That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it?
Ver. 13. That it might take hold of the ends of the earth] That is, suddenly illighten the whole horizon; for which cause also David ascribeth wings to the morning, Psalms 139:9, so that the light is not a body, nor, as some will have it, a substance, but an accident. The truth is, no man can tell what it is of any certainty; an admirable creature it is, surely a divine and heavenly thing, than which nothing is more desirable, nothing more profitable. Two excellent uses of it are here set forth: 1. To refresh men by the sight of the earth, and the things thereon. 2. To set us upon serious employment, such as is the punishment of evil doers, for so some interpret those next words.
That the wicked might be shaken out of it?] sc. By banishment, or rather by death, inflicted upon them in the light, for their deeds of darkness. Or, at least, that those Lucifugae, tenebriones, those inauspicate night birds, who hate the light, because their works are evil, might be shamed and shunned. Their motto is, Iam lux inimica propinquat (Virg.). See Job 24:13; Job 24:17 .