Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 102:26
They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:
26. Compared with man’s brief span of life the natural world is an emblem of permanence; compared with God’s eternity, it is seen to be transitory. He existed from all eternity before it, and called it into being: He will exist unchanged when it has passed away.
they shall be changed ] Or, pass away. The Psalmist’s thought here is rather of the transitoriness of heaven and earth contrasted with the eternity of God than of the new heavens and new earth, Isa 65:17; Isa 66:22.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Psa 102:26-28
They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure.
A perishing world and an immutable God
The great practical lesson which we are being daily taught is this, to withdraw our hearts from a changing and decaying world; and fix our hopes, and seek our happiness, in an unchanging and eternal God. This is the secret of real and permanent happiness to the soul of man.
I. The description which the text gives of the material world–the heavens and the earth. They are described as–
1. The effect of Divine operation. The contemplation of Gods creative wisdom and power, as displayed in the works of His hands, should deepen the feeling of awe and reverence, with which we regard His sacred majesty.
2. Mutable, perishable, and destined to destruction.
II. The contrast which it presents in the perfections of the worlds Creator and mans Redeemer. Thus the shifting scenes and dissolving frame of nature may be improved by the children of God to their own comfort, by giving the force of a most advantageous contrast to the perfections of God their Saviour.
III. The conclusion which it draws from this view of the Divine character. God our Redeemer will maintain His cause in this mutable world, as long as the world shall continue. Conclusion:–
1. How utterly unsuitable the world and the things of the world are to be the chief objects of mans solicitude and pursuit.
2. How preeminently secure and blest are they, whose dependence and hopes are fixed in the eternal God. (Essex Remembrancer.)
Things which grow not old
1. The love and mercy of God as shown in our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life, never grow old or wear out.
2. The salvation of Jesus has not grown old.
3. The sympathy of Jesus never grows old or worn out.
4. Heaven never changes nor wears out. And yet how old Heaven is! (H. J. Wilmot Buxton, M.A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 26. They shall perish] Nothing can be eternal a parte ante, or a parte post, but thyself. Even that which thou hast created, because not necessarily eternal, must be perishable; necessary duration belongs to God only; and it is by his will and energy alone that universal nature is preserved in existence, and preserved from running into speedy disorder, decay, and ruin.
Yea, all of them shall wax old] Every thing must deteriorate, unless preserved by thy renewing and invigorating energy. Even the heavens and the earth are subject to this law; for that which is not, from the infinite perfection of its own nature, ETERNAL, must be perishable; therefore the heavens and the earth must necessarily come to an end. They contain the seeds of their own dissolution. It is true that in sublunary things, the vicissitudes of seasons is a sort of check to the principle of dissolution; but it only partially corrects this tendency. Even the productions of the earth wear out or deteriorate. Plant the same seed or grain for several years consecutively, and it degenerates so as at last not to be worth the labour of tillage, however expensively the soil may be manured in which it is planted. I may instance in wheat and in the potatoe, the two grand supporters of life in European countries. All other seeds and plants, as far as they have fallen under my observation, are subject to the same law.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
They shall perish; either,
1. As to the substance of them, which shall be annihilated. Or,
2. As to their present nature and use: see Isa 65:17; 66:22; 2Pe 3:7,10,11. The heavens and the earth, although they be the most permanent of all visible beings, and their continuance is oft mentioned to signify the stability and immutability of things, yet if compared with thee are as nothing; they had a beginning, and shall have an end.
Wax old, i.e. decay and perish.
Like a garment which is worn out and laid aside, and exchanged for another. And so shall this present frame of heaven and earth be.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
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, Isa 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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(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 Gods eternal existence, they are but like a vesture that wears out. The source of the image is Isa. 51:6. (Comp. Isa. 34:4.) For the use made of the passage in Heb. 1:10; Heb. 1:12, see New Testament Commentary. The terms employed for garment and vesture (beged, lebsh) are synonyms for the outer cloak worn by the Jews. The imagery of the text no doubt supplied Gothe 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 arethe 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.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
26. They shall perish That is, being created, they are perishable. Their existence is not necessary, but dependent; not inherent, but derived. “They continue this day according to thine ordinances,” (Psa 119:91😉 but not from any self-sustaining power. Therefore, nothing in man or nature is to be trusted, but God only, the Eternal, the Creator, the Faithful.
