Psalm 104:1-24

The LORD's Care for His Creation

104¹ O my soul, bless God! God, my God, how great you are! beautifully, gloriously robed, ² Dressed up in sunshine, and all heaven stretched out for your tent. ³ You built your palace on the ocean deeps, made a chariot out of clouds and took off on wind-wings. ⁴ You commandeered winds as messengers, appointed fire and flame as ambassadors. ⁵ You set earth on a firm foundation so that nothing can shake it, ever. ⁶ You blanketed earth with ocean, covered the mountains with deep waters; ⁷ Then you roared and the water ran away - your thunder crash put it to flight. ⁸ Mountains pushed up, valleys spread out in the places you assigned them. ⁹ You set boundaries between earth and sea; never again will earth be flooded.

¹⁰ You started the springs and rivers, sent them flowing among the hills. ¹¹ All the wild animals now drink their fill, wild donkeys quench their thirst. ¹² Along the riverbanks the birds build nests, ravens make their voices heard. ¹³ You water the mountains from your heavenly cisterns; earth is supplied with plenty of water. ¹⁴ You make grass grow for the livestock, hay for the animals that plow the ground. Oh yes, God brings grain from the land, ¹⁵ wine to make people happy, Their faces glowing with health, a people well-fed and hearty. ¹⁶ God's trees are well-watered - the Lebanon cedars he planted. ¹⁷ Birds build their nests in those trees; look - the stork at home in the treetop. ¹⁸ Mountain goats climb about the cliffs; badgers burrow among the rocks.

¹⁹ The moon keeps track of the seasons, the sun is in charge of each day. ²⁰ When it's dark and night takes over, all the forest creatures come out. ²¹ The young lions roar for their prey, clamoring to God for their supper. ²² When the sun comes up, they vanish, lazily stretched out in their dens. ²³ Meanwhile, men and women go out to work, busy at their jobs until evening. ²⁴ What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations.

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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.