The Book of Psalms

Word Study

"thou art very great," Hebrew gadalta me'od (גָּדַלְתָּ מְּאֹד). The psalm opens with the soul commanded to bless the LORD, and then gives the reason in three words. Everything that follows, the light, the stretched heavens, the clouds and the wind, is an unfolding of this greatness.

"clothed with honour and majesty," hod vehadar lavashta (הוֹד וְהָדָר לָבָשְׁתָּ). Majesty is spoken of as a robe God puts on. The psalm will keep this picture of dress: what is overwhelming splendour to us is simply what God wears.

"coverest thyself with light," oteh-or (עֹטֶה־אוֹר). On the first day God created light (Genesis 1:3); but here light is not merely something God made, it is what He wears. The blazing light of the sun and stars is only the hem of His clothing. What is dazzling brightness to us is everyday dress to Him.

"stretchest out the heavens like a curtain," noteh shamayim kayri'ah (נוֹטֶה שָׁמַיִם כַּיְרִיעָה). The vast heavens, which stagger us with their size, God spreads out as easily as a man pitches a tent, unrolling the sky like a length of cloth.

"maketh the clouds his chariot," hassam-avim rekhuvo (הַשָּׂם־עָבִים רְכוּבוֹ). This is not a distant God who wound up the world and walked away. He rides through His creation and "walketh upon the wings of the wind," intimately present in every storm and breeze, gloriously at home in the world He made.

Explanation

Two images in these opening verses tell us something wonderful about God. First, "who coverest thyself with light as with a garment." Think about that. On the first day God created light (Genesis 1:3); but here light is not merely something God made, it is what He wears. The blazing light of the sun and stars is only the hem of His clothing, the outshining of a glory that was older than any creature. What is dazzling brightness to us is everyday dress to Him. Second, "who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain." The vast heavens, which stagger us with their size, God spreads out as easily as a man pitches a tent, unrolling the sky like a length of cloth. And notice the picture that runs through the whole passage: this is not a distant God who wound up the world and walked away. He "maketh the clouds his chariot" and "walketh upon the wings of the wind", He rides through His creation, moves within it, is intimately present in every storm and breeze. The God of Psalm 104 is not aloof from the world but gloriously at home in it, robed in its light, riding its winds, filling it with His nearness. Such greatness is not cold; it is the greatness of a God who is everywhere present in the world He made and loves.

Gospel Focus

"Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment", this God robed in light is revealed in Jesus Christ, for "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5), and Christ declared, "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12). On the mount of transfiguration that hidden garment of light broke through His flesh, and "his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light" (Matthew 17:2). And the Creator who stretched out the heavens is the same Lord Jesus, for "by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth" (Colossians 1:16), and He is even now "upholding all things by the word of his power" (Hebrews 1:3). Indeed, the New Testament quotes verse 4 of this psalm, "Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire" (Hebrews 1:7), to show that the angels are but servants, while the Son is the Creator and Lord over them. The God clothed in light, who rides the clouds and stretches the sky, is the Lord Jesus, and He is not far from any one of us.

Word Study

"how manifold," Hebrew mah-rabbu (מָה־רַבּוּ). The word is a cry of astonishment at sheer number and variety: "O LORD, how manifold are thy works!" From the leviathan in the deep to the creeping things innumerable, the psalmist cannot count them.

"in wisdom," bechokhmah (בְּחָכְמָה). The multitude is not a jumble. "In wisdom hast thou made them all", every one of the countless works is the product of design, and "the earth is full of thy riches."

"these wait all upon thee," kullam eleikha yesabberun (כֻּלָּם אֵלֶיךָ יְשַׂבֵּרוּן). Many imagine creation as a great clock God wound up long ago and left ticking on its own. The psalm says the opposite: every creature that lives looks to God for its daily food, and "thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good." Creation lives hand-to-mouth from the open hand of God.

"in due season," be'itto (בְּעִתּוֹ). The food comes at its proper time, neither early nor late. The world does not run by itself for a single moment; it hangs, breath by breath, on God's continual and timely care.

"thou takest away their breath," tosef rucham (תֹּסֵף רוּחָם). The psalm presses to the very edge of life and death with the word ruach, which means both "breath" and "spirit." Life itself is nothing but God's breath, lent for a time; when He withdraws it, "they die, and return to their dust."

"thou sendest forth thy spirit," teshallach ruchakha (תְּשַׁלַּח רוּחֲךָ). The same word returns on the other side of death. The Spirit who "moved upon the face of the waters" at the beginning (Genesis 1:2) still breathes life into the world spring by spring, so that "thou renewest the face of the earth."

"they are created," yibbare'un (יִבָּרֵאוּן). New life is not merely continued but created, by the same verb used of God's original work. The world is not a machine; it is a household, and every living thing in it is fed and made alive, moment by moment, from the hand and the breath of God.

