(26) Perish.--Compared with man, the victim of incessant change and visible decay, the fixed earth and the uplifted mountains are often employed as symbols of endurance and perpetuity, but compared with God's eternal existence, they are but like a vesture that wears out. The source of the image is Isaiah 51:6. (Comp. Isaiah 34:4.) For the use made of the passage in Hebrews 1:10; Hebrews 1:12, see New Testament Commentary. The terms employed for "garment" and "vesture" (beged, leb-sh) are synonyms for the outer cloak worn by the Jews. The imagery of the text no doubt supplied Goethe with the thought in his fine lines
"'Tis thus at the roaring loom of time I ply,
And weave for God the garment thou seest Him by!"
which in turn suggested to Carlyle the "Philosophy of Clothes." "Why multiply instances? It is written, the heavens and the earth shall fade away like a vesture, which, indeed they are--the time vesture of the Eternal."--Sartor Resartus, I. 11
It is interesting to think how the science of geology confirms the image of the psalmist, showing how time has been literally changing the so solid-seeming earth, stripping off the robe that covers the hills, to fold it down at some river mouth, or at the bottom of the ocean bed.
Verse 26. - They shall perish. The coming destruction of the world that now is, is very frequently declared in Holy Scripture (see Isaiah 51:6; Isaiah 65:17; Matthew 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 21:33; 2 Peter 3:7, 10, 12). But thou shalt endure. With the perishable nature of the whole material creation, the psalmist contrasts the absolute eternity of God (comp. ver. 12; also Psalm 9:7; Hebrews 1:11). Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment (comp. Isaiah 51:6). As a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed. Compare the prophecies of "a new heaven and a new earth" (Isaiah 55:17; 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1).
102:23-28 Bodily distempers soon weaken our strength, then what can we expect but that our months should be cut off in the midst; and what should we do but provide accordingly? We must own God's hand in it; and must reconcile this to his love, for often those that have used their strength well, have it weakened; and those who, as we think, can very ill be spared, have their days shortened. It is very comfortable, in reference to all the changes and dangers of the church, to remember that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. And in reference to the death of our bodies, and the removal of friends, to remember that God is an everlasting God. Do not let us overlook the assurance this psalm contains of a happy end to all the believer's trials. Though all things are changing, dying, perishing, like a vesture folding up and hastening to decay, yet Jesus lives, and thus all is secure, for he hath said, Because I live ye shall live also.
They shall perish,.... Both the heavens and the earth, though so well founded, and so firmly made; they shall be dissolved, melt, and pass away; not as to the substance, but as to the quality of them: or, as R. Judah Ben David says, whom Aben Ezra on the place cites, and calls the first grammarian in the west, not as to generals, but as to particulars:
but thou shalt endure; as the eternal God, from everlasting to everlasting; and, even as man, he will die no more; and, as Mediator, will ever remain; he will be King for ever; his throne is for ever and ever; his kingdom is an everlasting one; he is a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek; his sacrifice is of an eternal efficacy, and he ever lives to make intercession for his people; he will always continue, as the Prophet, in his church, to teach by his Spirit, word, and ordinances, in the present state; and hereafter will be the light of the New Jerusalem, and of his saints, for ever:
yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment: not only the heavens, which are as a curtain and garment about the earth, but the earth itself, Isaiah 51:6, will lose their beauty and glory, and become useless, as to the present form of them:
as a vesture shall thou change them, and they shall be changed; as to their form, as a garment that is turned or folded up, and laid aside, as to present use: this seems to favour the above sense given, that the earth and heavens will not perish, as to the substance of them; but as to their form, figure, fashion, and scheme; and as to the qualities of them, all noxious ones being purged away by fire, the curse removed, and new heavens and new earth arise out of them.
"'Tis thus at the roaring loom of time I ply,
And weave for God the garment thou seest Him by!"
which in turn suggested to Carlyle the "Philosophy of Clothes." "Why multiply instances? It is written, the heavens and the earth shall fade away like a vesture, which, indeed they are--the time vesture of the Eternal."--Sartor Resartus, I. 11
It is interesting to think how the science of geology confirms the image of the psalmist, showing how time has been literally changing the so solid-seeming earth, stripping off the robe that covers the hills, to fold it down at some river mouth, or at the bottom of the ocean bed.
but thou shalt endure; as the eternal God, from everlasting to everlasting; and, even as man, he will die no more; and, as Mediator, will ever remain; he will be King for ever; his throne is for ever and ever; his kingdom is an everlasting one; he is a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek; his sacrifice is of an eternal efficacy, and he ever lives to make intercession for his people; he will always continue, as the Prophet, in his church, to teach by his Spirit, word, and ordinances, in the present state; and hereafter will be the light of the New Jerusalem, and of his saints, for ever:
yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment: not only the heavens, which are as a curtain and garment about the earth, but the earth itself, Isaiah 51:6, will lose their beauty and glory, and become useless, as to the present form of them:
as a vesture shall thou change them, and they shall be changed; as to their form, as a garment that is turned or folded up, and laid aside, as to present use: this seems to favour the above sense given, that the earth and heavens will not perish, as to the substance of them; but as to their form, figure, fashion, and scheme; and as to the qualities of them, all noxious ones being purged away by fire, the curse removed, and new heavens and new earth arise out of them.