Psalm 104: 1 Praise the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendour and majesty.
Psalm 104 is a psalm about the greatness of God as Creator and Sustainer of the earth. It is the inspiration for that wonderful hymn "O worship the King". Like Psalm 103 it begins and ends with the words Praise the LORD, O my soul. The psalmist speaks to himself (the first sign of sense not of madness) and stirs himself up to praise the LORD, the true God, saying O LORD my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendour and majesty. That God is great is evidenced in the things that this psalm talks about. To use a picture, it is as though, in creation, God has dressed himself with splendour and majesty. In the psalm he instances things such as the light, the sky, wind, lightening, land and sea, rivers and streams, animals wild and domesticated, birds, plants, food, mountains, planets, mankind. It is not only the things themselves but the way they interact and continue that results in one giant testimony to the greatness and sheer splendour of the LORD, the one who deserves all praise and honour from us. Of course, if somehow we can manage to ignore all this or shut it out of our thinking or come up with some alternative explanation then we will not be in awe of God or give him praise. Nevertheless, the moment we start thinking of creation or providence in the right way, it is bound to stir in us, at least to some extent, a desire to acknowledge the Creator and the Provider of it all. Sustained meditation of this sort will make you determined to sing to the LORD all your life, to sing praise to your God as long as you live.
Psalm 104 is a psalm about the greatness of God as Creator and Sustainer of the earth. It is the inspiration for that wonderful hymn "O worship the King". Like Psalm 103 it begins and ends with the words Praise the LORD, O my soul. The psalmist speaks to himself (the first sign of sense not of madness) and stirs himself up to praise the LORD, the true God, saying O LORD my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendour and majesty. That God is great is evidenced in the things that this psalm talks about. To use a picture, it is as though, in creation, God has dressed himself with splendour and majesty. In the psalm he instances things such as the light, the sky, wind, lightening, land and sea, rivers and streams, animals wild and domesticated, birds, plants, food, mountains, planets, mankind. It is not only the things themselves but the way they interact and continue that results in one giant testimony to the greatness and sheer splendour of the LORD, the one who deserves all praise and honour from us. Of course, if somehow we can manage to ignore all this or shut it out of our thinking or come up with some alternative explanation then we will not be in awe of God or give him praise. Nevertheless, the moment we start thinking of creation or providence in the right way, it is bound to stir in us, at least to some extent, a desire to acknowledge the Creator and the Provider of it all. Sustained meditation of this sort will make you determined to sing to the LORD all your life, to sing praise to your God as long as you live.
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