Psalm 104:13

Psalm 104 opens with God laying the foundations of the earth and setting bounds for the waters (Psalm 104:1–9). Verse 10 turns from those first waters to the fresh water that runs over the land every day, and the rest of the passage follows that water to the creatures who live by it. The psalm walks through the works of God much as Genesis 1 does, and its praise is for the God who made the world and goes on keeping it.

“He sendeth the springs into the valleys.” God is the one acting, and the verb shâlach is the ordinary Hebrew word for sending, also used for stretching out the hand. The springs, maʻyân, are fountains where water rises out of the ground. The valleys, nachal, are streams or wadis and the valleys they run through, whether their water flows all year or only in its season. The hills, har, are mountains and hill country, the higher ground. Between the low ground and the high ground the verse takes in the whole land, and the water God sends keeps moving, for the springs “run among the hills”. Proverbs speaks of the wisdom that was with God when he made the world (Proverbs 8:27–29), and that wisdom has ordered the water so that it reaches every part of the land.

Israel lived by farming, in a land of mountains, valleys and wadis where crops, flocks and towns all depended on springs and streams. Drought was a constant fear and was often taken as a sign of God’s displeasure, while plentiful water was a plain blessing from him. The first hearers knew from daily life what it meant that the LORD sends the springs.

Verse 13 carries the water up to the heights: “He watereth the hills from his chambers.” The “give drink” of verse 11 and the “watereth” of verse 13 are the same verb, shâqâh, which means to give to drink, to water or to irrigate. God gives drink to the wild beasts through the springs, and he gives drink to the hills through the rain. Then “the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.” The verb sâbaʻ means to be filled or sated, and the land is fed full by what God does. The same verb comes back in verse 16, where the trees of the LORD “are full”. Scripture praises God for this gift in many places. Psalm 65:9–10 thanks him for watering the earth abundantly, Isaiah likens his word to the rain and snow that water the earth (Isaiah 55:10–11), God promises water in the desert (Isaiah 41:18), and in Job he speaks of his provision of rain for the wilderness (Job 38:25–27).

The “they” of verse 11 are the springs of verse 10, and they “give drink to every beast of the field”. The word for beast, chay, means a living thing and is often used of wild animals, as distinct from the livestock a household kept. People could dig wells and channel water for their flocks, while the animals of the open country drank where God sent the springs, and Israel saw that as his kindness alone.

Then the verse names one animal: “the wild asses quench their thirst.” The wild ass, pereʼ, is the onager, an independent animal that lives in harsh, dry country where water is scarce. Job describes its freedom and its home in the wilderness (Job 39:5–8). By naming the wild ass the psalm shows how far God’s care reaches, out to the most remote and untamed creatures, which live far from any human hand. Psalm 145:15–16 praises God who provides for all his creatures and satisfies every living thing, and later in this psalm all creatures look to him for their food (Psalm 104:27–28). At creation God said, “to every beast of the earth ... I have given every green herb for meat” (Genesis 1:29–30), and he still feeds the raven (Job 38:41) and the young ravens (Psalm 147:9).

The springs also make places to live. “By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches.” “By them” means by the waters. Trees grow green beside the springs and streams, and birds settle in their branches, so the water God sends gives the birds both a home and a place to sing. The word for fowls, ‘ôwph, comes from a root meaning to fly and covers every winged creature, often all of them together. To “have their habitation” is shâkan, to settle down, stay or dwell.

“Sing” is two Hebrew words, nâthan qôwl, “give voice”. Nâthan is the common verb “to give”, used very widely, and qôwl is a voice or a sound. The birds lift their voices among the branches, and their song is the sound of the life God gives them. Creation praises its Maker in its own way, and the psalms call on all creation to praise him (Psalm 148), and on everything that has breath (Psalm 150).

Verse 17 comes back to the birds after the cedars: “Where the birds make their nests: as for the stork, the fir trees are her house.” The trees God planted in verse 16 are where the birds build. The word for birds here is a different one, tsippôwr, which Strong’s explains as a little bird, “as hopping”. Then the psalm picks out one large bird. The stork, chăçîydâh, was a familiar sight in Israel. The white stork travels between Europe and Africa and passes through the land, and it builds big nests on high places such as trees, cliffs and ruins. The fir trees, bᵉrôwsh, are cypress or fir, probably tall conifers such as junipers or cypresses, which grew in the mountains and had the height and the strong branches to hold the stork’s great nest. God has matched the bird to its home, and he shows Job the same wisdom in the ways of the birds (Job 39:26–27).

