Scripture Daily

Context No. 1159 of 4322 · Psalms

Context · Reflection

Psalms 104:1-16: in context

1Bless the LORD, my soul. The LORD, my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honor and majesty. 2He covers himself with light as with a garment. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain. 3He lays the beams of his rooms in the waters. He makes the clouds his chariot. He walks on the wings of the wind. 4He makes his messengers winds, and his servants flames of fire. 5He laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be moved forever. 6You covered it with the deep as with a cloak. The waters stood above the mountains. 7At your rebuke they fled. At the voice of your thunder they hurried away. 8The mountains rose, the valleys sank down, to the place which you had assigned to them. 9You have set a boundary that they may not pass over, that they don’t turn again to cover the earth. 10He sends springs into the valleys. They run among the mountains. 11They give drink to every animal of the field. The wild donkeys quench their thirst. 12The birds of the sky nest by them. They sing among the branches. 13He waters the mountains from his rooms. The earth is filled with the fruit of your works. 14He causes the grass to grow for the livestock, and plants for man to cultivate, that he may produce food out of the earth: 15wine that makes the heart of man glad, oil to make his face to shine, and bread that strengthens man’s heart. 16The LORD’s trees are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon, which he has planted,

This great creation psalm sings of God as the maker and sustainer of the world. He is clothed in light, stretches out the heavens like a tent, rides on the clouds and the wings of the wind, makes the winds his messengers. He set the earth on its foundations, bounded the seas so they cannot flood the land, sends springs into the valleys to water the animals, makes grass grow for the cattle and plants for people to cultivate, bringing forth wine to gladden the heart, oil to make the face shine, and bread to strengthen the body.

What sets this psalm apart is how it delights in God's ongoing, ordinary provision. It is not only that God made the world long ago; he keeps it running, sends the springs, feeds the wild donkeys, waters the trees, causes the grass to grow. And the psalm lingers with real pleasure over the gifts, wine that gladdens the heart, oil that makes the face shine, bread that strengthens; these are not bare necessities but good things, and God is credited with the gladness and the shine, not just the survival. There is a generous, joyful God behind this psalm, one who not only sustains life but wants it to be glad, giving wine and not just water, oil for a shining face and not just calories. It is a corrective to any picture of God as grudging or merely functional. The one who bounded the seas and rides the wind also grows the grapes for wine to cheer the heart. Every ordinary good thing, the bread on the table, the oil, the cup, comes from his hand and carries his intention that his creatures be not only kept alive but gladdened. To bless the LORD with the psalmist is to trace the daily good things back to a generous Maker.

Do I trace the ordinary good things, the bread, the gladness, the small pleasures of a day, back to a generous God who wants his creatures not merely alive but glad, and do I bless him for them?

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