Psalms 104

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The psalm opens with a call to bless the Lord, acknowledging His immense majesty and power as the Creator. It describes God's establishment of the heavens, earth, and waters, and His ongoing provision for all living creatures, from the smallest to the great Leviathan. The psalmist marvels at God's wisdom in ordering all things, from the cycles of day and night to the sustenance of life, concluding with a personal vow of praise and a desire for the wicked to vanish.

God's Transcendent Majesty 1–4

Bless Jehovah, O my soul. O Jehovah my God, thou art very great; Thou art clothed with honor and majesty:

Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment; Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain;

Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters; Who maketh the clouds his chariot; Who walketh upon the wings of the wind;

Who maketh winds his messengers; Flames of fire his ministers;

Establishing the Earth and Setting Boundaries 5–9

Who laid the foundations of the earth, That it should not be moved for ever.

Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a vesture; The waters stood above the mountains.

At thy rebuke they fled; At the voice of thy thunder they hasted away

(The mountains rose, the valleys sank down) Unto the place which thou hadst founded for them.

Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; That they turn not again to cover the earth.

Providing Water and Sustaining Life on Land 10–18

He sendeth forth springs into the valleys; They run among the mountains;

They give drink to every beast of the field; The wild asses quench their thirst.

By them the birds of the heavens have their habitation; They sing among the branches.

He watereth the mountains from his chambers: The earth is filled with the fruit of thy works.

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,

And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, Andoil to make his face to shine, And bread that strengtheneth man’s heart.

The trees of Jehovah are filledwith moisture, The cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted;

Where the birds make their nests: As for the stork, the fir-trees are her house.

The high mountains are for the wild goats; The rocks are a refuge for the conies.

The Order of Day and Night 19–23

He appointed the moon for seasons: The sun knoweth his going down.

Thou makest darkness, and it is night, Wherein all the beasts of the forest creep forth.

The young lions roar after their prey, And seek their food from God.

The sun ariseth, they get them away, And lay them down in their dens.

Man goeth forth unto his work And to his labor until the evening.

Wisdom in the Greatness of Creation 24–26

O Jehovah, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom hast thou made them all: The earth is full of thy riches.

Yonder is the sea, great and wide, Wherein are things creeping innumerable, Both small and great beasts.

There go the ships; There is leviathan, whom thou hast formed to play therein.

God the Universal Sustainer 27–30

These wait all for thee, That thou mayest give them their food in due season.

Thou givest unto them, they gather; Thou openest thy hand, they are satisfied with good.

Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled; Thou takest away their breath, they die, And return to their dust.

Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created; And thou renewest the face of the ground.

A Vow of Everlasting Praise 31–35

Let the glory of Jehovah endure for ever; Let Jehovah rejoice in his works:

Who looketh on the earth, and it trembleth; He toucheth the mountains, and they smoke.

I will sing unto Jehovah as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have any being.

Let my meditation be sweet unto him: I will rejoice in Jehovah.

Let sinners be consumed out of the earth. And let the wicked be no more. Bless Jehovah, O my soul. Praise ye Jehovah.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Psalms 104

Verse 1

very great — 'Bless the LORD, O my soul' opens the psalm and closes it (v.35), as it opens Ps 103:1. 'Honour and majesty' are hod and hadar, royal splendour: 'Honour and majesty are before him' (Ps 96:6).

Verse 2

coverest thyself with light — Light is his garment (salmah): he is 'dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto' (1 Tim 6:16), and 'God is light' (1 John 1:5). The 'curtain' (yeriah) is a tent-hanging; compare Isa 40:22, 'stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain'.

Verse 3

beams of his chambers — Aliyyah is an upper room; its beams are laid 'in the waters'. The clouds are his rekub, chariot: 'the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud' (Isa 19:1); 'he did fly upon the wings of the wind' (Ps 18:10).

Verse 4

his angels spirits — Ruach is wind or spirit, malak a messenger. Hebrews quotes the verse to set angels beneath the Son: 'And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire' (Heb 1:7); they are 'ministering spirits' (Heb 1:14).

Verse 5

foundations of the earth — Makon is a fixed base, a settled place. The earth stands because he set it: 'the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved' (Ps 96:10); 'he hath founded it upon the seas' (Ps 24:2).

Verse 6

the deep as with a garment — Tehom, the deep of Gen 1:2, 'darkness was upon the face of the deep'. As light clothes the LORD (v.2), the waters clothed the earth, standing above the mountains until he gathered them into seas (Gen 1:10; 2 Pet 3:5).

Verse 9

a bound that they may not pass over — Gevul, a boundary line. It answers the LORD's word to the sea: 'Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further' (Job 38:11). After the Flood he promised 'neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood' (Gen 9:11).

Verse 13

from his chambers — The same word, aliyyah, as in v.3: the upper rooms laid in the waters are where the rain comes from. Hills without rivers drink 'the rain of heaven' (Deut 11:11); the earth is satisfied by his 'works', ma'aseh.

Verse 14

herb for the service of man — 'Service' is 'avodah, work or tillage: the herb is what man cultivates. The 'food' brought out of the earth is lechem, bread, the word of v.15: 'As for the earth, out of it cometh bread' (Job 28:5).

Verse 15

wine… oil… bread — Three gifts, yayin, shemen, lechem, each with its effect: gladness, a shining face, strength. Wine 'cheereth God and man' (Judg 9:13); oil of gladness marks the anointed (Heb 1:9); bread 'strengtheneth' (sa'ad, to sustain).

Verse 19

the moon for seasons — Mo'ed is an appointed time, the word later used of the LORD's feasts. The lights were made 'for signs, and for seasons, and for days' (Gen 1:14). Sun and moon are servants of fixed times; the sun 'knoweth' its setting.

Verse 21

seek their meat from God — The kephir, young lion, roars for prey yet is said to seek it 'from God' (El). The LORD asks Job, 'Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion?' (Job 38:39); 'The eyes of all wait upon thee' (Ps 145:15).

Verse 24

in wisdom hast thou made them all — Chokmah is the word in 'He hath established the world by his wisdom' (Jer 10:12). 'Manifold' is rabab, multiplied. 'Riches' is qinyan, possessions: the earth is full of what he has made and owns.

Verse 26

that leviathan — Livyathan, the great creature the LORD describes at length to Job (Job 41:1). Here it is one he 'made to play' (sachaq, to sport, laugh), not a rival. Ships cross the same sea in the same verse.

Verse 29

Thou hidest thy face — Life depends on his face turned toward it: 'thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled' (Ps 30:7). 'Breath' is ruach, the word rendered 'spirit' in v.30; death returns the body to dust (Gen 3:19; Eccl 12:7).

Verse 30

Thou sendest forth thy spirit — Ruach is the same word as 'breath' in v.29. When it is withdrawn, creatures die, and when it is sent forth, they are bara, created. 'The Spirit of God hath made me' (Job 33:4); 'by the breath of his mouth' (Ps 33:6).

Verse 31

The glory of the LORD — Kavod, weight, splendour, 'shall endure for ever'. His rejoicing in his works recalls the sixth day: 'God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good' (Gen 1:31).

Verse 35

Let the sinners be consumed — The psalm asks that sinners and the wicked be removed from the earth he has filled with his works. The closing 'Bless thou the LORD, O my soul' returns to v.1. 'Praise ye the LORD' is hallelu-Yah, the Hebrew behind 'Hallelujah'.