Explanation

The heart of this section overturns a common false picture of the world. Many imagine creation as a great clock that God wound up long ago and left ticking on its own. Psalm 104 says the very opposite: the world does not run by itself for a single moment; it hangs, breath by breath, on God's continual care. "These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season." Every creature that lives, from the leviathan in the deep to the sparrow in the branches, looks to God for its daily food, and "thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good." Creation lives hand-to-mouth from the open hand of God. And then the psalm presses to the very edge of life and death, and does it with a single Hebrew word, ruach, which means both "breath" and "spirit." "Thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust. Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created." Life itself is nothing but God's breath, lent for a time; when He withdraws it, the creature dies; when He breathes out His Spirit again, new life is created and "thou renewest the face of the earth." The same Spirit who "moved upon the face of the waters" at the beginning (Genesis 1:2) still breathes life into the world spring by spring. So the world is not a machine; it is a household, and every living thing in it is fed, moment by moment, from the hand and the breath of God.

Gospel Focus

"Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth", the Spirit who creates and renews the natural world is the same Spirit who works the new creation in Christ. As God breathes life into the earth, so He breathes new life into dead souls, for the new birth is a creation by the Spirit, "born of water and of the Spirit" (John 3:5), "by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost" (Titus 3:5), so that "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature" (2 Corinthians 5:17). And the dependence of all creatures on God's open hand is the dependence Christ taught us to own, praying, "Give us this day our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11), for "in him we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts 17:28). We do not keep ourselves alive; He keeps us, breath by breath. So bless the God who feeds every creature and renews the earth by His Spirit, and ask Him to breathe that same renewing Spirit into you, making you a new creature in Jesus Christ.

Word Study

"shall endure for ever," Hebrew yehi... le'olam (יְהִי לְעוֹלָם). The creatures come and go, but "the glory of the LORD shall endure for ever." The tour of creation ends by fixing the eye on the one thing in it that will never pass.

"the LORD shall rejoice in his works," yismach YHWH bema'asav (יִשְׂמַח יְהוָה בְּמַעֲשָׂיו). God takes pleasure in what He has made. The delight the psalmist has been describing all through the chapter is first of all God's own delight in His handiwork.

"as long as I live," bechayyai (בְּחַיָּי). The singer's resolve is lifelong: "I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being." Praise is not a phase; it is to fill the whole span of life, every day we have breath, that same breath God lends us.

"my meditation," sichi (שִׂיחִי). To think about God, to turn Him over in the mind, is the worship this psalm has been practising for thirty verses. Worship here is thoughtful, not merely emotional.

"shall be sweet," ye'erav (יֶעֱרַב). Such meditation is a pleasure rather than a chore: "My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD." Worship here is not a grim duty but a delight.

"Praise ye the LORD," Halelu-Yah (הַלְלוּ־יָהּ). This is the first time that great shout appears in the whole book of Psalms. The tour of creation ends where all things are meant to end, in a Hallelujah.

Explanation

After the long, glorious tour of creation, the psalm turns to the only fitting response, worship, and three things stand out. First, the singer's resolve is lifelong: "I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being." Praise is not a phase; it is to fill the whole span of life, every day we have breath, that same breath God lends us. Second, worship here is not a grim duty but a delight: "My meditation of him shall be sweet; I will be glad in the LORD." To think about God, to turn Him over in the mind, is sweet to this man, a pleasure rather than a chore. Third, and easy to miss, is the one discordant note in this beautiful world: "Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more." In a psalm celebrating the goodness and order of all creation, the single blot, the one thing that does not fit, is sin. The psalmist longs for the day when evil is removed and the world is unspoiled, its beauty no longer marred by wickedness. And then comes a word of great significance: "Praise ye the LORD", in Hebrew, Hallelujah. This is the first time that great shout appears in the whole book of Psalms. The tour of creation ends where all things are meant to end, in a Hallelujah.

Gospel Focus

"The glory of the LORD shall endure for ever", and one day it will fill the renewed creation the psalmist longed for, when "the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea" (Habakkuk 2:14). The single blot on this beautiful world, sin, will be removed at last by the Lord Jesus Christ, who will make "new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness" (2 Peter 3:13); the prayer "let the wicked be no more" is answered in the day when evil is purged and creation is unspoiled for ever. And the psalm's first "Hallelujah" is the opening note of a song that swells through Scripture until it fills heaven, where the redeemed cry "Alleluia" before the throne (Revelation 19:1). So take up the psalmist's resolve as your own, redeemed by Christ: sing to the LORD as long as you live, let your meditation of Him be sweet, and join the everlasting Hallelujah that creation was made to sing.