Psalm 104

From: Messages of God's Love: 1931

Psalm 104

In Psalm 103 we were shown the praise of the redeemed of Israel in the latter day on account of the place of favor, into which by divine grace, they will have been brought. In Psalm 104 the Lord is still the object before the redeemed ones, and now the earth as His handiwork, apart from man, is considered.

As in the 103rd psalm, the beginning and ending is “Bless the Lord (properly Jehovah, as we have before noticed) O my soul.” In that coming day He will in very truth inhabit, or dwell amid, the praises of Israel (Psalm 22:3³But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. (Psalm 22:3)).

How very great is the person who will rule the earth when it is set right by His power, verses 1 to 4 tell. There is no mention in the psalm of the depth to which the Lord stooped, but Philippians 2:6-11⁶Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: ⁷But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: ⁸And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. ⁹Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: ¹⁰That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; ¹¹And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:6‑11) gives in six short verses what He was, what He became in lowly grace, and what is the unique place reserved for Him because of that humiliation and death. (See also Hebrews 1). The Bible is the only book that can properly set forth the glory of His Person.

Genesis 1:9, 10⁹And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. ¹⁰And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:9‑10) may be referred to, in connection with verses 6-8 of our psalm, and Genesis 9:14-17¹⁴And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: ¹⁵And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. ¹⁶And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. ¹⁷And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth. (Genesis 9:14‑17) in connection with verse 9. The gracious, providential provision of God in creation is witnessed in verses 10 to 30. The recording of this leads out the testimony of verse 24.

All depends on the Creator-King, for it will be observed that the Person spoken of in these psalms as Jehovah, the LORD, is Jesus, acknowledged as the eternal God.

This psalm seems to call for little explanation, but every verse tells of His glory.

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