For by them judgeth he the people
That is, by the clouds; which the Lord uses both in a way of judgment, as expressed in this clause; and in a way of mercy, as in the following; by these, and what issue out of them, as rain, hail, winds, thunder, and lightning, he sometimes punishes the inhabitants of the earth, as he did the old world by a deluge of water, which came partly from the fountains of the great deep, and partly from the windows of heaven, which destroyed man and beast, and the increase of the earth, ( Genesis 7:11 Genesis 7:23 ) ; he punished the Egyptians by a violent storm of hail, ( Exodus 9:23 ) ; and slew many of the Canaanites with hailstones, ( Joshua 10:11 ) ; Pharaoh and his host sunk like lead when he blew with his wind, ( Exodus 15:10 ) ; and Sodom and Gomorrah, with the cities of the plain, were destroyed with thunder and lightning, fire and brimstone, from heaven, ( Genesis 19:24 ) ; as the army of the Philistines were discomfited by thunder in the times of Samuel, ( 1 Samuel 7:10 ) ; and the captains of fifties, with their men, were consumed by lightning in the times of Elijah, ( 2 Kings 1:14 ) ; and as the heavens and the earth will be burnt with fire at the end of all things, ( Matthew 13:40 ) ( 2 Peter 3:12 ) ;
he giveth meat in abundance;
very plentifully, or to a multitude of creatures, both men and cattle; who have a liberal supply of food by means of the clouds and rain, which falling upon the earth make it fruitful, so that it gives bread to the eater, and seed to the sower; causes grass to grow up for the beasts of the field, and produces bread corn, oil, and wine, for the benefit of men; an emblem of the variety and plenty of spiritual food dispensed to the churches of Christ, through the ministry of the word, and by the ministers of it.