Psalm 104:1-9

Praise of God for His Work in the Kingdom of Nature

The psalmist, probably David, as in the preceding psalm, celebrates the glory of God in the works of His creation and providence.

V. 1. Bless the Lord, O my soul, a powerful self-encouragement, like in the preceding psalm. O Lord, my God, Thou art very great, full of royal splendor and majestic glory; Thou art clothed with honor and majesty, these constituting the royal garment visible in all parts of the created universe;

  • v. 2. who coverest Thyself with light as with a garment, shining forth in the light of His creation with His eternal power and Godhead. Gen. 1, 3-5; who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain, the firmament of the visible heavens being considered a tent-curtain reflecting His glory, Gen. l, 6-8; Is. 40, 22;

  • v. 3. who layest the beams of His chambers in the waters, the upper rooms of God’s dwelling being regarded as founded on the waters beyond the firmament; who maketh the clouds His chariot, when He comes forth to bless with His rain and to threaten and destroy with His thunder and lightning, Is. 19, 1; who walketh upon the wings of the wind, in a glorious manifestation of His power;

  • v. 4. who maketh His angels spirits, His own messengers being present in the blessing and destroying power of the winds; His ministers a flaming fire, for they are active in and through the forces of nature, they are vehicles of God’s creative energy;

  • v. 5. who laid the foundations of the earth, establishing its pillars, a poetic mode of expression, to denote the stability of the earth as suspended freely in space, Job 26, 7; 38, 4, that it should not be removed forever, until the Lord Himself would choose to make the change toward a new heaven and a new earth.

V. 6. Thou coveredst it with the deep, with the waters of the original chaos, over which the Spirit of God moved at the time of creation, Gen. 1, 2, as with a garment;the waters stood above the mountains.

V. 7. At Thy rebuke they fled, when His command separated the sea from the dry land; at the voice of Thy thunder they hasted away. V. 8. They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which Thou hast founded for them, literally, “Up rose mountains, down sank valleys to the place which Thou didst establish for them,” all this being done on that great third day of creation, Gen. l, 9; for the mountains are as old as the earth and the waters, which originally covered it.

V. 9. Thou hast set a bound, fixed them a definite boundary, that they may not pass over, that they turn not again to cover the earth, Job 38, 8-11; Jer. 5, 22.