O Lord God of hosts - See the notes at Isaiah 1:9; Psalms 24:10. God, commanding the armies of heaven; leading forth the stars; controlling all forces - all powers.
Who is a strong Lord like unto thee? - The original word here rendered “Lord” is יה Yâhh, or Jah. This is one of the few places where that word occurs, except in the compounding of words. It is an abbreviation of the name Yahweh, and has the same signification. See the notes at Psalms 68:4. The meaning is, that there was no one who in respect to power could be compared with Yahweh.
Or to thy faithfulness round about thee? - Rather, “thy faithfulness is round about thee.” That is, It attends thee at all times; it is always with thee; it is a part of thy very nature. To all round about thee, thou art faithful; wherever God is - and he is everywhere - there is faithfulness. He never changes; and people and angels may always trust in him. The psalmist then proceeds to illustrate the greatness of his power, and of his faithfulness, in the works of creation. The design of these illustrations, doubtless, is to keep before the mind the idea of the divine faithfulness as shown in the works of nature, and then to apply this to the covenant which had been made with David. The idea is, that he who is so faithful in nature will be the same in grace; that he who had shown such unchangeableness in the works of creation might be expected to show the like in respect to the promises which he had made.