Psalm 104--O LORD My God, You Are Very Great

Psalm 104
English Standard Version
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O LORD My God, You Are Very Great
104 Bless the LORD, O my soul!
    O LORD my God, you are very great!
You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
2     covering yourself with light as with a garment,
    stretching out the heavens like a tent.
3 He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;
he makes the clouds his chariot;
    he rides on the wings of the wind;
4 he makes his messengers winds,
    his ministers a flaming fire.

5 He set the earth on its foundations,
    so that it should never be moved.
6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
    the waters stood above the mountains.
7 At your rebuke they fled;
    at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.
8 The mountains rose, the valleys sank down
    to the place that you appointed for them.
9 You set a boundary that they may not pass,
    so that they might not again cover the earth.

10 You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
    they flow between the hills;
11 they give drink to every beast of the field;
    the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;
    they sing among the branches.
13 From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
    the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.

14 You cause the grass to grow for the livestock
    and plants for man to cultivate,
that he may bring forth food from the earth
15     and wine to gladden the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine
    and bread to strengthen man's heart.

16 The trees of the LORD are watered abundantly,
    the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 In them the birds build their nests;
    the stork has her home in the fir trees.
18 The high mountains are for the wild goats;
    the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.

19 He made the moon to mark the seasons;
    the sun knows its time for setting.
20 You make darkness, and it is night,
    when all the beasts of the forest creep about.
21 The young lions roar for their prey,
    seeking their food from God.
22 When the sun rises, they steal away
    and lie down in their dens.
23 Man goes out to his work
    and to his labor until the evening.

24 O LORD, how manifold are your works!
    In wisdom have you made them all;
    the earth is full of your creatures.
25 Here is the sea, great and wide,
    which teems with creatures innumerable,
    living things both small and great.
26 There go the ships,
    and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.

27 These all look to you,
    to give them their food in due season.
28 When you give it to them, they gather it up;
    when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
29 When you hide your face, they are dismayed;
    when you take away their breath, they die
    and return to their dust.
30 When you send forth your Spirit, they are created,
    and you renew the face of the ground.

31 May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
    may the LORD rejoice in his works,
32 who looks on the earth and it trembles,
    who touches the mountains and they smoke!
33 I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;
    I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,
    for I rejoice in the LORD.
35 Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
    and let the wicked be no more!
Bless the LORD, O my soul!
Praise the LORD!

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There's lots of poetic language here to try to describe how great the LORD is.  First, He is robed in the splendor and majesty of light.  No one can look upon Him in the fullness of His glory.  Next, He owns and is in control of everything including the seas, the wind and the storm clouds that people usually think of as untamable.  He makes His chambers on the sea, rides upon the winds, and the [storm] clouds are but His chariot.  Wind and fire are but His servants and His messengers.

He is the Creator and Sustainer of all.  He has laid the foundations of the earth, caused the dry land to appear, and set boundaries for the seas so that they could go so far and no further, all by His spoken Word.  Once more He let the seas cover the earth during the Flood, but at His word, He rebuked them and the waters receded, never to cover the earth again.

He gives us everything necessary for life--living (moving) fresh water, food and shelter.  The Psalmist refers to the Land and the animals to show how they are taken care of, but we are supposed to argue from the lesser to the greater.  If the LORD takes care of the soulless animals and land like this, how much more will He provide for and care for man who was made in His image?  He has made creation so that we can enjoy it, even giving us things like bread and wine that more than satisfy our hunger and thirst.  He has filled the earth with all kinds of plants and trees that give all kinds of beautiful colors and smells.  Even the sound of the wind blowing through the branches makes beautiful music, and these forests and fields are home to all kinds of animals that find their shelter and supply of food there.  The LORD even takes care of the animals that live in desolate places like the goats that live in the mountains or in the wilderness.  While they are away from the lushness of the river valleys and forests, they are still cannot escape the provision of the LORD (even though it is less evident on the craggy mountain tops or in the arid deserts).

All of this is by the LORD's design and the LORD is the one that causes the Land to be fruitful for His people.  If it were not for His direct intervention, the Land would produce nothing for them.  Historically the land of Israel is arid and not good for growing crops when other nations have had possession of it, but the LORD promised His people a Land Flowing with Milk and Honey (abundantly fruitful and rich).  They saw some of this at that time of the Conquest with the large cluster of grapes that the spies brought back, but I'm sure there was some faith involved to see the Land as it was and say, "This is the Land Flowing with Milk and Honey?" and trust that the LORD could make something out of nothing as He always does.  The LORD causes the Land to be fruitful in due season for His people (see the blessings of the Mosaic Covenant if you question this).

We now move from the earth to the heavens where the psalmist observes the things that were made on Day 4 of creation.  The moon and the stars and the planets that are there to help us keep track of time and seasons, but they are also there to add another layer of beauty and to make us marvel even more at how great our God is.  The more we learn about the vastness of what we call "space," the smaller we feel, and the bigger God seems that He simply spoke all of it into existence, and that He hold it all together without any effort.  That task would be overwhelming to us, but He can be in control of the entire universe and still see and hear everything that is going on for each and every one of us.  Nothing is too difficult for Him.

Many are the creatures of the night that cloak themselves in darkness to stalk and hunt their prey, yet the LORD sees them too and cares for them (even though they are mostly unclean animals).  God made these nocturnal hunters to be active when man sleeps and to return to their dens when the sun came up so that man would live and work in safety.  All this was by His perfect design.

The LORD is bigger and stronger than the greatest forces of nature that we can comprehend.  The LORD controls the sea and all the living creatures in it, even the "sea monsters" like Leviathan that no man could capture or tame are under the control of the LORD.  He made the sea to be Leviathan's playground.

Every harvest season we realize that the LORD has looked on us with favor and blessing, because if it were not for His favor, there would be no harvest.  Therefore, we give the firstfruits of our harvest to the LORD to return thanks to Him and to show that we trust Him for the full measure of provision that He is going to provide.  Man's life is but a vapor and we only live because He breathed His Spirit into us.  Should He remove His spirit, we would return to dust.  The LORD has numbered our days and when they have reached the end of their course, our bodies die when our soul departs from the body.  Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

Heaven and earth may appear and stable and sure, but one day even they will pass away.  The LORD however will never pass away.  He will make a New Heaven and New Earth that will not be corrupted by sin and will last forever.  It will be the perfect place for Him to dwell with His people forever and ever.  Until then, we praise the LORD for who He is and what He has done (including being the Creator and Sustainer of all things), and ask that whatever we say, do, think and feel would be pleasing in His sight.  We also desire for that day to come when all the wicked will be destroyed, and the new creation will come so that all things will be "very good" once again.  Until then, we call on all peoples of the world to repent and believe the gospel.  Submit to the LORD and become His servants, for you cannot fight against Him.  Just look at the descriptions here and realize how foolish it would be to imagine that you could fight against such an awesome and powerful God and win.  No, your only chance is unconditional surrender and to fall on His mercy, grace, and steadfast love.