Psalm 33:6

By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(6) The breath of his mouth.—This is plainly only a synonym for word. (Comp. Isaiah 11:4, where “breath of his lips” is used for the Divine sentence of judgment upon the heathen.)

Benson Commentary

Psalm 33:6. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made — Either 1st, By Christ who is often called God’s word, even by the Chaldee paraphrast; as also John 1:1-3, where he is said to be that Word by whom all things were made, declaring more clearly (as is also done in other parts of the New Testament) what is here only obscurely intimated. Or, 2d, By his will or command, as this phrase seems to be explained, Psalm 33:9. And so understood the expression hath a great emphasis in it; namely, that God made this admirable structure of the heavens, with the sun and moon, and all its glorious stars, not with great pains and time, and the help of many artists and instruments, as men do for meaner works; but with one single word, or, with as much ease as men speak a word, merely by commanding them to be: a consideration this, which wonderfully illustrates the power and glory of the Creator. For what cannot that power do which with a word made a world? And all the host of them — The angels or the stars, by the breath, ברוחberuach, by the spirit of his mouth — By the Holy Ghost, so called Job 33:4. Thus all the persons of the Trinity are referred to here, the Father, the Word, and the Spirit, to each of which this work of creation is elsewhere ascribed: see note on Genesis 1:26. Or this phrase, the breath of his mouth, may be merely a repetition of the former clause, as, the rod of his mouth, Isaiah 11:4; or his word, and the breath of his lips, mean the same thing: see also 2 Thessalonians 2:8.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

33:1-11 Holy joy is the heart and soul of praise, and that is here pressed upon the righteous. Thankful praise is the breath and language of holy joy. Religious songs are proper expressions of thankful praise. Every endowment we possess, should be employed with all our skill and earnestness in God's service. His promises are all wise and good. His word is right, and therefore we are only in the right when we agree with it. His works are all done in truth. He is the righteous Lord, therefore loveth righteousness. What a pity it is that this earth, which is so full of the proofs and instances of God's goodness, should be so empty of his praises; and that of the multitudes who live upon his bounty, there are so few who live to his glory! What the Lord does, he does to purpose; it stands fast. He overrules all the counsels of men, and makes them serve his counsels; even that is fulfilled, which to us is most surprising, the eternal counsel of God, nor can any thing prevent its coming to pass.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

By the word of the Lord - By the command of God: Genesis 1:3, Genesis 1:6 etc. See the notes at Psalm 33:9.

Were the heavens made - That is, the starry heavens; the worlds above us: Genesis 1:1.

And all the host of them - All their "armies." The stars are represented as armies or marshalled hosts, led forth at his command, and under his direction - as armies are led forth in war. See Genesis 2:1; compare the notes at Isaiah 1:9.

By the breath of his mouth - By his word or command - as our words issue from our mouths with our breath. The idea here is, that God is the Creator of all things; and, as such, has a claim to praise; or, that as Creator he is entitled to adoration. To this he is entitled from the fact that he has made all things, and from the "manner" in which it has been done - the wisdom, power, goodness, skill, with which it has been accomplished.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

6. In "word" and "breath"—or, "spirit," there may be an allusion to the Son (Joh 1:1) and Holy Spirit.

The Treasury of David

6 By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

7 He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses.

Psalm 33:6

"By the word of the Lord were the heavens made." The angelic heavens, the sidereal heavens, and the firmament or terrestrial heavens, were all made to start into existence by a word; what if we say by the Word, "For without him was not anything made that is made." It is interesting to note the mention of the Spirit in the next clause, "and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth;" the word "breath" is the same as is elsewhere rendered Spirit. Thus the three persons of the Godhead unite in creating all things. How easy for the Lord to make the most ponderous orbs, and the most glorious angels! A word, a breath could do it. It is as easy for God to create the universe as for a man to breathe, nay, far easier, for man breathes not independently, but borrows the breath in his nostrils from his Maker. It may be gathered from this verse that the constitution of all things is from the infinite wisdom, for his word may mean his appointment and determination. A wise and merciful Word has arranged, and a living Spirit sustains all the creation of Jehovah.

