Commentaries:
Barnes' Notes
Remember that thou magnify his work - Make this a great and settled principle, to remember that God is "great" in all that he does. He is exalted far above us, and all his works are on a scale of vastness corresponding to his nature, and in all our attempts to judge of him and his doings, we should bear this in remembrance. He is not to be judged by the narrow views which we apply to the actions of people, but by the views which ought to be taken when we remember that he presides over the vast universe, and that as the universal Parent, he will consult the welfare of the whole. In judging of his doings, therefore, we are not to place ourselves in the center, or to regard ourselves as the "whole" or the creation, but we are to remember that there are other great interests to be regarded, and that his plans will be in accordance with the welfare of the whole. One of the best rules for taking a proper estimate of God is that proposed here by Elihu - to remember that he is great.
Which men behold - The Vulgate renders this, "de quo cecinerunt viri" - "concerning which men sing." The Septuagint, ̔͂ ̓͂ ̓́ hōn ērxan andres - "over which men rule." Schultens accords with the Vulgate. So Coverdale renders it, "Whom all men love and praise." So Herder and Noyes understand it, "Which men celebrate with songs." This difference of interpretation arises from the ambiguity of the Hebrew word ( ּׁ shore rû ) some deriving it from ׁ shûr , "to go round about, and then to survey, look upon, examine" ; and some from ׁ shı̂yr , "to sing, to celebrate." The word will admit of either interpretation, and either will suit the connection. The sense of "seeing" those works, however, better agrees with what is said in the following verse, and perhaps better suits the connection. The object of Elihu is not to fix the attention on the fact that people "celebrate" the works of God, but to turn "the eyes to the visible creation," as a proof of the greatness of the Almighty.
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