jehovah, the God of Israel, and Creator of the universe, contrived the wonderful machinery of light and air, by which vapours are raised from the earth, compacted into clouds, and distilled into rain. At his command the winds are suddenly in motion, and as suddenly at rest again; we hear the sound, but cannot tell whence they come, or whither they go; as if they were taken from the secret store- houses of the Almighty, and then laid up till their service was required again.” He maketh lightnings for the rain — He makes thick clouds, which, being broken, produce lightnings, and so are dissolved into showers of rain. Or, he maketh lightnings with rain. “It is a great instance of the divine wisdom and goodness that lightning should be accompanied by rain, to soften its rage and prevent its mischievous effects.” — Horne. He bringeth the wind out of his treasures — Out of those secret places where he preserves them, and whence he brings them as he sees fit. Thus we read of treasures of snow and hail, Job 38:22, not that they are formally laid up in any certain places, but to signify that God hath them as much at his disposal as any man hath that which he hath laid up in his stores.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

135:5-14 God is, and will be always, the same to his church, a gracious, faithful, wonder-working God. And his church is, and will be, the same to him, a thankful, praising people: thus his name endures for ever. He will return in ways of mercy to them, and will delight to do them good.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth - The word rendered vapors means literally risings; things raised up; and it may be applied, therefore, to vapors or clouds. The Septuagint, the Latin Vulgate, and Luther render it clouds. It is among the proofs of the divine wisdom and power that he causes them to ascend contrary to the common law which drags all things down toward the earth. The arrangement by which this is done is among the most wise and wonderful of all the works of God. See Job 26:8, note; Job 38:25-28, notes.

He maketh lightnings for the rain - To accompany the rain. See the notes at Job 28:26.

He bringeth the wind out of his treasuries - Where he has, as it were, treasured it up, to be used when there should be occasion for it. See the notes at Job 38:22.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

6. heaven, and … seas, and all … ends of the earth—denote universality.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The vapours; which are the matter of clouds and rain.

From the ends of the earth; either,

1. From the sea, the common source of vapours, 1 Kings 18:44 Amos 5:8; wherewith both the earth in general, and several particular countries, are terminated or bounded: or rather,

2. From all parts of the earth, from one end to another; as the borders of a land are commonly put for the whole land, from one border to another, as Psalm 105:31,33 147:14, and oft elsewhere. For in this sense this phrase is generally used in Scripture, as Job 28:24 38:13 Psalm 19:4,6 48:10, and every where.

He maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth water even out of the fire; he maketh thick clouds, which being broken produce lightnings, and so are dissolved into showers of rain. So the lightnings are both a sign, and in some sort the cause of rain. Or, he maketh lightnings with (as this particle is used, Genesis 46:26 Psalm 89:4 119:56,98) rain, i.e. he causeth both of them to come out of the same cloud.

Out of his treasuries; out of those secret places where he reserves them, and whence he bringeth them, as he sees fit. Thus we read of treasures of snow and hail, Job 38:22; not that they are formally laid up in any certain places, but to signify that God hath them as much at his disposal, as any man hath that which he hath laid up in his stores.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth,.... Up to the heavens. Aben Ezra interprets this of the mist which went up out of the earth, and watered it, Genesis 2:6; and still vapours are exhaled out of the earth by the force of the sun, and carried up into the air, and form various things, as wind, rain, &c. The Targum, Kimchi, and others, explain it of the "clouds", so called from their elevation on high: these rise up out of the sea, the borders, and boundaries, and uttermost parts of the earth; see 1 Kings 18:44. Jerom interprets these clouds, spiritually and mystically, of the apostles and prophets, raised from a low and mean estate; and so may be applied to the ministers of the word, who are clouds full of water; of good doctrine, which they are sent to carry about the world, and publish in it; see Isaiah 5:6;

he maketh lightnings for the rain: for the descent of the rain, as the Targum; by lightning oftentimes the clouds are broke, and so pour down rain; see Job 28:26; or, "lightnings with the rain" (g); as Kimchi: these frequently come together, which is very surprising, that two such different elements should meet together as fire and water; and yet the fire not quenched by the water, nor the water heated by the fire: these the above ancient Christian writer interprets of the light of knowledge, and the rain of doctrine; see Zechariah 9:14;