Psalm 33:7

"He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap." The waters were once scattered like corn strewn upon a threshing floor: they are now collected in one spot as an heap. Who else could have gathered them into one channel but their great Lord, at whose bidding the waters fled away? The miracle of the Red Sea is repeated in nature day by day, for the sea which now invades the shore under the impulse of sun and moon, would soon devour the land if bounds were not maintained by the divine decree. "He layeth up the depth in storehouses." The depths of the main are God's great cellars and storerooms for the tempestuous element. Vast reservoirs of water are secreted in the bowels of the earth, from which issue our springs and wells of water. What a merciful provision for a pressing need? May not the text also refer to the clouds, and the magazines of that, and snow, and rain, those treasuries of merciful wealth for the fields of earth? These aqueous masses are not piled away as in lumber rooms, but in storehouses for future beneficial use. Abundant tenderness is seen in the foresight of our heavenly Joseph, whose granaries are already filled against earth's time of need. These stores might have been, as once they were, the ammunition of vengeance, they are now a part of the commissariat of mercy.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

By the word of the Lord; either,

1. By the hypostatical Word, Christ, who is oft called God’s Word, even by the Chaldee paraphrast; as also John 1:1-3, where he is said to be that Word by whom all things were made. So that which is here spoken more darkly and doubtedly, according to that state of the church, is more clearly declared in the New Testament. Or,

2. By his will or command, as this very phrase is here used, Psalm 33:4, and as it seems to be explained, Psalm 33:9. And so it hath a great emphasis in it, that God made this admirable structure of the heavens, and all its glorious stars, not with great pains and time, and help of many artists and instruments, as men do far meaner works, but with one single word; which is much to the glory of the Creator.

All the host of them; the angels; or the stars: See Poole "Genesis 2:1".

By the breath of his mouth; either,

1. By the Holy Ghost, so called Job 33:4. And so here are all the persons of the Trinity, Jehovah the Father, and the Word, and the Spirit; to each of which this work of creation is elsewhere ascribed, as was noted on Genesis 1:26. Or,

2. By his word, as it was expressed in the last clause, which is so called Isaiah 11:4 2 Thessalonians 2:8.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

By the word of the Lord were the heavens made,.... The aerial and starry heavens, and the heaven of heavens, the third heaven, the seat of the divine Majesty, and the habitation of angels and glorified saints; these were "made" even out of nothing, not out of any pre-existent matter, nor were they eternal; and being made are creatures, and so not to be worshipped, neither they nor their hosts after mentioned; angels, sun, moon, and stars; these were made by the Word of God, the essential Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who often goes by this name, John 1:1; and very fitly agrees with him, who spoke for all his people in the council and covenant of grace, and undertook to be their surety; is the Word spoken of by all the holy prophets since the beginning of the world; is the interpreter of his Father's mind and will, of which he must be capable, since he lay in his bosom; and now he speaks for his saints in heaven, whose advocate he is; and especially he may be so called because he so often spake on the six days of creation, and said, let this and the other thing be, and it was so; and to him, as the Word of God, is the creation of all things frequently ascribed, John 1:1, Hebrews 11:3, and particularly the heavens, Hebrews 1:10. This is a proof of the deity of Christ, and of the dignity of his person; and shows how fit he is to be the Saviour of men; how safe the saints are in his hands; and that he ought to be trusted in, adored, and worshipped;

