16
The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s;
But the earth He has given to the children of men.
My Thoughts
Psalm 115:16 emphasizes God’s dominion over the heavens while granting the earth to humanity. The commentaries below interpret this as God’s allowance for human free will, which may lead to disorder, yet He remains sovereign. The earth is depicted as a stewardship for mankind, emphasizing responsible use rather than exploitation. The passage conveys that while heaven is God’s exclusive domain, He entrusts the earth to humanity with the expectation of accountability and praise, highlighting a deeper relationship between the Creator and His creation….Bill
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Commentaries
Charles Spurgeon
“The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’S.” There he specially reigns, and manifests his greatness and his glory:
“but the earth hath he given to the children of men.” He hath left the world during the present dispensation in a great measure under the power and will of men so that things are not here below in the same perfect order as the things which are above. It is true the Lord rules over all things by his providence, but yet he allows and permits men to break his laws and persecute his people for the time being, and to set up their dumb idols in opposition to him. The free agency which he gave to his creatures necessitated that in some degree he should restrain his power and suffer the children of men to follow their own devices; yet nevertheless, since he has not vacated heaven, he is still master of earth, and can at any time gather up all the reins into his own hands. Perhaps, however, the passage is meant to have another meaning, viz., that God will increase his people, because he has given the earth to them, and intends that they shall fill it. Man was constituted originally God’s vicegerent over the world, and though as yet we see not all things put under him, we see Jesus exalted on high, and in him, the children of men shall receive a loftier dominion even on earth than as yet they have known. “The meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace:” and our Lord Jesus shall reign amongst his ancients gloriously. All this will reflect the exceeding glory of him who reveals himself personally in heaven and in the mystical body of Christ below. The earth belongs to the sons of God, and we are bound to subdue it for our Lord Jesus, for he must reign. The Lord hath given him the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession.
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Enduring Word
The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’s: The psalmist recognized God’s authority as Creator over both heaven and earth (Psalm 115:15). Here he acknowledged God’s continuing dominion over the heavens, probably in all three senses (the blue sky, the starry sky, and the heaven where God dwells). (Guzik)
The earth He has given to the children of men: Though God has authority over earth as the Creator, He has given a significant dominion on the earth to the children of men. The psalmist must have had in mind God’s grant to Adam (and his descendants) of dominion over the earth (Genesis 1:26-30). (Guzik)
i. This dominion given by God means that men and women should use the earth and its resources for the good of humanity, as wise and thoughtful stewards. We can use, but we should not waste and destroy. (Guzik)
ii. “The earth is man’s, but by Jehovah’s gift. Therefore its inhabitants should remember the terms of their tenure, and thankfully recognize His giving love.” (Maclaren)
iii. “All is his, but we are his substantial heirs and trustees. There is generosity in the phrase, ‘the earth he has given’; there is responsibility as well, for we are not its makers, nor is it simply ‘there’ as meaningless matter to exploit. Behind the gift is the Giver.” (Kidner)
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Albert Barnes
The heaven – Hebrew, “The heavens.”
Even the heavens are the Lord’s – A more literal and correct rendering of this would be, “The heavens are heavens for Jehovah.” That is, he has reserved the heavens as a home for himself, or as his special possession and home. Compare Isaiah 66:1; Matthew 5:34; Acts 7:49.
But the earth … – He prepared earth for the abode of man; he has placed man upon it to cultivate it; he has given its fruits and productions to man, to be held and enjoyed by man; he has made all on earth subject to man – the dwellers in the air, the land, and the waters. All this he has given to man; not to the angels. Earth is the home of man, the birth-place of man; the place where he lives, where he shows the result of his toil, his skill, and his ingenuity; the place where he builds houses, bridges, monuments, works of art; the place where he prepares for another state of existence; the place where he dies, and is buried. It is, as formed by the Creator, a beautiful home outfitted for mankind; how much more beautiful would it be, if man never defiled or desolated it by sin! how happy an abode would it have been if sin had never entered it!
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John Gill
The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s,…. Not only the visible heavens, the airy and starry regions, which are within our sight; but the heaven of heavens, the third heaven, into which the Apostle Paul was caught, and heard and saw things not to be uttered; and which is, as the Targum expresses it, “for the majesty of the glory of the Lord:” he is the maker, owner, proprietor, and possessor of them all: but the third heaven is more especially the seat of his majesty; where he has prepared the throne of his glory, where he keeps court; where his ministers, his angels, wait upon him, observe his orders, and execute his will; and which he has prepared for his saints to dwell with him into all eternity.
