For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Psalm 104:1-26

1 Praise the Lord, my soul.

Lord my God, you are very great;
    you are clothed with splendour and majesty.

2 The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment;
    he stretches out the heavens like a tent
3     and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.
He makes the clouds his chariot
    and rides on the wings of the wind.
4 He makes winds his messengers,
    flames of fire his servants.

5 He set the earth on its foundations;
    it can never be moved.
6 You covered it with the watery depths as with a garment;
    the waters stood above the mountains.
7 But at your rebuke the waters fled,
    at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;
8 they flowed over the mountains,
    they went down into the valleys,
    to the place you assigned for them.
9 You set a boundary they cannot cross;
    never again will they cover the earth.

10 He makes springs pour water into the ravines;
    it flows between the mountains.
11 They give water to all the beasts of the field;
    the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 The birds of the sky nest by the waters;
    they sing among the branches.
13 He waters the mountains from his upper chambers;
    the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work.
14 He makes grass grow for the cattle,
    and plants for people to cultivate –
    bringing forth food from the earth:
15 wine that gladdens human hearts,
    oil to make their faces shine,
    and bread that sustains their hearts.
16 The trees of the Lord are well watered,
    the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 There the birds make their nests;
    the stork has its home in the junipers.
18 The high mountains belong to the wild goats;
    the crags are a refuge for the hyrax.

19 He made the moon to mark the seasons,
    and the sun knows when to go down.
20 You bring darkness, it becomes night,
    and all the beasts of the forest prowl.
21 The lions roar for their prey
    and seek their food from God.
22 The sun rises, and they steal away;
    they return and lie down in their dens.
23 Then people go out to their work,
    to their labour until evening.

24 How many are your works, Lord!
    In wisdom you made them all;
    the earth is full of your creatures.
25 There is the sea, vast and spacious,
    teeming with creatures beyond number –
    living things both large and small.
26 There the ships go to and fro,
    and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.

A. Find Out:

1. How does the psalmist see the Lord? v.1,2a
2. What does he first describe Him doing? v.2b-4
3. What does he then describe Him doing? v.5-9
4. What does he next describe Him doing? v.10-18
5. What does he next describe Him doing? v.19-23
6. How does he sum this up? v.24-26

B. Think:

1. What is the psalmist doing in each part we’ve read?
2. With what objective?

C. Comment:

  This is a psalm all about God’s greatness as it is realised in Creation. The psalmist starts off by acknowledging the Lord’s greatness and His sovereignty (v.1) and thereafter describes different facets of the Lord’s creation provision. He starts with the heavens or the skies (v.2-4) and then he turns to the earth and the seas (v.5-9). He speaks about how the Lord brought the waters to the earth and created the seas. From the seas he goes on to speak about how the Lord waters the land from springs (v.10) for all the wild creatures he has made (v.11,12) and for the domestic animals and man (v.14,15), and to provide a habitat for all creatures (v.16-18).

  From the awareness of God’s provision of the earth, he moves to the provision of day and night (v.19-23) that determines the different lifestyles for the animals (v.20-22) and for man (v.23).

  In verse 24 he starts a peal of praise for the wonder of God’s works, the sea, the land, all the creatures in the sea (v.25), and man’s activities in ships on the sea (v.26).

  It is very easy to take for granted the world in which we live. Great nature programmes on TV have pointed out the wonder of creation, but we need to remember all this is God’s provision for us, this incredible planet on which we live. This is all an expression of God’s love for us, to be enjoyed by us.

D. Application:

1. Realise afresh that God created this world for our blessing.
2. Give thanks to Him regularly for it.

Passage: Psalm 104:27-35

27 All creatures look to you
    to give them their food at the proper time.
28 When you give it to them,
    they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
    they are satisfied with good things.
29 When you hide your face,
    they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
    they die and return to the dust.
30 When you send your Spirit,
    they are created,
    and you renew the face of the ground.

31 May the glory of the Lord endure for ever;
    may the Lord rejoice in his works –
32 he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,
    who touches the mountains, and they smoke.

33 I will sing to the Lord all my life;
    I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,
    as I rejoice in the Lord.
35 But may sinners vanish from the earth
    and the wicked be no more.

Praise the Lord, my soul.

Praise the Lord.

A. Find Out:

1. Why do people look to the Lord? v.27,28
2. What two things has the Lord the capability of doing? v.29,30
3. What does the psalmist want for the Lord? v.31
4. What does he say he will do? v.33
5. What does he hope? v.34
6. Yet what does he ultimately desire? v.35

B. Think:

1. What provision does the psalmist initially consider?
2. Yet what big provision does he move on to consider?
3. What outworking does he consider this should bring?

C. Comment:

  We said yesterday that this is a psalm about Creation, but really it is more than that; it is a psalm about PROVISION. Yesterday we saw provision of water that provides so many other things, and those things culminated in the seas providing a means for the coming and going of mankind. Now the psalmist brings tighter and tighter focus to what he says. All of mankind looks to the Lord to provide their food (v.27) which they gladly receive (v.28). But it’s more than that. When He withholds His hand, and food is in short supply (implied), people fear. Even more when He decides to remove life, they die (v.29). But He’s also the God who brings His Spirit and life comes (v.30). Ultimately God is the bringer of life or death. All talk of His provision ultimately boils down to this.

  The psalmist’s desire is thus that God will always be glorified (v.31a) and that He will continue to enjoy His works (the world) and will thus continue to provide for us (implied v.31b). He has the ability to just touch the world and change it (v.32). For himself, the psalmist will give Him glory by singing praise (v.33) and trusts that all his thoughts will be right ones that are acceptable to the Lord (v.34), but as he looks on the world (implied) he wishes that sinners no longer existed on the earth to spoil it (implied v.35)

D. Application:

1. God is the provider of life and bringer of death. Fear and respect Him.
2. Praise the Lord for all His provision.