“He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man.” The growing is God’s continuing work. The grass, châtsîyr, is green growth, often the fodder animals graze, and the cattle, bᵉhêmâh, are the livestock that in turn serve people. The herb, ʻeseb, is any green plant or tender shoot, and here it is given “for the service of man”. Man is ʼâdâm, and service is ʻăbôdâh, the ordinary word for work, labour or service. So the plants God grows for people are meant for their use, and they reach the table through people’s labour in the fields. God gives each kind of creature what it needs. At creation he commanded the earth to bring forth “grass” and “herb yielding seed” (Genesis 1:11–12), and he gave the green plants as food to man and beast.

“That he may bring forth food out of the earth.” The verb yâtsâʼ means to go or come out, and in this form to bring out. The food is lechem, bread or food, and the earth is ʼerets. The verse gives the purpose of the grass and the herb: God brings food up out of the ground. The earth yields what he brings out of it, and every harvest is his gift.

Verse 15 names three gifts from the land and what each one does for man. “Wine that maketh glad the heart of man”: the wine is yayin, and the verb sâmach means to rejoice or be glad, here to make glad. Wine was the common drink with meals, often mixed with water, and it belonged to feasts, celebrations and the festivals of Israel.

“Oil to make his face to shine”: the oil is shemen, usually olive oil, which was used for cooking, for lamps, for skin and hair, for medicine, and for anointing priests, kings and prophets. The verb tsâhal means to gleam, and it can also mean to be cheerful. A face shining with oil was a sign of health, favour and well-being, and a face left unanointed went with mourning, as in Joab’s counsel to the woman of Tekoa (2 Samuel 14:2). Psalm 23 praises the LORD for oil on the head and a cup that runs over (Psalm 23:5).

“Bread which strengtheneth man’s heart”: the bread is lechem, the same word as the “food” of verse 14, and it was the staple of every meal and the strength for the day’s work. The verb çâʻad means to support, to hold up or to refresh. The heart comes twice in this verse, gladdened by wine and strengthened by bread. In Hebrew thought the heart is the inner core of a person, taking in feeling, mind and will as well as bodily strength, so these gifts reach the whole person.

Bread, oil and wine were the chief produce of Israel’s land, and having them in plenty was a sign of God’s blessing on his people and their land. God gives his people gladness and a bright face along with the bread that keeps them alive. Paul says that God gives us richly all things to enjoy (1 Timothy 6:17), and John prays that his friend Gaius may prosper and be in health (3 John 1:2). Every one of these gifts comes from the God who called his creation good.

“The trees of the LORD are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted.” The trees, ʻêts, are trees or wood, and they belong to the LORD, Yᵉhôvâh, the covenant name of God. The words “of sap” were added by the translators to make the sense plain. The Hebrew says simply that the trees are full, with sâbaʻ, the verb used of the satisfied earth in verse 13. The trees are well watered and thriving, and they have all they need for strong growth.

The cedars of Lebanon were famous among the nations for their size, often growing over a hundred feet tall, for their strength and fragrant wood, and for their long life, some of them living for thousands of years. Lebanon’s high mountains catch heavy rain and snow, and the cedars flourished there. Solomon asked for these cedars to build the temple (1 Kings 5:6) and used them in his palaces as well, and the cedar became a picture of majesty, strength and lasting power. “Which he hath planted” gives their existence and their flourishing to God. The cedars stand where God himself set them, so even the tallest and strongest things on earth are the LORD’s planting and drink from his hand. Isaiah uses these same cedars as a picture of the proud, whom the LORD will bring low (Isaiah 2:13), and the blessed man of Psalm 1:3 is like a tree planted by the waters, flourishing because of where he is planted.

