He directeth it under the whole heaven - It is under the control of God, and he directs it where he pleases. It is not confined to one spot, but seems to be complaining from every part of the heavens.
And his lightning - Margin, as in Hebrew "light." There can be no doubt that the lightning is intended.
Unto the ends of the earth - Margin, as in Hebrew "wings." The word wings is given to the earth from the idea of its being spread out or expanded like the wings of a bird; compare Job 38:13; Ezekiel 7:2. The earth was spoken of as an expanse or plain that had corners or boundaries (see Isaiah 11:12, note; Isaiah 24:16, note; Isaiah 42:5, note), and the meaning here is, that God spread the lightning at pleasure over the whole of that vast expanse.

He directeth it under the whole heaven - He directeth it (the lightning) under the whole heaven, in the twinkling of an eye from east to west; and its light - the reflection of the flash, not the lightning, unto the ends of the earth, so that a whole hemisphere seems to see it at the same instant.

He directeth it under the whole heaven,.... His voice of thunder, which rolls from one end of the heaven to the other: he charges the clouds with it, and directs both it and them where they shall go and discharge; what tree, house, or man, it shall strike; and where the rain shall fall when the clouds burst: yet Pliny (x) atheistically calls thunder and lightning chance matters. Thus the ministers of the word, who are compared to clouds, Isaiah 5:6, are charged with it by the Lord: they are directed by him what they shall say, where they shall go and declare it, and he directs where it shall fall with power and weight; yea, he directs it into the very hearts of men, where it pierces and penetrates, and is a discerner and discoverer of their thoughts and intents;
and his lightning unto the ends of the earth: it cometh out of the east, and shineth to the west, Matthew 24:27; and swiftly move to the further parts of the earth: and such a direction, motion, and extent, has the Gospel had; the glorious light of it, comparable to lightning, it first broke forth in the east, where Christ, his forerunner and his disciples, first preached it, and Christian churches were formed; and from thence it spread into the western parts of the world, and before the destruction of Jerusalem it was preached unto all nations; it had a free course, ran, and was glorified; the sound of the voice of it went into all the earth, and the words and doctrines of the apostles unto the ends of the world.
(x) Nat. Hist. l. 2. c. 43.

directeth it--however zigzag the lightning's course; or, rather, it applies to the pealing roll of the thunder. God's all-embracing power.
ends--literally, "wings," "skirts," the habitable earth being often compared to an extended garment (Job 38:13; Isaiah 11:12).

Directeth - His voice: which he guideth like an arrow to the mark, that it may do that work for which he sends it.