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Psalm 104

God the Creator and Provider

1

Bless the L ord, O my soul.

O L ord my God, you are very great.

You are clothed with honor and majesty,

2

wrapped in light as with a garment.

You stretch out the heavens like a tent,

3

you set the beams of your chambers on the waters,

you make the clouds your chariot,

you ride on the wings of the wind,

4

you make the winds your messengers,

fire and flame your ministers.

 

5

You set the earth on its foundations,

so that it shall never be shaken.

6

You cover it with the deep as with a garment;

the waters stood above the mountains.

7

At your rebuke they flee;

at the sound of your thunder they take to flight.

8

They rose up to the mountains, ran down to the valleys

to the place that you appointed for them.

9

You set a boundary that they may not pass,

so that they might not again cover the earth.

 

10

You make springs gush forth in the valleys;

they flow between the hills,

11

giving drink to every wild animal;

the wild asses quench their thirst.

12

By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation;

they sing among the branches.

13

From your lofty abode you water the mountains;

the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.

 

14

You cause the grass to grow for the cattle,

and plants for people to use,

to bring forth food from the earth,

15

and wine to gladden the human heart,

oil to make the face shine,

and bread to strengthen the human heart.

16

The trees of the L ord are watered abundantly,

the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.

17

In them the birds build their nests;

the stork has its home in the fir trees.

18

The high mountains are for the wild goats;

the rocks are a refuge for the coneys.

19

You have made the moon to mark the seasons;

the sun knows its time for setting.

20

You make darkness, and it is night,

when all the animals of the forest come creeping out.

21

The young lions roar for their prey,

seeking their food from God.

22

When the sun rises, they withdraw

and lie down in their dens.

23

People go out to their work

and to their labor until the evening.

 

24

O L ord, how manifold are your works!

In wisdom you have made them all;

the earth is full of your creatures.

25

Yonder is the sea, great and wide,

creeping things innumerable are there,

living things both small and great.

26

There go the ships,

and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.

 

27

These all look to you

to give them their food in due season;

28

when you give to them, they gather it up;

when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.

29

When you hide your face, they are dismayed;

when you take away their breath, they die

and return to their dust.

30

When you send forth your spirit, they are created;

and you renew the face of the ground.

 

31

May the glory of the L ord endure forever;

may the L ord rejoice in his works—

32

who looks on the earth and it trembles,

who touches the mountains and they smoke.

33

I will sing to the L ord as long as I live;

I will sing praise to my God while I have being.

34

May my meditation be pleasing to him,

for I rejoice in the L ord.

35

Let sinners be consumed from the earth,

and let the wicked be no more.

Bless the L ord, O my soul.

Praise the L ord!


5 He hath founded the earth upon its foundations Here the prophet celebrates the glory of God, as manifested in the stability of the earth. Since it is suspended in the midst of the air, and is supported only by pillars of water, how does it keep its place so steadfastly that it cannot be moved? This I indeed grant may be explained on natural principles; for the earth, as it occupies the lowest place, being the center of the world, naturally settles down there. But even in this contrivance there shines forth the wonderful power of God. Again, if the waters are higher than the earth, because they are lighter, why do they not cover the whole earth round about? Certainly the only answer which philosophers can give to this is, that the tendency of the waters to do so is counteracted by the providence of God, that a dwelling-place might be provided for man. If they do not admit that the waters are restrained by the determinate appointment of God, they betray not only their depravity and unthankfulness, but also their ignorance, and are altogether barbarous. The prophet, therefore, not without reason, recounts among the miracles of God, that which would be to us wholly incredible, did not even experience show its truth. We are very base indeed if, taught by such undoubted a proof, we do not learn that nothing in the world is stable except in as far as it is sustained by the hand of God. The world did not originate from itself, consequently, the whole order of nature depends on nothing else than his appointment, by which each element has its own peculiar property. Nor is the language of the prophet to be viewed merely as an exhortation to give thanks to God; it is also intended to strengthen our confidence in regard to the future, that we may not live in the world in a state of constant fear and anxiety, as we must have done had not God testified that he has given the earth for a habitation to men. It is a singular blessing, which he bestows upon us, in his causing us to dwell upon the earth with undisturbed minds, by giving us the assurance that he has established it upon everlasting pillars. Although cities often perish by earthquakes, yet the body of the earth itself remains. Yea, all the agitations which befall it more fully confirm to us the truth, that the earth would be swallowed up every moment were it not preserved by the secret power of God.

