When God Speaks
He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm.
PSALM 33:9
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When God Speaks
But what or in what manner will He speak? Here we must observe the Hebrew way of expression. For when Scripture says that God speaks, it understands a word related to a real thing or action, not just a sound, as ours is. For God does not have a mouth or a tongue, since He is a Spirit, though Scripture speaks of the mouth and tongue of God: "He spoke, and it came to be" (Psalm 33:9). And when He speaks, the mountains tremble, kingdoms are scattered, then indeed the whole earth is moved. That is a language different from ours. When the sun rises, when the sun sets, God speaks. When the fruits grow in size, when human beings are born, God speaks. Accordingly the words of God are not empty air, but things very great and wonderful, which we see with our eyes and feel with our hands. For when, according to Moses (Genesis 1), the Lord said: "Let there be a sun, let there be a moon, let the earth bring forth trees," etc., as soon as He said it, it was done. No one heard this voice, but we see the works and the things themselves before our eyes, and we touch them with our hands.
From Commentary on Psalm 2 (Luther's Works 12:32)
PSALM 33:9
+
When God Speaks
But what or in what manner will He speak? Here we must observe the Hebrew way of expression. For when Scripture says that God speaks, it understands a word related to a real thing or action, not just a sound, as ours is. For God does not have a mouth or a tongue, since He is a Spirit, though Scripture speaks of the mouth and tongue of God: "He spoke, and it came to be" (Psalm 33:9). And when He speaks, the mountains tremble, kingdoms are scattered, then indeed the whole earth is moved. That is a language different from ours. When the sun rises, when the sun sets, God speaks. When the fruits grow in size, when human beings are born, God speaks. Accordingly the words of God are not empty air, but things very great and wonderful, which we see with our eyes and feel with our hands. For when, according to Moses (Genesis 1), the Lord said: "Let there be a sun, let there be a moon, let the earth bring forth trees," etc., as soon as He said it, it was done. No one heard this voice, but we see the works and the things themselves before our eyes, and we touch them with our hands.
From Commentary on Psalm 2 (Luther's Works 12:32)
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