Yahweh’s power as Lord of the universe is praised in these verses. I know: the speaker here is probably a priest. Yahweh is greater than all the heathen gods (verse 5; see comments on 96.5; 97.9b). The psalmist takes it for granted that these gods do exist, but Yahweh is more powerful than all of them.

Yahweh’s power is unlimited (verse 6; see 115.3b). He does what he wishes, that is, he carries out his purposes, he accomplishes what he plans to do, in heaven and on earth. If a distinction is to be made between the seas and all deeps, the latter (the plural of tehom; see comments on 104.6) represents the primeval waters which Yahweh conquered at creation (so commentaries). Most translations make the two parallel. By using the four spacial terms heaven, earth, seas, and deeps, the psalmist is expressing poetically the limitless extent of God’s dominion. The images move from the highest point to the lowest point, passing through the intermediate points of earth and seas. All deeps may be rendered “to the bottom of the seas” or “to the deepest parts of the seas.” In languages unfamiliar with seas, adjustments to lakes or rivers will have to be made, if the images are to be kept.

Yahweh is also Lord of the storms: the storm clouds, the lightnings, and the wind are all under his control (verse 7). The end of the earth and Good News Translation “the ends…” is somewhat idiomatic, meaning from the most distant parts, and must often be translated in that way. Instead of the Masoretic text lightnings, New English Bible reads another word, “rifts” (“he opens rifts for the rain”), but without any justification (so Hebrew Old Testament Text Project). For the idea of Yahweh’s storehouses where he keeps the wind, see similar language in 33.7. See also Jeremiah 10.13; 51.16, for almost identical language.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .