Praise Him, All His Angels
1 Praise Yah! Praise Yahweh from the heavens! Praise him in the heights! 2 Praise him, all his angels! Praise him, all his army! 3 Praise him, sun and moon! Praise him, all you shining stars! 4 Praise him, you heavens of heavens, you waters that are above the heavens. 5 Let them praise Yahweh’s name, for he commanded, and they were created. 6 He has also established them forever and ever. He has made a decree which will not pass away. 7 Praise Yahweh from the earth, you great sea creatures, and all depths, 8 lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy wind, fulfilling his word, 9 mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, 10 wild animals and all livestock, small creatures and flying birds, 11 kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all judges of the earth, 12 both young men and maidens, old men and children. 13 Let them praise Yahweh’s name, for his name alone is exalted. His glory is above the earth and the heavens. 14 He has lifted up the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints, even of the children of Israel, a people near to him. Praise Yah!
A roll call of the entire creation, top to bottom, and everything on it is told to praise.
Praise Yah! Praise Yahweh from the heavens! Praise him in the heights!
The psalm has two halves — from the heavens, and from the earth — and it works downward through the whole of creation in order.
2 Praise him, all his angels! Praise him, all his army! 3 Praise him, sun and moon! Praise him, all you shining stars!
Angels first, then the lights. Every item in this list was worshiped by somebody in the ancient world, and the psalm addresses them all as fellow choristers.
Let them praise Yahweh’s name, for he commanded, and they were created.
The reason, and it applies to everything named. Sun and stars are in the same category as the reader.
7 Praise Yahweh from the earth, you great sea creatures, and all depths, 8 lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy wind, fulfilling his word,
The descent begins with the sea monsters and the weather, and the last phrase is the psalm's account of how inanimate things praise: by doing what they were told. A storm fulfilling his word is a storm praising him.
9 mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, 10 wild animals and all livestock, small creatures and flying birds,
The order is that of the creation account, and it makes a point of pairs — cultivated trees and wild ones, domestic animals and wild ones. Nothing is left off because it is useless.
11 kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all judges of the earth, 12 both young men and maidens, old men and children.
Humanity arrives last on the list, after the reptiles and the weather, and it is subdivided by rank and then by age and sex. The psalm's arrangement is its argument: kings are one item among many, and they are placed below the mountains.
Let them praise Yahweh’s name, for his name alone is exalted. His glory is above the earth and the heavens.
The same reason given to the second half as to the first.
He has lifted up the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints, even of the children of Israel, a people near to him. Praise Yah!
The last verse narrows from the entire universe to one nation, described by proximity rather than by merit — near to him, which is where the whole psalm has been placing everything else in relation to itself.
settled What this mark means