Psalms 104:26 · Clearspring

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Other translations

WEBBE

There the ships go, and leviathan, whom you formed to play there.

BSB

There the ships pass, and Leviathan, which You formed to frolic there.

KJV

There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein.

ASV

There go the ships; There is leviathan, whom thou hast formed to play therein.

BBE

There go the ships; there is that great beast, which you have made as a plaything.

Original Hebrew

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שָׁם sham there H8033 אֳנִיּוֹת 'o·ni·yot ships H591 יְהַלֵּכוּן ye·ha·le·khun they go about H1980 לִוְיָתָן liv·ya·tan Leviathan H3882 זֶה־ zeh- which H2088 יָצַרְתָּ ya·tzar·ta you formed H3335 לְשַׂחֶק־ le·sa·chek- to play H7832 בּוֹ bo in it H9033

The early church

"There shall go the ships" [Psalm 104:26]. Lo, ships float upon that which alarmed you, and sink not. By ships we understand churches; they go among the storms, among the tempests of temptations, among the waves of the world, among the beasts, both small and great. Christ on the wood of His cross is the Pilot. "There shall go the ships." Let not the ships fear, let them not much mind where they float, but by Whom they are steered. "There shall go the ships." What voyage do they find tedious, when they feel that Christ is their Pilot? They will sail safely, let them sail diligently, they will reach their promised haven, they will be led to the land of rest.

Augustine of Hippo · d. 430Expositions on the Psalms

And because God, when he created him, was certainly not ignorant of his future malignity, and foresaw the good which he Himself would bring out of his evil, therefore says the psalm, "This leviathan whom Thou hast made to be a sport therein," that we may see that, even while God in his goodness created him good, he yet had already foreseen and arranged how he would make use of him when he became wicked.

Augustine of Hippo · d. 430City of God

There is a passage, too, in the Book of Job, of which the devil is the subject: "This is the beginning of the creation of God, which he made to be a sport to his angels," which agrees with the psalm, where it is said, "There is that dragon which Thou hast made to be a sport therein." But these passages are not to lead us to suppose that the devil was originally created to be the sport of the angels, but that he was doomed to this punishment after his sin. His beginning, then, is the handiwork of God; for there is no nature, even among the least, and lowest, and last of the beasts, which was not the work of Him from whom has proceeded all measure, all form, all order, without which nothing can be planned or conceived. How much more, then, is this angelic nature, which surpasses in dignity all else that he has made, the handiwork of the Most High!

Augustine of Hippo · d. 430City of God

Commentary

Matthew Henry · Verses 19–30

We are to praise and magnify God for the constant succession of day and night. And see how those are like to the wild beasts, who wait for the twilight, and have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. Does God listen to the language of mere nature, even in ravenous creatures, and shall he not much more interpret favourably the language of grace in his own people, though weak and broken groanings which cannot be uttered? There is the work of every day, which is to be done in its day, which man must apply to every morning, and which he must continue in till evening; it will be time enough to rest when the night comes, in which no man can work. The psalmist wonders at the works of God. The works of art, the more closely they are looked upon, the more rough they appear; the works of nature appear more fine and exact. They are all made in wisdom, for they all answer the end they were designed to serve. Every spring is an emblem of the resurrection, when a new world rises, as it were, out of the ruins of the old one. But man alone lives beyond death. When the Lord takes away his breath, his soul enters on another state, and his body will be raised, either to glory or to misery. May the Lord send forth his Spirit, and new-create our souls to holiness.

Read Matthew Henry on Psalm 104 →

Spurgeon · Verse 26

There go the ships. So that ocean is not altogether deserted of mankind. It is the highway of nations, and unites, rather than divides, distant lands. There is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein. Them huge whale turns the sea into his recreation ground, and disports himself as God designed that he should do. The thought of this amazing creature caused the psalmist to adore the mighty Creator who created him, formed him for his place and made him happy in it. Our ancient maps generally depict a ship and whale upon the sea, and so show that it is most natural, as well as poetical, to connect them both with the mention of the ocean.

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Cross-references

8

Topics

Leviathan