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.
25 There is the great, wide sea, where there are living things, great and small, more than may be numbered.
26 There go the ships; there is that great beast, which you have made as a plaything.
27 All of them are waiting for you, to give them their food in its time.
28 They take what you give them; they are full of the good things which come from your open hand.
29 If your face is veiled, they are troubled; when you take away their breath, they come to an end, and go back to the dust.
30 If you send out your spirit, they are given life; you make new the face of the earth.
31 Let the glory of the Lord be for ever; let the Lord have joy in his works:
32 At whose look the earth is shaking; at whose touch the mountains send out smoke.
33 I will make songs to the Lord all my life; I will make melody to my God while I have my being.
34 Let my thoughts be sweet to him: I will be glad in the Lord.
35 Let sinners be cut off from the earth, and let all evil-doers come to an end. Give praise to the Lord, O my soul. Give praise to the Lord.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 104
Commentary on Psalms 104 Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalm 104
It is very probable that this psalm was penned by the same hand, and at the same time, as the former; for as that ended this begins, with "Bless the Lord, O my soul!' and concludes with it too. The style indeed is somewhat different, because the matter is so: the scope of the foregoing psalm was to celebrate the goodness of God and his tender mercy and compassion, to which a soft and sweet style was most agreeable; the scope of this is to celebrate his greatness, and majesty, and sovereign dominion, which ought to be done in the most stately lofty strains of poetry. David, in the former psalm, gave God the glory of his covenant-mercy and love to his own people; in this he gives him the glory of his works of creation and providence, his dominion over, and his bounty to, all the creatures. God is there praised as the God of grace, here as the God of nature. And this psalm is wholly bestowed on that subject; not as Ps. 19, which begins with it, but passes from it to the consideration of the divine law; nor as Ps. 8, which speaks of this but prophetically, and with an eye to Christ. This noble poem is thought by very competent judges greatly to excel, not only for piety and devotion (that is past dispute), but for flight of fancy, brightness of ideas, surprising turns, and all the beauties and ornaments of expression, the Greek and Latin poets upon any subject of this nature. Many great things the psalmist here gives God the glory of
Psa 104:1-9
When we are addressing ourselves to any religious service we must stir up ourselves to take hold on God in it (Isa. 64:7); so David does here. "Come, my soul, where art thou? What art thou thinking of? Here is work to be done, good work, angels' work; set about it in good earnest; let all the powers and faculties be engaged and employed in it: Bless the Lord, O my soul!' In these verses,
Psa 104:10-18
Having given glory to God as the powerful protector of this earth, in saving it from being deluged, here he comes to acknowledge him as its bountiful benefactor, who provides conveniences for all the creatures.
Psa 104:19-30
We are here taught to praise and magnify God,
In the midst of this discourse the psalmist breaks out into wonder at the works of God (v. 24): O Lord! how manifold are thy works! They are numerous, they are various, of many kinds, and many of every kind; and yet in wisdom hast thou made them all. When men undertake many works, and of different kinds, commonly some of them are neglected and not done with due care; but God's works, though many and of very different kinds, are all made in wisdom and with the greatest exactness; there is not the least flaw nor defect in them. The works of art, the more closely they are looked upon with the help of microscopes, the more rough they appear; the works of nature through these glasses appear more fine and exact. They are all made in wisdom, for they are all made to answer the end they were designed to serve, the good of the universe, in order to the glory of the universal Monarch.
Psa 104:31-35
The psalmist concludes this meditation with speaking,