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Selected Verse: Psalms 18:9 - King James
Verse |
Translation |
Text |
Ps 18:9 |
King James |
He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
darkness--or, a dense cloud (Exo 19:16; Deu 5:22). |
Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
He bowed the heavens also - He seemed to bend down the heavens - to bring them nearer to the earth. "He inclines the canopy of the heavens, as it were, toward the earth; wraps himself in the darkness of night, and shoots forth his arrows; hurls abroad his lightnings, and wings them with speed." Herder, Spirit of Hebrew Poetry (Marsh), ii. 157. The allusion is still to the tempest, when the clouds ran low; when they seem to sweep along the ground; when it appears as if the heavens were brought nearer to the earth - as if, to use a common expression, "the heavens and earth were coming together."
And came down - God himself seemed to descend in the fury of the storm.
And darkness was under his feet - A dark cloud; or, the darkness caused by thick clouds. Compare Nah 1:3, "The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet." Deu 4:11, "the mountain burned ... with thick darkness." Deu 5:22, "these words the Lord spake out of the thick darkness." Psa 97:2, "clouds and darkness are round about him." The idea here is that of awful majesty and power, as we are nowhere more forcibly impressed with the idea of majesty and power than in the fury of a storm. |
Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
Bowed - By producing thick and dark clouds, whereby the heavens seem to come down to the earth. Came - Not by change of place, but by the manifestation of his presence and power on my behalf. |
Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
He bowed the heavens also, and came down - He made the heavens bend under him when he descended to take vengeance on his enemies. The psalmist seems here to express the appearance of the Divine majesty in a glorious cloud, descending from heaven, which underneath was substantially dark, but above, bright, and shining with exceeding lustre; and which, by its gradual approach to the earth, would appear as though the heavens themselves were bending down and approaching towards us. |
22 These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.
16 And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.
2 Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.
22 These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.
11 And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness.
3 The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.