Psalms 148
1
Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens: Praise him in the heights.
2
Praise ye him, all his angels: Praise ye him, all his hosts.
3
Praise ye him, sun and moon: Praise him, all ye stars of light.
4
Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.
5
Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.
6
He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass.
7
Praise the LORD from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps:
8
Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling his word:
9
Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars:
10
Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl:
11
Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth:
12
Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children:
13
Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven.
14
He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. praise ye the LORD.
Arcana Coelestia #2504
2504. 'And he sojourned in Gerar' means consequent instruction in the spiritual things of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'sojourning' as receiving instruction, dealt with in 1463, 2025, and from the meaning of 'Gerar' as the spiritual entity of faith. Gerar is mentioned in several places in Genesis, as in Chapter 10:19; 26:1, 6, 17, 20, 26, and in those places it means faith, the reason being that Gerar was in Philistia, and 'Philistia' means knowledge of the cognitions of faith, see 1197, 1198. Gerar was also the place where the king of the Philistines used to live. Consequently 'Gerar' means faith itself, 1209, and 'the king of Gerar' the truth itself of faith, for 'a king' in the internal sense is truth, 1672, 2015, 2069. Thus 'Abimelech' who is the subject in what follows means the doctrine of faith.
[2] In general there are intellectual things of faith, rational things of faith, and factual things of faith. In relation to one another they accordingly pass from more interior to more exterior. The inmost things of faith are called intellectual; those which pass down from them or from there are the rational things of faith; and those in turn which pass down from these are the factual things of faith. They are interrelated, to use the language of the learned, as prior to posterior, or what amounts to the same, as superior to inferior, that is, as more interior to more exterior. It does indeed seem to man as though the factual degree of faith is first and that the rational then arises from that, and after this the intellectual from that, for the reason that this is the way a human being develops from childhood onwards. But in fact the intellectual is constantly flowing; into the rational, and the rational into the factual, though man is not directly conscious of it. In childhood the influx is obscure; in adult years it is more noticeable; and when at length the individual has been regenerated it is quite manifest. Once he is regenerate this order is quite apparent, and still more fully so in the next life, see 1495. All of these things, distinguished as described into separate degrees and existing in relation to one another in the order shown, are called spiritual. The spiritual things of faith constitute all truths that stem from good, that is, from a celestial origin. Whatever derives from the celestial is one of the spiritual things of faith.