and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth: by "the host" of the heavens are meant the angels of heaven, who dwell in the third heaven, and are the militia of it; they are called the heavenly host, Luke 2:13; these are under Jehovah, as their Lord and King, and are the army among whom he does according to his will, 1 Kings 22:19; these attended him whenever he has made any remarkable appearance; and they have been employed by him against his enemies, and in defence of his people, about whom they encamp, 2 Kings 19:35. The sun, moon, and stars, are the host of the next heaven, these are ranged in their proper order by the Lord, and he keeps the muster roll of them, Isaiah 40:26; and these are used by him as his militia; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera, Judges 5:20; and the winged tribe are the host of the lower heaven; and even the lower class of these, as the locusts and grasshoppers, go forth in bands and troops, and encamp in the hedges, and at the command of God pass through and devour whole countries, Proverbs 30:27; and all these are made by "the breath" or "spirit (z) of Jehovah's mouth"; that is, by the Spirit of God, the third Person in the Trinity; a name which is suitable to him who is breathed forth, and proceeds from the Father and the Son, and to whom creation is ascribed, Genesis 1:2; and which is no inconsiderable proof of his deity; and shows that he must be equal to the work of sanctification, which he begins and carries on. Now though the creation of the heavens is attributed to the Word, and the host of them to the Spirit, yet we are not to suppose that one Person took one part, and another Person another part of the creation; but they were all, Father, Word, and Spirit, jointly concerned in the whole.

(z) "spiritu oris ejus", V. L. Gejerus, Michaelis; so Ainsworth.

Geneva Study Bible

By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

6. The breath of his mouth is synonymous with the word of the Lord: together they represent and God said in Genesis 1:3 ff. The parallelism and the addition of his mouth seem to exclude a reference to the spirit of God in Genesis 1:2, though the word in the original is the same. The germ of the doctrine of the Word in John 1:1; John 1:3 may be found here, though of course the Psalmist had no idea of a personal Word. Cp. Psalm 107:20; and Sir 43:26, “By his word all things consist.” The host of heaven (Genesis 2:1) are the sun moon and stars, marching forth like an army in ordered array at God’s command (Isaiah 40:26).

6–9. Jehovah’s creative omnipotence. Word is the expression of thought; command of will: He had but to think and will, and the Universe came into being.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 6. - By the word of the Lord were the heavens made. God is to be praised, not only for his goodness, but also for his greatness, and especially for his greatness in creation (see Psalm 19:1-6). The heavens were made "by his word" in a double sense - by the Word, who is the Second Person of the Trinity (John 1:3; Hebrews 1:2, 10), and by a mere utterance, without the employment of any mechanical means, as we learn from Genesis 1:6-8. And all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. The "host of heaven" is here, undoubtedly, the host of heavenly bodies - the sun, moon, and stars - as in Genesis 2:1. These were made "by the breath of God's mouth;" i.e. by his simple utterance of the command - "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven, to divide the day from the night" (Genesis 1:14; comp. Job 26:13). Psalm 33:6

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

God's praiseworthiness (b) as the Creator of the world in the kingdom of Nature. Jahve's דּבר is His almighty "Let there be;" and רוח פּיו (inasmuch as the breath is here regarded as the material of which the word is formed and the bearer of the word) is the command, or in general, the operation of His commanding omnipotence (Job 15:30, cf. Job 4:9; Isaiah 34:16, cf. Psalm 11:4). The heavens above and the waters beneath stand side by side as miracles of creation. The display of His power in the waters of the sea consists in His having confined them within fixed bounds and keeping them within these. נד is a pile, i.e., a piled up heap (Arabic nadd), and more especially an inference to harvest: like such a heap do the convex waters of the sea, being firmly held together, rise above the level of the continents. The expression is like that in Joshua 3:13, Joshua 3:15, cf. Exodus 15:8; although there the reference is to a miracle occurring in the course of history, and in this passage to a miracle of creation. כּנס refers to the heap itself, not to the walls of the storehouses as holding together. This latter figure is not introduced until Psalm 33:7: the bed of the sea and those of the rivers are, as it were, אוצרות, treasuries or storehouses, in which God has deposited the deep, foaming waves or surging mass of waters. The inhabitants (ישׁבי, not יושׁבי) of the earth have cause to fear God who is thus omnipotent (מן, in the sense of falling back from in terror); for He need only speak the word and that which He wills comes into being out of nothing, as we see from the hexameron or history of Creation, but which is also confirmed in human history (Lamentations 3:37). He need only command and it stands forth like an obedient servant, that appears in all haste at the call of his lord, Psalm 119:91.