Psalm 104:1-24
The LORD's Care for His Creation
1041 Give praise to the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, you are very great; you are robed with honour and power. 2 You are clothed with light as with a robe; stretching out the heavens like a curtain: 3 The arch of your house is based on the waters; you make the clouds your carriage; you go on the wings of the wind: 4 He makes winds his angels, and flames of fire his servants. 5 He has made the earth strong on its bases, so that it may not be moved for ever and ever; 6 Covering it with the sea as with a robe: the waters were high over the mountains; 7 At the voice of your word they went in flight; at the sound of your thunder they went away in fear; 8 The mountains came up and the valleys went down into the place which you had made ready for them. 9 You made a limit over which they might not go, so that the earth would never again be covered by them.
10 You sent the springs into the valleys; they are flowing between the hills. 11 They give drink to every beast of the field; the mountain asses come to them for water. 12 The birds of the air have their resting-places by them, and make their song among the branches. 13 He sends down rain from his store-houses on the hills: the earth is full of the fruit of his works. 14 He makes the grass come up for the cattle, and plants for the use of man; so that bread may come out of the earth; 15 And wine to make glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face shining, and bread giving strength to his heart. 16 The trees of the Lord are full of growth, the cedars of Lebanon of his planting; 17 Where the birds have their resting-places; as for the stork, the tall trees are her house. 18 The high hills are a safe place for the mountain goats, and the rocks for the small beasts.
19 He made the moon for a sign of the divisions of the year; teaching the sun the time of its going down. 20 When you make it dark, it is night, when all the beasts of the woods come quietly out of their secret places. 21 The young lions go thundering after their food; searching for their meat from God. 22 The sun comes up, and they come together, and go back to their secret places to take their rest. 23 Man goes out to his work, and to his business, till the evening. 24 O Lord, how great is the number of your works! in wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of the things you have made.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 104:1-24
Commentary on Psalm 104:1-9
(Read Psalm 104:1-9)
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.
Commentary on Psalm 104:10-18
(Read Psalm 104:10-18)
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?
Commentary on Psalm 104:19-30
(Read Psalm 104:19-30)
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.