‘Praise the Lord my soul…’(Ps104:1)
Read Psalm 104
Like the previous Psalm, this one also begins with a call to praise the Lord but whilst Psalm 103 goes on to tell of God’s grace and goodness Psalm 104 depicts in beautiful language the greatness of God in all creation. It’s possible the author had the story of creation as found in Genesis in mind when he wrote this Psalm as it follows the same kind of order. Yet this Psalm is more than just a praise of nature and all that God has created.
What we can clearly take from these words is that God did not just simply create all things for the sake of doing so, He has created all things that He might reveal Himself to us. In His essential being God is invisible and is outwith time, space and all other parameters as we know and understand them. However, through His creation He has made Himself visible and known that the whole of creation might join in praise of and to Him. Indeed John Calvin once said that the Psalmist, ‘In comparing the light to a robe (v2) signifies that, though God is invisible, yet his glory is manifest’. Yet for all that still the Psalm reveals to us in such poetic language just how much God cares and provides for all that He has created.
For us today this Psalm reminds us that our God is a living active God who has not only created all life but who even now sustains and holds all life in the palm of His hands – and that includes us as human beings. It also provides us with the opportunity to answer those who might question the very existence of God. When we stop to consider all the beauty and glory of creation, the way in which all things have an order and a place, the miracle of new life – how can anyone deny the hand of the Lord in all of this.
As human beings we are the pinnacle of His creation and such was His love for us that He came to walk among us and to redeem us to Himself. So again we should look to join with the Psalmist in his exhortation, Praise the Lord, O my soul…
Lord, we do indeed praise You and lift our hearts and voices to You. May Your glory endure forever… Amen.
Question Of The Day: Which prophet preached to a valley of dry bones?