Shalt thou change them That is, If it be thy will so to do it will not contradict thine attributes. But the implication is, Thou wilt sooner change them than alter, or fail, in thy word of promise to thy Church. Thus the same form expressed more fully, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away,” (Mat 24:35,) is to be explained by “until heaven and earth pass away,” etc,, or, “it is easier for heaven and earth to pass,” etc., (Mat 5:18; Luk 16:17,) that is, it is a conditional proposition. But the Hebrews held to the doctrine that the earth and its atmosphere, and even the whole system of nature, would be destroyed, and from the ruins would spring a new and renovated state of things. The text, with many other passages, harmonizes with this view. See Job 14:12; Psa 72:5; Psa 72:7; Isa 51:16; Isa 65:17-18; Isa 66:22. The same is taught in the New Testament. 2Pe 3:10; 2Pe 3:12-13; Rev 20:11; Rev 21:1. In many other places the destruction of the heavenly bodies, and the darkening of the sun and moon, represent, symbolically, the downfall and catastrophe of nations, as in Isa 13:10-11; Isa 13:13; Isa 34:5; Eze 32:7. “These very figurative expressions presuppose the literal idea,” ( Knapp,) particularly as far as this earth is concerned. The word “change,” ( ,) in the text, properly denotes a progressive change a passing on to a further stage, (Isa 51:6; Isa 65:17-18; Rev 21:27; 2Pe 3:13😉 and this geology itself makes probable, in the doctrine of catastrophe and renewal, and of progressive species. The text, with Zep 1:14-18, especially Psa 102:15, as rendered in the Vulgate, ( Dies irae dies illa, etc.,) and 2Pe 3:10, are supposed to have suggested that incomparable poem of the ages, “ Dies Irae,” (Day of Wrath,) which, for five hundred years, has been the admiration of the Christian world, having passed into eighty versions. It is used in the Romish Church as the sequence for All Souls’ Day, and in all masses for the dead.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 102:26. As a vesture shalt thou change them This refers to changes of raiment. God should invest himself with new heavens, as a man would change his garment. This passage is quoted by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, Heb 1:12 who has followed the LXX in reading, Thou shalt fold them up.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psa 102:26 They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:
Ver. 26. They shall perish ] i.e. They shall change form and state, being dissolved by the last fire, 2Pe 3:7 ; 2Pe 3:10 .
But thou shalt endure
Yea, all of them shall wax old as a garment
As a vesture shalt thou change them
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
They shall: Isa 34:4, Isa 51:6, Isa 65:17, Isa 66:22, Luk 21:33, Rom 8:20, 2Pe 3:7-12, Rev 20:11, Rev 21:1
endure: Heb. stand, Psa 102:12, Exo 3:14
Reciprocal: Job 14:12 – till the heavens Job 14:18 – the mountain Psa 92:8 – art most Isa 40:12 – measured Isa 40:22 – stretcheth Isa 42:5 – he that created Isa 46:4 – even to your Isa 50:9 – they all Isa 51:13 – that hath Zec 12:1 – which Mal 3:6 – I change not Mat 5:18 – Till Mat 24:35 – Heaven Heb 12:27 – signifieth 1Pe 1:25 – the word 2Pe 3:10 – in the which 1Jo 2:17 – the world Rev 6:14 – the heaven
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 102:26. They shall perish Either as to the substance of them, which shall be annihilated, or as to their present form, fashion, and use, which shall be entirely changed: see the margin. The heavens and the earth, although they be the most permanent of all visible beings, and their continuance is often mentioned to signify the stability of things; yet, if compared with thee, they are as nothing, for they had a beginning, and shall have an end. All of them shall wax old That is, shall decay and perish, like a garment Which is worn out, and laid aside, and exchanged for another. And so shall this present frame of heaven and earth be. As a vesture shalt thou change them Isaiah tells us, Isa 51:6, that the heaven and earth shall wax old like a garment; but the psalmist here goes one step further than the prophet; and not only acquaints us that the heavens and earth shall wax old, but, like a worn-out garment, shall be changed for new. And what can he intend but the new heavens and new earth, mentioned by St. Peter in the New Testament, and said to be the expectation of believers, according to Gods promise? 2Pe 3:13.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
102:26 {r} They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:
(r) If heaven and earth perish, much more man will perish: but the Church by reason of God’s promise endures forever.