“The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats; and the rocks for the conies.” The high hills are har with gâbôahh, which means high, tall or lofty, here plain physical height. The wild goats, yâʻêl, are the ibex, the Nubian ibex of that land, which climbs and lives on steep, high, rocky mountainsides. The rocks, çelaʻ, are crags, cliffs and boulders. The conies, shâphân, are hyraxes, also called rock badgers, small plant-eating animals that live in colonies in rock crevices, caves and cliff faces. Both find in these places a machăçeh, a refuge or shelter, a place of safety, from a root meaning to flee for protection or to trust.

The heights that would stop most creatures are a stronghold to the ibex, and the cracks in the rock keep the little hyrax safe from its enemies. Proverbs praises the wisdom of the conies in seeking safety in the rocks (Proverbs 30:26), and in Job God speaks of his care for the wild animals (Job 39:1–8). The LORD founded the earth by wisdom (Proverbs 3:19), and that wisdom has given every creature a fitting place.

The psalmist knew such country well: the Judean wilderness, the mountains of Galilee and the rocky land by the Dead Sea, where ibex and hyrax both live. People in Israel took refuge in rocky heights like these in times of war and danger, and the psalms use the same picture for God. David calls the LORD his rock, his fortress and his deliverer (Psalm 18:2), and another psalm calls God our refuge and strength (Psalm 46:1). The God who gives the wild goats their high hills is the refuge of his people.

Psalm 104 dwells on springs, birds, trees and wild animals because God’s glory shows in all of them. The psalm before it, Psalm 103, praises God’s covenant faithfulness to his people, and Psalm 104 widens the view to his rule and care over all creation. His care reaches the whole created order, out to creatures in places people seldom go, and it shows his wisdom, his power and his attention to the smallest detail.

We are part of this world, and we depend on the same Creator. The springs that water the wild asses also water the crops and flocks that feed people, and they give drink to towns, so God’s care for the land is care for us as well. Jesus reasons from the lesser to the greater in just this way: “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?” (Matthew 6:26). In Luke he says, “Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than fowls?” (Luke 12:24). His whole teaching on food, clothing and the lilies of the field rests on the God of this psalm (Matthew 6:25–34). If God gives the wild goat its refuge and the stork its house, his children, made in his image, can trust him with their needs, and Paul writes that God shall supply all our need (Philippians 4:19).

All things were made by the Son (John 1:3), and by him all things hold together (Colossians 1:16–17). He upholds all things by the word of his power (Hebrews 1:3). So the springs, the rain and the cedars of this passage come from his hand and are kept by it.

The gifts of these verses also point to what God gives in Christ. Jesus called the thirsty to come to him and drink, and promised “rivers of living water” (John 7:37–38). He offered the woman of Samaria living water that would become in her a spring rising up to everlasting life (John 4:10–14). At the end of Scripture the river of the water of life flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb (Revelation 22:1). Jesus calls himself the bread of life (John 6:35) and the living bread that came down from heaven (John 6:51), the bread that strengthens the heart for everlasting life. His first sign at Cana gave abundant good wine (John 2:1–11), and he gave the cup of the new covenant in his blood (Luke 22:20). He was anointed by the Spirit (Luke 4:18), and God has anointed and sealed his people with the Spirit (2 Corinthians 1:21–22), as oil made the face shine.

The trees full of sap recall the true vine, from whom his branches draw their life and fruit (John 15:5), and the abundant life he came to give (John 10:10). The stork’s house and the conies’ refuge point to the Word who dwelt among us (John 1:14), to his promise of a place in his Father’s house (John 14:2–3), and to his call: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). The birds singing among the branches look ahead to the new song of the redeemed (Revelation 5:9–10).

These verses show a God who is generous and near. He sends the springs and the rain, he grows the grass and the herbs, and he knows where each creature lives, from the wild ass in the desert to the coney in the rock. His care covers the whole world he made, and it is careful and particular, with the right tree for the stork and the right rock for the hyrax. He gives his people gladness, beauty and strength along with their daily bread. The cedars and the conies are his, and so are we, and every meal comes out of the earth because he brings it out.

The homes he has made for his creatures are his work, and the earth that holds them has been put in our care. The God who satisfies the earth with the fruit of his works is the same God who gives his people living water and the bread of life in his Son. The water you drink and the bread you break come from the hand that sends the springs into the valleys.