How Great Is Our God
Psalm 104:1-9
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul! O
LORD my God, You are very great: You are clothed with honor and majesty,
2 Who cover Yourself with
light as with a garment, Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain.
3 He lays the beams of His
upper chambers in the waters, Who makes the clouds His chariot, Who walks on
the wings of the wind,
4 Who makes His angels
spirits, His ministers a flame of fire.
5 You who laid the foundations
of the earth, So that it should not be moved forever,
6 You covered it with the deep
as with a garment; The waters stood above the mountains.
7 At Your rebuke they fled; At
the voice of Your thunder they hastened away.
8 They went up over the
mountains; They went down into the valleys, To the place which You founded for
them.
9 You have set a boundary that
they may not pass over, That they may not return to cover the earth.
Psalm 104 does not have a
title to tell us who the author is, or what was the occasion or circumstance
that was behind the writing of this magnificent hymn celebrating the glory of
the Creator and the incredible greatness of His creation. The fact that it
follows Psalm 103 and begins with the same words, “Bless the LORD, O my
soul”, leads many to believe that David also wrote Psalm 104. Also, like
Psalm 103 it could be called an “envelope” psalm because it ends with the same
words that it begins with.
This psalm is a true neighbor
to Psalm 103. The two go together: Psalm 103 celebrates God as the God of
circumstance; Psalm 104 celebrates Him as the God of creation. Psalm 103
magnifies God's grace; Psalm 104 magnifies God's glory. Psalm 103 deals with
God's mercy; Psalm 104 deals with God's might. The author of Psalm 104 has been
called "the Wordsworth of the ancients." He is evidently a man in
love with nature and in love with nature's Author and Creator.
The writer of the psalm
certainly had Genesis 1 in mind when he wrote, even though he did not follow
all six days of creation in detail, nor did he include the creation of man and
woman (see vv. 14, 23). He began with light (v. 2; Gen. 1:1-5) and continued
with the separation of the upper and lower waters (vv. 2-4; Gen. 1:6-8) and the
separation of land and water (vv. 5-9; Gen. 1:9-10). The provision of
vegetation is mentioned (vv. 14-17; Gen. 1:11-13), as well as the placing of
the sun and moon (vv. 19-23; Gen. 1:14-19), and the creation of land and sea
creatures (vv. 24-25; Gen. 1:20-28).
Paul may have had this psalm
in mind when he spoke to the Athenian philosophers in Acts 17:22-34, for it
presents a God who created and now sustains a beautiful and bountiful world
that reflects His glory (v. 31). As I read Psalm 104, I can’t help but think of
Colossians 1:15-17, where Paul declares this about Jesus; “He is the image
of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things
were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were
created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all
things consist.”
Psalm 104 declares that our
God is very great (v. 1), that He is very wise (v. 24), and that He is very
generous (v. 27). In spite of the fact that creation is in bondage to sin since
the fall of man (Rom. 8:18-23), we still live in an amazing universe run by
divinely ordained laws that are so remarkable we can send people to the moon
and bring them back! Whether the scientist uses the telescope, the microscope,
or the x-ray, he beholds the wonders of God's creation.
In closing today, I want to
highly recommend that you take the time to listen to an incredible message by
Louie Giglio entitled, “How Great Is Our God”. It can be found at this link on
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zocnmbd07a4 You
will be reminded that you have an awesome God who is able to meet every need
that you have!
God bless!
