Psalm 150:1 declares, Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.
We can conclude from this Psalm that there are two layers of water, described as separate entities by the Psalmist. Psalm 148:8 mentions snow and the Earth’s vapors. Birds are not mentioned until after the psalmist has moved his attention away from the upper stratosphere back down to the earth in Psalm 148:7. Psalm 148:4 announces, Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. The sun, moon, and stars are part of the Psalm 148 description of the heavens. Other Psalms reference the heavens and the firmament as well. Psalm 19:4 describes a tabernacle for the sun and Psalm 19:6 says His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. This Psalmist does not describe Earth’s atmosphere there are no birds in the air of the raqiya’ of Psalm 19. In lovely poetry, Psalm 19:1 reads, “The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork.”The next five verses of Psalm 19 clearly indicate that the raqiya‘ is in outer space, where the sun and stars are located. These visions are much more specific and varied than the description of the raqiya‘ (firmament) in God’s creation narrative of days two, four, and five ( Genesis 1:6-8, 14, 15, 17, and Genesis 1:20). Ezekiel described wings under the raqiya‘ in Ezekiel 1:23 and a throne above the raqiya‘ in Ezekiel 1:26. Two passages in Ezekiel refer to visions of heavenly objects which are not recognized as part of the Earth today. The prophets Ezekiel, Daniel, and David had visions of the firmament-the raqiya‘ in ancient Hebrew language-as a solid object. The ‘waters under the firmament' refer to the waters on the surface of the Earth, but the waters above the expanse refer to a canopy of water that envelopes our entire universe." Mortenson writes, ‘Regardless of the position you hold, what everyone can agree on is God arranged the space which surrounds the Earth on the second day.’” Terry Mortenson, who researches theological questions with staff scientists of the Answers Research Journal, “…the expanse refers to all of what we would call outer space. The canopy theory does not have a clear Biblical basis or a sound scientific model. This watery canopy of vapor, liquid, or ice in the upper atmosphere is purported to have collapsed at the onset of Noah’s Flood to produce many days of rain. In an article from, "Why did God Create the World in 7 Days?", the author cites many scientists’ belief that the firmament, this expanse as it is often called, is the Earth’s atmosphere of water in the form of vapor, liquid, or ice in the clouds. The Genesis account of creation indicates that water in some form pre-existed the firmament. The closest we can come to an understanding of it is that it is an arch or vault over the earth and sky that separates the Earth’s atmosphere from what is beyond. As described above, it refers to a physical part of God’s creation. The firmament is defined in Merriam-Webster as “the vault or arch of the sky heaven.” Easton's Bible Dictionary explains that this word is from the latin firmamentum in the Vulgate translation of the Bible, translating the ancient Hebrew word raqiya' which means "expansion." The raqiya' is distinctly different from the Christian concept of heaven promised in the Bible.
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