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Psalms 104

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God's Transcendent Majesty 1–4

1
Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty. ​
2
Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain: ​
3
Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind: ​
4
Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire: ​

Establishing the Earth and Setting Boundaries 5–9

5
Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever. ​
6
Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains. ​
7
At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.
8
They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them.
9
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

10
He sendeth the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills.
11
They give drink to every beast of the field: the wild asses quench their thirst.
12
By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches.
13
He watereth the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works. ​
14
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; ​
15
And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart. ​
16
The trees of the LORD are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted;
17
Where the birds make their nests: as for the stork, the fir trees are her house.
18
The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats; and the rocks for the conies.

The Order of Day and Night 19–23

19
He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down. ​
20
Thou makest darkness, and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth.
21
The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God. ​
22
The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens.
23
Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening.

Wisdom in the Greatness of Creation 24–26

24
O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches. ​
25
So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts.
26
There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein. ​

God the Universal Sustainer 27–30

27
These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season.
28
That thou givest them they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good.
29
Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust. ​
30
Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth. ​

A Vow of Everlasting Praise 31–35

31
The glory of the LORD shall endure for ever: the LORD shall rejoice in his works. ​
32
He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: he toucheth the hills, and they smoke.
33
I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
34
My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD.
35
Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the LORD, O my soul. Praise ye the LORD. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · 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: '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, the same word as 'breath' in v.29: withdrawn, creatures die; 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'.