Psalms 104:21-31

21 The young lions roar after the prey, and to seek their food from God.

22 The sun ariseth, they retreat, and lay them down in their dens.

23 Man goeth forth unto his work, and to his labour until the evening.

24 How manifold are thy works, O Jehovah! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.

25 Yonder is the great and wide sea: therein are moving things innumerable, living creatures small and great.

26 There go the ships; [there] that leviathan, which thou hast formed to play therein.

27 These all look unto thee, that thou mayest give their food in its season:

28 That thou givest unto them, they gather; thou openest thy hand, they are filled with good.

29 Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled; thou takest away their breath, they expire and return to their dust.

30 Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created, and thou renewest the face of the earth.

31 The glory of Jehovah will endure for ever; Jehovah will rejoice in his works.

Psalms 104:21-31 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

Footnotes

• [a]. Probably, in this instance, an animal of the whale tribe: see Job 41.1.
• [b]. Or 'ground.'
• [c]. Masseh; as 'occupation,' Gen. 46.33: see Ps. 92.4.