104
📚Praise the LORD, O my soul.O LORD my God,
you are very great.
You are clothed with honour
and majesty,
104:1 This is a hymn to the Creator of the world. It is a song of pure praise and joy. The writer does not ask God for anything for himself. He only wants his meditation to be acceptable to God. In its main outline the psalm follows the story of creation given in the first chapter of Genesis. One difference between this psalm and that chapter is that the creation there is in the past, here it is still going on. After God made the world He did not withdraw somewhere and cease His work forever. True, He ceased to work on the seventh day (Gen 2:2). But He resumed His activities and still works (John 5:17). He is not an idle God. This is clearly seen in this psalm. The Creator continually sustains and renews His creation.
As we see in v 2 the splendid garment of God is the light (compare Dan 7:9; Mark 9:2-3; 1 Tim 6:16; Rev 1:14-16). God Himself is invisible to the eye of flesh, but His glory is revealed in His creation by means of light.⚜
2 📚You who cover
yourself with light as
with a garment,
who stretch out the heavens
like a curtain.
3 📚He lays the beams
of his chambers in the
waters.
He makes the clouds
his chariot.
He walks on the wings
of the wind.
4 📚He makes his angels spirits,
his ministers a flaming fire.
104:2-4 This is based on Gen 1:3-8.⚜
5 📚He laid the
foundations of the earth,
so that it would never
be moved.
6 📚You cover it with the deep
as with a garment.
The waters stood above
the mountains.
7 📚At your rebuke they fled;
at the sound of your thunder
they hurried away.
8 📚They went up over the
mountains;
they went down by the valleys
to the place which you founded
for them.
9 📚You have set a boundary that
they may not pass over,
so that they do not turn back
to cover the earth.
104:5-9 This is based on Gen 1:9-10.⚜
10 📚He sends water from
the springs into the
valleys,
which runs among
the hills.
11 📚They provide drink to every
beast of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their
thirst.
12 📚The birds of the heavens
have their nests
by them,
singing among the branches.
13 📚He waters the hills from
his chambers.
The earth is filled with the fruit
of your works.
14 📚He causes the grass to grow
for the cattle,
and plants for the service
of man,
so that he may bring food out
of the earth,
15 📚And wine that makes
the heart of man glad,
and oil to make
his face shine,
and bread which
strengthens man’s heart.
16 📚The trees of the LORD are full
of sap;
the cedars of Lebanon which
he has planted,
104:16 They are called the trees of the Lord because He originally planted them and caused them to grow.⚜
17 📚Where the birds make
their nests.
As for the stork,
the fir trees are her
house.
18 📚The high hills are a
refuge for the wild goats,
and the rocks for the rock
badgers.
104:17-18 God made a place for each animal and put each animal in its place.⚜
19 📚He appointed the moon for
seasons.
The sun knows its going down.
20 📚You make darkness,
and it is night,
in which all the beasts of the
forest creep forth.
21 📚The young lions roar
after their prey,
and seek their food from God.
22 📚The sun rises;
they gather together,
and lie down in their dens.
23 📚Man goes forth to his work
and to his labour until
the evening.
104:19-23 This is based on Gen 1:14-18.⚜
24 📚O LORD, how manifold are
your works!
In wisdom you have made
them all.
The earth is full of your riches.
25 📚So is this great
and wide sea,
in which teem
innumerable things,
both small and great creatures.
26 📚There go the ships.
There is that leviathan 📖,
which you have made
to play there.
104:24-26 This is based on Gen 1:21.⚜
27 📚These all wait on you,
that you may give
them their food
in due season.
28 📚They gather what you
give them.
You open your hand; they are
satisfied with good things.
29 📚You hide 📖 your face;
they are troubled.
You take away 📖 their breath;
they die,
and return to their dust.
30 📚You send forth your Spirit,
they are created,
and you renew the
face of the earth.
104:27-30 All animals, fish, and birds are dependent on God for life and food. God ceaselessly provides, continually creates and renews.⚜
31 📚The glory of the LORD will remain
forever.
The LORD will rejoice in his works.
32 📚He looks on the earth,
and it trembles.
He touches the hills,
and they smoke.
33 📚I will sing to the LORD
as long as I live.
I will sing praise to my God
while I have my being.
34 📚My meditation 📖 of him
will be sweet.
I will be glad 📖 in the LORD.
35 📚Let the sinners be consumed
out of the earth,
and let the wicked be no more.
Praise the LORD 📖, O my soul!
Praise the LORD!
104:31-35 The keynote here is joy – both God and men rejoicing in creation.⚜
104:35 In the whole of earth’s creation, and in this whole psalm, the only thing that mars, the only sad note, is found here. Sinners pollute and ruin God’s creation. They have proved themselves completely unworthy of it (Isa 24:5). Therefore the writer expresses the desire that they be removed from it. He wants creation made perfect again and holy. We know from the last chapter of the Bible that this will take place.⚜