he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries; as he has his treasuries for the snow and hail, Job 38:22; so for the winds: not the caverns of the earth, thought to be the repositories of the wind (h); nor are there proper repositories of it: but the air, as Suidas (i); which, when without wind, is easily moved by the wise hand of God; so Theodoret, from whom he seems to have taken this hint. In Scripture only mention is made of four winds, Ezekiel 37:9; and so the ancient Greeks only reckoned four cardinal winds, but at length they added four more; and at Athens was a marble temple, built by Andronicus Cyrrhestes, called "the temple of the eight winds": this was an octagon, and on each side were engraven the images of every wind; and on the top of it was a Triton of brass, with a rod in his right hand, which being moved about by the wind, pointed to that which then blew (k): but now, through the great improvement of navigation, the winds are divided and subdivided in the points of the compass; and, besides the four cardinal ones, there are twenty eight collateral ones, in all thirty two; but be they reckoned as many as they may, they are all in the hands of God, and disposed of at his pleasure. Jerom here interprets them of the angels; perhaps it might be better to apply them to the gifts and graces of the Spirit, sometimes compared to wind, which are treasured up in Christ; see John 3:8.

(g) "fulgura cum pluvia", Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Gejerus; so Ainsworth. (h) "Vasto rex Aeolus antro----luctanteis ventos fraenat." Virgil. Aeneid. l. 1.((i) In voce (k) Vid. Vitruvium de Architect. l. 1. c. 6.

Geneva Study Bible

He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

7. Taken almost verbatim from Jeremiah 10:13 (= Psalm 51:16), where the words occur in a similar context, contrasting Jehovah with idols.

from the ends of the earth] From the most remote quarters; so that “thou knowest not whence they arise” (S. Aug.); or from the horizon, where they seem to rise as they come into view. Cp. 1 Kings 18:44.

for the rain] Along with the rain.

his treasuries] Cp. Psalm 33:7; Job 38:22.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 7. - He causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth (comp. Jeremiah 10:13; Jeremiah 51:16) By God's contrivance vapor is continually rising from the remotest regions of the earth, to hang in clouds, descend in rain, and spread abroad fertility. He maketh lightnings for the rain. To accompany it, perhaps to give it its fertilizing qualities (see Dr. Kay's comment 'The Psalms,' p. 428). He bringeth the wind out of his treasuries (see Job 38:22, where God's "treasuries" for the snow and the hail are spoken of; and comp. Virgil, 'Aen.,' 2:25). Psalm 135:7

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The praise itself now begins. כּי in Psalm 135:4 set forth the ground of the pleasant duty, and the כי that begins this strophe confirms that which warrants the summons out of the riches of the material existing for such a hymn of praise. Worthy is He to be praised, for Israel knows full well that He who hath chosen it is the God of gods. The beginning is taken from Psalm 115:3, and Psalm 135:7 from Jeremiah 10:13 (Psalm 51:16). Heaven, earth, and water are the three kingdoms of created things, as in Exodus 20:4. נשׂיא signifies that which is lifted up, ascended; here, as in Jeremiah, a cloud. The meaning of בּרקים למּטר עשׂה is not: He makes lightnings into rain, i.e., resolves them as it were into rain, which is unnatural; but either according to Zechariah 10:1 : He produces lightnings in behalf of rain, in order that the rain may pour down in consequence of the thunder and lightning, or poetically: He makes lightnings for the rain, so that the rain is announced (Apollinaris) and accompanied by them. Instead of מוצא (cf. Psalm 78:16; Psalm 105:43), which does not admit of the retreating of the tone, the expression is מוצא, the ground-form of the part. Hiph. for plurals like מחצרים, מחלמים, מעזרים, perhaps not without being influenced by the ויּוצא in Jeremiah, for it is not מוצא from מצא that signifies "producing," but מוציא equals מפיק. The metaphor of the treasuries is like Job 38:22. What is intended is the fulness of divine power, in which lie the grounds of the origin and the impulses of all things in nature.