Psalms 104

1 Praise the LORD, my soul! O LORD my God, you are very great. You are clothed with splendor and majesty.

2 You cover yourself with light as though it were a robe. You stretch out the heavens as though they were curtains.

3 You lay the beams of your home in the water. You use the clouds for your chariot. You move on the wings of the wind.

4 You make your angels winds and your servants flames of fire.

5 You set the earth on its foundations so that it can never be shaken.

6 You covered the earth with an ocean as though it were a robe. Water stood above the mountains

7 and fled because of your threat. Water ran away at the sound of your thunder.

8 The mountains rose and the valleys sank to the place you appointed for them.

9 Water cannot cross the boundary you set and cannot come back to cover the earth.

10 You make water gush from springs into valleys. It flows between the mountains.

11 Every wild animal drinks [from them]. Wild donkeys quench their thirst.

12 The birds live by the streams. They sing among the branches.

13 You water the mountains from your home above. You fill the earth with the fruits of your labors.

14 You make grass grow for cattle and make vegetables for humans to use in order to get food from the ground.

15 You make wine to cheer human hearts, olive oil to make faces shine, and bread to strengthen human hearts.

16 The LORD's trees, the cedars in Lebanon which he planted, drink their fill.

17 Birds build their nests in them. Storks make their homes in fir trees.

18 The high mountains are for wild goats. The rocks are a refuge for badgers.

19 He created the moon, which marks the seasons, and the sun, which knows when to set.

20 He brings darkness, and it is nighttime, when all the wild animals in the forest come out.

21 The young lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God.

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

23 Then people go to do their work, to do their tasks until evening.

24 What a large number of things you have made, O LORD! You made them all by wisdom. The earth is filled with your creatures.

25 The sea is so big and wide with countless creatures, living things both large and small.

26 Ships sail on it, and Leviathan, which you made, plays in it.

27 All of them look to you to give them their food at the right time.

28 You give it to them, and they gather it up. You open your hand, and they are filled with blessings.

29 You hide your face, and they are terrified. You take away their breath, and they die and return to dust.

30 You send out your Spirit, and they are created. You renew the face of the earth.

31 May the glory of the LORD endure forever. May the LORD find joy in what he has made.

32 He looks at the earth, and it trembles. He touches the mountains, and they smoke.

33 I will sing to the LORD throughout my life. I will make music to praise my God as long as I live.

34 May my thoughts be pleasing to him. I will find joy in the LORD.

35 May sinners vanish from the world. May there no longer be any wicked people. Praise the LORD, my soul! Hallelujah!

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.

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