6. He hath covered it with the deep as with a garment, This may be understood in two ways, either as implying that now the sea covers the earth as a garment, or that at the beginning, before God by his omnipotent word held gathered the waters together into one place, the earth was covered with the deep. But the more suitable sense appears to be, that the sea is now the covering of the earth. At the first creation the deep was not so much a garment as a grave, inasmuch as nothing bears less resemblance to the adorning of apparel than the state of confused desolation and shapeless chaos in which the earth then was. Accordingly, in my judgment, there is here celebrated that wonderful arrangement by which the deep, although without form, is yet the garment of the earth. But as the context seems to lead to a different view, interpreters are rather inclined to explain the language as denoting, That the earth was covered with the deep before the waters had been collected into a separate place. This difficulty is however easily solved, if the words of the prophet, The waters shall stand above the mountains, are resolved into the potential mood thus, The waters would stand above the mountains; which is sufficiently vindicated from the usage of the Hebrew language. I have indeed no doubt that the prophet, after having said that God had clothed the earth with waters, adds, by way of exposition, that the waters would stand above the mountains, were it not that they flee away at God’s rebuke. Whence is it that the mountains are elevated, and that the valleys sink down, but because bounds are set to the waters, that they may not return to overwhelm the earth? The passage then, it is obvious, may very properly be understood thus, — that the sea, although a mighty deep, which strikes terror by its vastness, is yet as a beautiful garment to the earth. The reason of the metaphor is, because the surface of the earth stands uncovered. The prophet affirms that this does not happen by chance; for, if the providence of God did not restrain the waters, would they not immediately rush forth to overwhelm the whole earth? He, therefore, speaks advisedly when he maintains that the appearance of any part of the earth’s surface is not the effect of nature, but is an evident miracle. Were God to give loose reins to the sea, the waters would suddenly cover the mountains. But now, fleeing at God’s rebuke, they retire to a different quarter. By the rebuke of God, and the voice of his thunder, is meant the awful command of God, by which he restrains the violent raging of the sea. Although at the beginning, by his word alone, he confined the sea within determinate bounds, and continues to this day to keep it within them, yet if we consider how tumultuously its billows cast up their foam when it is agitated, it is not without reason that the prophet speaks of it, as kept in check by the powerful command of God; just as, both in Jeremiah, (Jeremiah 5:22) and in Job, (Job 28:25) God, with much sublimity, commends his power, as displayed in the ocean. The ascending of the mountains, and the descending of the valleys, are poetical figures, implying, that unless God confined the deep within bounds, the distinction between mountains and valleys, which contributes to the beauty of the earth, would cease to exist, for it would engulf the whole earth. It is said that God has founded a place for the valleys; for there would be no dry land at the foot of the mountains, but the deep would bear sway, did not God command the space there to be unoccupied by the sea, as it were contrary to nature.

9. Thou hast set a bound which they shall not pass The miracle spoken of is in this verse amplified, from its perpetuity. Natural philosophers are compelled to admit, and it is even one of their first principles, that the water is circular, and occupies the region intermediate between the earth and the air. It is entirely owing to the providence of God, that part of the earth remains dry and fit for the habitation of men. This is a fact of which mariners have the most satisfactory evidence. Yea, were even the rudest and most stupid of our race only to open their eyes, they would behold in the sea mountains of water elevated far above the level of the land. Certainly no banks, and even no iron gates, could make the waters, which in their own nature are fluid and unstable, keep together and in one place, as we see to be the case. I have just now said that earthquakes, which bring destruction upon some places, leave the globe, upon the whole, as it was before; and in like manner, although the sea, in some parts of the world, overpasses its boundaries, yet the law, which confines it; within certain limits, stands fast, that the earth may be a fit habitation for men. The Baltic Sea, in our own time, inundated large tracts of land, and did great damage to the Flemish people and other neighboring nations. By an instance of this kind we are warned what would be the consequence, were the restraint imposed upon the sea, by the hand of God, removed. How is it that we have not thereby been swallowed up together, but because God has held in that outrageous element by his word? In short, although the natural tendency of the waters is to cover the earth, yet this will not happen, because God has established, by his word, a counteracting law, and as his truth is eternal, this law must remain steadfast.


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