1 Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty. |
2 Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain: |
3 Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind: |
4 Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire: |
5 Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever. |
6 Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains. |
7 At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away. |
8 They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them. |
9 Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth. |
10 He sendeth the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills. |
11 They give drink to every beast of the field: the wild asses quench their thirst. |
12 By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches. |
13 He watereth the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works. |
14 He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth; |
15 And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart. |
16 The trees of the LORD are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted; |
17 Where the birds make their nests: as for the stork, the fir trees are her house. |
18 The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats; and the rocks for the conies. |
19 He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down. |
20 Thou makest darkness, and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth. |
21 The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God. |
22 The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens. |
23 Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening. |
24 O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches. |
25 So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts. |
26 There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein. |
27 These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season. |
28 That thou givest them they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good. |
29 Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, 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 the LORD shall endure for ever: the LORD shall rejoice in his works. |
32 He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: he toucheth the hills, and they smoke. |
33 I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. |
34 My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD. |
35 Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the LORD, O my soul. Praise ye the LORD. |
104 David in the foregoing psalm praises God for his love to his people; in this, for his works of creation and providence. He gives God the glory of his majesty in the upper world, Psa 104:1-4. The creation of the sea and dry land, Psa 104:5-9. The provision he makes for all the creatures, Psa 104:10-18. The regular course of the sun and moon, Psa 104:19-24. The furniture of the sea, Psa 104:25-26. God's care and sovereign power over all the creatures, Psa 104:27-32. Concludes with a resolution to continue praising God, Psa 104:33-35.
104:2 Light - With that first created light, which the psalmist fitly puts in the first place, as being the first of God's visible works.
104:3 Waters - In the waters above the heavens, as they are called, Gen 1:7.
104:4 Spirits - Of a spiritual or incorporeal nature, that they might be fitter for their employments. Fire - So called for their irresistible force and agility, and fervency in the execution of God's commands.
104:5 Who laid - Heb. he hath established the earth upon its own basis, whereby it stands as fast and unmoveable, as if it were built upon the strongest foundations. Forever - As long as the world continues.God has fixt so strange a place for the earth, that being an heavy body, one would think it should fall every moment. And yet which way so ever we would imagine it to stir, it must, contrary to the nature of such a body, fall upwards, and so can have no possible ruin, but by tumbling into heaven.
104:6 The deep - In the first creation, Gen 1:2, Gen 1:9.
104:7 Rebuke - Upon thy command, Gen 1:9.Fled - They immediately went to the place which God had allotted them.
104:8 Go up - In that first division of the waters from the earth, part went upwards, and became springs in the mountains, the greatest part went downwards to the channels made for them.
104:9 A bound - Even the sand of the sea - shore.
104:11 Wild asses - Stupid creatures, and yet plentifully provided for by the Divine providence.
104:13 The hills - Which most need moisture. From - From the clouds.Satisfied - By this means all the parts of the earth, are made fruitful.The fruit - With the effects of those sweet showers.
104:15 Oil - He alludes to the custom of those times and places, which was upon festival occasions to anoint their faces with oil.Bread - Which preserves or renews our strength and vigour.
104:16 Trees - Which come up, and thrive not by man's industry, but merely by the care of God's providence.
104:19 For seasons - To distinguish the times, the seasons of divers natural events, as of the ebbing and flowing of waters, and other seasons for sacred and civil affairs, which were commonly regulated by the moon.
104:20 Darkness - Which succeeds the light by virtue of thy decree.
104:21 Roar - They roar when they come within sight of their prey.Seek - Their roaring is a kind of natural prayer to God, for relief.
104:25 Creeping - This word is common to all creatures that move without feet.
104:26 Leviathan - The whale. Therein - Who being of such a vast strength and absolute dominion in the sea, tumbles in it with great security, and sports himself with other creatures.
104:29 Hidest - Withdrawest the care of thy providence.
104:30 Spirit - That quickening power of God, by which he produces life in the creatures from time to time. For he speaks not here of the first creation, but of the continued production of living creatures.Created - Other living creatures are produced; the word created being taken in its largest sense for the production of things by second causes.Renewest - And thus by thy wise and wonderful providence thou preservest the succession of living creatures.
104:31 Rejoice - Thus God advances the glory of his wisdom and power and goodness, in upholding the works of his hands from generation to generation, and he takes pleasure in the preservation of his works, as also in his reflection upon these works of his providence.
104:32 He looketh - This is a farther illustration of God's powerful providence: as when he affords his favour to creatures, they live and thrive, so on the contrary, one angry look or touch of his upon the hills or earth, makes them tremble and smoke, as Sinai did when God appeared in it.
104:35 Praise ye the Lord - Heb. Hallelujah. This is the first time that this word occurs. And it comes in here on occasion of the destruction of the wicked. And the last time it occurs, Rev 19:1, Rev 19:3, Rev 19:4, Rev 19:6, it is on a like occasion, the destruction of Babylon.