Psalm 104:20

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

Psalm 104:20 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 104:20

Thou makest darkness, and it is night
The darkness was before the light, and the night before the day, ( Genesis 1:2 Genesis 1:4 Genesis 1:5 ) and now the darkness and night are made by the setting of the sun before mentioned; see ( Isaiah 45:7 ) .

Wherein all the beasts of the field do creep forth;
out of their dens, and range about for their prey, as the evening wolves and others: and these are not the only creatures that choose the night and darkness; all wicked men do the same; whose deeds are evil, and do not care to come to the light, lest they should be reproved; particularly drunkards, adulterers, thieves, and murderers, ( John 3:20 John 3:21 ) ( 1 Thessalonians 5:7 ) ( Job 24:13-17 ) . So the Scribes and Pharisees, when they consulted to take away the life of Christ, and agreed with Judas to betray him, did it in the night: so false teachers, who are wolves in sheep's clothing, when it is a night of darkness with the church, take the advantage of it, to creep about and spread their pernicious doctrines; see ( 2 Timothy 3:6 ) ( Jude 1:4 ) .

Psalm 104:20 In-Context

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.)