Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
Give ear, O ye heavens ... hear, O earth. The magnificence of the exordium, the grandeur of the theme, the frequent and sudden transitions, the elevated strain of the sentiments and language, entitle this song to be ranked among the noblest specimens of poetry to be found in the Scriptures.
The song opens with a beautiful apostrophe to the heavens and the earth to listen to his strains. The same sentiment had been previously expressed by Moses in the plain though rhetorical form, "I call heaven and earth to witness against thee this day (Deuteronomy 30:19). But cast into the special style of poetry, it appears much stronger and more impressive.
Such an appeal to universal nature is frequently made by Hebrew bards when the matter of their discourse is of more than ordinary importance (cf. Psalms 50:3-4; Isaiah 1:2; Micah 6:1-2).