But the earth hath he given to the children of men; to Adam and his posterity, to dwell in it, to till it, and enjoy the fruits of it; yet so as not to leave it entirely to the care of men, and have no concern in it, and the affairs of it, as some licentious persons would from hence conclude; as if God had took the heavens to himself, and only minded the persons and things in that, and never concerned himself about the earth, and persons and things there; having disposed of it to the children of men, and left it to their conduct: for though he has given it to them for their use, yet he has still a claim upon it, and can and does dispose of it, and order all things in it, according to his pleasure; and men, from the highest to the lowest, are accountable to him, being but stewards, and at most but deputies and viceroys, under him: besides the words may be rendered, “and the earth which he hath given to the children of men”; that is his also, as well as the heavens. This the Lord gives to the children of men as their portion; and sad is the case of such, when this is their all; but to his own children, he gives heaven, the kingdom of heaven, eternal glory, and happiness. Maimonides gives the sense of the whole passage thus; “God only perfectly knows the truth, nature, substance, form, motion, and causes of the heavens: and to man, he has given, that he may understand what are under the heavens; because they are the world, and as it were his house, in which he dwells, and of which he is a part.”
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Matthew Henry
God is to be praised, v. 16. He is greatly to be praised; for,
(1.) His glory is high. See how stately his palace is, and the throne he has prepared in the heavens: The heaven, even the heavens are the Lord’s; he is the rightful owner of all the treasures of light and bliss in the upper and better world, and is in the full possession of them, for he is himself infinitely bright and happy.
(2.) His goodness is large, for the earth he has given to the children of men, having designed it, when he made it, for their use, to find them with meat, drink, and lodging. Not but that still he is proprietor in chief; the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; but he has let out that vineyard to these unthankful husbandmen, and from them, he expects the rents and services; for, though he has given them the earth, his eye is upon them, and he will call them to render an account how they use it. Calvin complains that profane wicked people, in his days, perverted this scripture, and made a jest of it, which some in our days do, arguing, in banter, that God, having given the earth to the children of men, will no more look after it, nor after them upon it, but they may do what they will with it, and make the best of it as their portion; it is as it were thrown like a prey among them, Let him seize it that can. It is a pity that such an instance as this gives of God’s bounty to man, and such a proof as arises from it of man’s obligation to God, should be thus abused. From the highest heavens, it is certain, God beholds all the children of men; to them he has given the earth; but to the children of God heaven is given.
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Matthew Poole
Are the Lord’s, to wit, in a peculiar manner, where he dwelleth in that light and glory to which no man can approach, and whence he beholdeth and disposeth all persons and things upon earth.
But the earth hath he given to the children of men, for their habitation, possession, and use. But these words may be and are thus rendered by others, and the earth which (which particle is very oft understood) he hath given &c. And then as the foregoing verse declared that God was the Creator of heaven and earth, ver. 15, so this asserts that he is also their Lord and Governor, to dispose of all men and things as he pleaseth.
Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible, vol. 2 (New York: Robert Carter and Brothers, 1853), 178.
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A. R. Fausset
Though He owns earth and heaven alike (Ps. 89:11), He has given, in His goodness, the earth to be man’s heritage, wherein God lavishes upon man His blessings, and expects man’s praises (Gen. 1:28; 9:1). God will not allow His loving purpose to be frustrated by letting His elect people among “the children of men” to be extirpated from the earth by their enemies. Cf. Hab. 1:14–17—Hebrew, ‘the heavens, heavens;’ the latter without the article: perhaps the former point to the visible heavens; the latter, the general name for all that is above the earth.
A. R. Fausset, A Commentary, Critical, Experimental, and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments: Job–Isaiah, vol. III (London; Glasgow: William Collins, Sons, & Company, Limited, n.d.), 354.
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Cross References
Genesis 1:28 (KJV )
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Psalm 134:3 (KJV )
3 The Lord that made heaven and earth
Bless thee out of Zion.
Genesis 14:19 (KJV )
19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:
Psalm 121:2 (KJV )
2 My help cometh from the Lord,
Which made heaven and earth.
Psalm 89:11 (KJV )
11 The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine:
As for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them.
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KJV W/Strongs Bible
115:16 The heaven 8064, [even] the heavens 8064, [are] the LORD’S 3068: but the earth 776 hath he given 5414 8804 to the children 1121 of men 120.
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Geneva Bible 1560
Psalm 115:16
16 The (k) heavens, even the heavens are the Lord’s: but he hathe given the earth to the sons of men.
(k)And they declare enough his sufficiency, so that the world serves him nothing but to show his fatherly care toward men.
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Closing Thoughts
“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.” Psalm 91:14-16 NKJV
“You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.” Rev 4:11 NKJV
Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your law. Psalm 119:18 NKJV
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