Psalms 104:14-24

14 And thou bringest forth hay to beasts; and herb to the service of men. That thou bring forth bread (out) of the earth; (And thou bringest forth hay, or grass, for the beasts; and plants for service to people. So that thou bring forth food from the earth;)

15 and that wine make glad the heart of men. That he make glad the face with oil; and that bread make steadfast the heart of man. (and wine to make the hearts of people glad. And oil to make their faces shine; and bread to make their hearts strong.)

16 The trees of the field shall be [full-]filled, and the cedars of the Lebanon, which he planted; (The trees of the field be filled full with sap, and the cedars of Lebanon, which he planted;)

17 sparrows shall make nest there. The house of the gyrfalcon is the leader of those; (the sparrows make their nests there; and the homes of the gyrfalcons be on the tops of them.)

18 high hills be refuge to harts; the stone is refuge to urchins. (The high hills, or the mountains, be a refuge for the harts; and the stones be a refuge for the conies, or the rock badgers.)

19 He made the moon into times; the sun knew his going down. (Thou hast made the moon for telling times, or months; and the sun, it knoweth its time to go down, and when to set.)

20 Thou hast set darknesses, and night is made; all beasts of the wood shall go therein.

21 Lions? whelps roaring for to ravish (prey); and to seek of God meat to themselves. (The lions? whelps roar while they hunt the prey; seeking food for themselves from God.)

22 The sun is risen, and those be gathered together; and those shall be set (down) in their couches. (Then the sun riseth, and they be gathered together; and they return to their dens.)

23 A man shall go out to his work; and to his working, till to the eventide. (A man goeth out to his work; and doeth his labour, until the evening.)

24 Lord, thy works be magnified full much, thou hast made all things in wisdom; the earth is filled with thy possession(s). (Lord, thou hast made a great many things, thou hast made all things by thy wisdom; the earth is filled with thy creatures.)

Psalms 104:14-24 Meaning and Commentary

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