Psalms 104:1

1 Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honor and majesty,

Psalms 104:1 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 104:2

Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment
Referring, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi think, to the light, which was first created; and indeed this was commanded out of darkness by God the Word, or by the essential Word of God. Light is expressive of the nature of God himself, who is light, and in him is no darkness at all, and who dwells in light F8 inaccessible, and so may be said to be clothed with it; which is applicable to Christ as a divine Person, ( 1 John 1:5 ) ( 1 Timothy 6:16 ) . and to whom this term "light" well agrees; Light being one of the names of the Messiah in the Old Testament, ( Psalms 43:3 ) ( Daniel 2:22 ) , and is often given him in the New Testament, as the author of the light of nature, grace, and glory, ( John 1:9 ) ( 8:12 ) ( Revelation 21:23 ) . He is now possessed of the light and glory of the heavenly state, of which his transfiguration on the mount was an emblem, when his face shone like the sun, and his raiment was as the light, ( Matthew 17:2 ) .

Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain;
alluding to the firmament or expanse, which, being spread out like a curtain, divided between the waters and the waters, ( Genesis 1:6 Genesis 1:7 ) . Heaven is represented as a tent stretched out, with curtains drawn around it, to hide the dazzling and unapproachable light in which the Lord dwells, ( Isaiah 40:22 ) and it is as a curtain or canopy stretched out and encompassing this earth; the stretching of it out belongs to God alone, and is a proof of the deity of Christ, to whom it is here and elsewhere ascribed, ( Job 9:8 ) ( Zechariah 12:1 ) ( Isaiah 44:24 ) . Here Christ dwells invisible to us at present; he is received up into heaven, retained there, and from thence will descend at the last day; and in the mean while is within the curtains of heaven, unseen by us.


FOOTNOTES:

F8 "Pura in luce refulsit alma parens", Virgil. Aeneid. 2. "Et paulo post, pallas insedit, nimbo effulgens".

Psalms 104:1 In-Context

1 Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honor and majesty,
2 wrapped in light as with a garment. You stretch out the heavens like a tent,
3 you set the beams of your chambers on the waters, you make the clouds your chariot, you ride on the wings of the wind,
4 you make the winds your messengers, fire and flame your ministers.
5 You set the earth on its foundations, so that it shall never be shaken.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.