Psalms 104

1 Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, You are very great: You are clothed with honor and majesty,

2 Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment, Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain.

3 He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters, Who makes the clouds His chariot, Who walks on the wings of the wind,

4 Who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire.

5 You who laid the foundations of the earth, So that it should not be moved forever,

6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment; The waters stood above the mountains.

7 At Your rebuke they fled; At the voice of Your thunder they hastened away.

8 They went up over the mountains; They went down into the valleys, To the place which You founded for them.

9 You have set a boundary that they may not pass over, That they may not return to cover the earth.

10 He sends the springs into the valleys, They flow among the hills.

11 They give drink to every beast of the field; The wild donkeys quench their thirst.

12 By them the birds of the heavens have their home; They sing among the branches.

13 He waters the hills from His upper chambers; The earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your works.

14 He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for the service of man, That he may bring forth food from the earth,

15 And wine that makes glad the heart of man, 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 planted,

17 Where the birds make their nests; The stork has her home in the fir trees.

18 The high hills are for the wild goats; The cliffs are a refuge for the rock badgers.

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 about.

21 The young lions roar after their prey, And seek their food from God.

22 When the sun rises, they gather together And lie down in their dens.

23 Man goes out to his work And to his labor until the evening.

24 O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your possessions--

25 This great and wide sea, In which are innumerable teeming things, Living things both small and great.

26 There the ships sail about; There is that Leviathan Which You have made to play there.

27 These all wait for You, That You may give them their food in due season.

28 What You give them they gather in; You open Your hand, they are filled with good.

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.

31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever; May the Lord 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 May my meditation be sweet to Him; I will be glad in the Lord.

35 May sinners be consumed from the earth, And the wicked be no more. Bless the Lord, O my soul! Praise the Lord!

Psalms 104 Commentary

Chapter 104

God's majesty in the heavens, The creation of the sea, and the dry land. (1-9) His provision for all creatures. (10-18) The regular course of day and night, and God's sovereign power over all the creatures. (19-30) A resolution to continue praising God. (31-35)

Verses 1-9 Every object we behold calls on us to bless and praise the Lord, who is great. His eternal power and Godhead are clearly shown by the things which he hath made. God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. The Lord Jesus, the Son of his love, is the Light of the world.

Verses 10-18 When we reflect upon the provision made for all creatures, we should also notice the natural worship they render to God. Yet man, forgetful ungrateful man, enjoys the largest measure of his Creator's kindness. the earth, varying in different lands. Nor let us forget spiritual blessings; the fruitfulness of the church through grace, the bread of everlasting life, the cup of salvation, and the oil of gladness. Does God provide for the inferior creatures, and will he not be a refuge to his people?

Verses 19-30 We are to praise and magnify God for the constant succession of day and night. And see how those are like to the wild beasts, who wait for the twilight, and have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. Does God listen to the language of mere nature, even in ravenous creatures, and shall he not much more interpret favourably the language of grace in his own people, though weak and broken groanings which cannot be uttered? There is the work of every day, which is to be done in its day, which man must apply to every morning, and which he must continue in till evening; it will be time enough to rest when the night comes, in which no man can work. The psalmist wonders at the works of God. The works of art, the more closely they are looked upon, the more rough they appear; the works of nature appear more fine and exact. They are all made in wisdom, for they all answer the end they were designed to serve. Every spring is an emblem of the resurrection, when a new world rises, as it were, out of the ruins of the old one. But man alone lives beyond death. When the Lord takes away his breath, his soul enters on another state, and his body will be raised, either to glory or to misery. May the Lord send forth his Spirit, and new-create our souls to holiness.

Verses 31-35 Man's glory is fading; God's glory is everlasting: creatures change, but with the Creator there is no variableness. And if mediation on the glories of creation be so sweet to the soul, what greater glory appears to the enlightened mind, when contemplating the great work of redemption! There alone can a sinner perceive ground of confidence and joy in God. While he with pleasure upholds all, governs all, and rejoices in all his works, let our souls, touched by his grace, meditate on and praise him.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or rock hyrax (compare Leviticus 11:5)

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 104

This psalm, though without a title, was probably written by David, since it begins and ends as the former does, as Aben Ezra observes; and to him the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions, ascribe it. The inscription of the Syriac version is,

``a psalm of David, when he went to worship before the ark of the Lord with the priests; and as to us, it teaches us confession and prayer; and intimates to us the constitution of the beginning of the creatures; and declares some things concerning the angels.''

Some copies of the Septuagint version have it,

``a psalm of David concerning the constitution of the world;''

which indeed is the subject matter of it; for it treats of the creation of all things, of the heavens and the earth, and of all creatures in them; and of the providence of God in taking care of them. Christ is the divine Person addressed and described throughout the whole, as appears from the quotation of Ps 104:5 and the application of it to him in Heb 1:7.

\\Bless the Lord, O my soul\\ As for the blessings of grace and mercy expressed in the preceding psalm, so on account of the works of creation and providence, enumerated in this; in which Christ has an equal concern, as in the former.

\\O Lord my God, thou art very great\\; the Messiah, who is Jehovah our righteousness, Lord of all, truly God, and the God of his people; see Joh 20:28 and who is great, and very great, in his divine Person, being the great God, and our Saviour; great in all his works of creation, providence, and redemption; great in all his offices of Prophet, Priest, and King; a Saviour, and a great one; the great Shepherd of the Sheep; the Man, Jehovah's Fellow.

\\Thou art clothed with honour and majesty\\; being the brightness of his Father's glory, and having on him the glory of the only begotten of the Father, and a natural majesty in him as the Son of God and King of the whole universe; and, as Mediator, he has honour and majesty laid upon him by his Father, Ps 21:5, he has all the regalia and ensigns of royal majesty; he is on a throne, high and lifted up, even the same with his divine Father; he has a crown of glory on his head, he is crowned with glory and honour; he has a sceptre of righteousness in his hand, and is arrayed in robes of majesty; and, as thus situated, is to look upon like a jasper and sardine stone; or as if he was covered with sparkling gems and precious stones, Re 4:2,3 and, having all power in heaven and earth, over angels and men, honour and glory given him by both. 23531-950516-0908-Ps104.2