Psaume 104

1 Mon âme, bénis l'Éternel! Éternel, mon Dieu, tu es merveilleusement grand; tu es revêtu de splendeur et de majesté.

2 Il s'enveloppe de lumière comme d'un vêtement; il étend les cieux comme une tenture.

3 Il construit sa haute demeure avec les eaux; il fait des nuées son char; il se promène sur les ailes du vent.

4 Il fait des vents ses messagers, des flammes de feu ses serviteurs.

5 Il a posé la terre sur ses bases; elle est inébranlable à jamais.

6 Tu l'avais couverte de l'abîme comme d'un vêtement; les eaux se tenaient sur les montagnes.

7 A ta menace, elles se retirèrent; au bruit de ton tonnerre, elles s'enfuirent.

8 Les montagnes s'élevèrent, les vallées s'abaissèrent au lieu que tu leur avais assigné.

9 Tu as fixé pour les eaux une borne qu'elles ne passeront pas; elles ne reviendront pas couvrir la terre.

10 Il envoie des sources dans les vallées, et elles courent entre les montagnes.

11 Elles abreuvent toutes les bêtes des champs; les ânes sauvages y étanchent leur soif.

12 Les oiseaux habitent sur leurs bords, faisant résonner leur voix dans le feuillage.

13 De sa haute demeure, il abreuve les montagnes; la terre est rassasiée du fruit de tes œuvres.

14 Il fait germer le foin pour le bétail et l'herbe pour le service de l'homme, faisant sortir la nourriture de la terre;

15 Et le vin qui réjouit le cœur de l'homme et fait resplendir son visage plus que l'huile; et le pain qui soutient le cœur de l'homme.

16 Les arbres de l'Éternel sont rassasiés, les cèdres du Liban qu'il a plantés.

17 C'est là que les oiseaux font leurs nids; les cyprès sont la demeure de la cigogne;

18 Les hautes montagnes sont pour les bouquetins; les rochers sont la retraite des lapins.

19 Il a fait la lune pour marquer les temps; le soleil connaît son coucher.

20 Tu amènes les ténèbres, et la nuit vient, où toutes les bêtes des forêts se promènent.

21 Les lionceaux rugissent après la proie, et pour demander à Dieu leur pâture.

22 Le soleil se lève; ils se retirent, et se couchent dans leurs tanières.

23 Alors l'homme sort à son ouvrage, et à son travail jusqu'au soir.

24 O Éternel, que tes œuvres sont en grand nombre! Tu les as toutes faites avec sagesse; la terre est pleine de tes richesses.

25 Et cette grande et vaste mer! Là sont des animaux sans nombre, gros et petits.

26 Là se promènent les navires, et ce Léviathan que tu as formé pour s'y jouer.

27 Tous, ils s'attendent à toi, pour que tu leur donnes leur nourriture en son temps.

28 Tu la leur donnes, et ils la recueillent; tu ouvres ta main, et ils sont rassasiés de biens.

29 Caches-tu ta face? ils sont éperdus; retires-tu leur souffle? ils expirent, et retournent en leur poussière.

30 Envoies-tu ton esprit? ils sont créés, et tu renouvelles la face de la terre.

31 Que la gloire de l'Éternel dure à toujours! Que l'Éternel se réjouisse dans ses œuvres!

32 Il regarde la terre et elle tremble; il touche les montagnes et elles fument.

33 Je chanterai à l'Éternel tant que je vivrai; je psalmodierai à mon Dieu tant que j'existerai.

34 Que ma méditation lui soit agréable! Je me réjouirai en l'Éternel.

35 Que les pécheurs disparaissent de la terre, et que les méchants ne soient plus! Mon âme, bénis l'Éternel! Louez l'Éternel!

Psaume 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