Psalm 104 explained: A Song About Everything God Made

God dressed in light (vv. 1-4)

The poet pictures God like a king in royal clothing, with light as his robe, the sky as his tent, and clouds and wind as his chariot and servants. Christians later quoted verse 4 as a description of angels, though in the psalm itself it speaks of wind and fire.

The waters pushed back (vv. 5-9)

This follows the ancient picture of a world first covered by water, until God's command, like thunder, drove the water into its place so dry land appeared. The fixed boundary of the sea showed that the world is kept safe and stable by God, not left to chaos.

Water, food and home (vv. 10-18)

Springs and rain feed animals, trees and crops, and people get bread for strength, wine for joy and oil that makes their faces shine. Every creature, from storks to wild goats to the hyrax (a small animal that lives among rocks), is given a place to live.

Night and day (vv. 19-23)

The moon marks the calendar and the sun keeps its schedule, so night belongs to hunting lions and day belongs to working people. Even the lions' roar is pictured as asking God for food.

Every creature depends on God (vv. 24-30)

The sea teems with life, including Leviathan, a great sea creature that other ancient texts treat as a fearsome monster, but here God made it to play, either in the sea or, as the Hebrew can also mean, as something he plays with. All living things eat when God opens his hand, die when he takes their breath, and are made new when he sends his Spirit, a word that also means breath.

A closing song and wish (vv. 31-35)

The poet hopes God will delight in what he made and promises to sing to him for life. Then he asks that wrongdoers vanish from the earth, a harsh line that many readers take as wishing away whatever spoils this good world.

Key verse: Psalm 104:24

Something to think about

What in the natural world, if anything, still stops you in your tracks, and what do you make of that feeling?