Psalms 104:25-35

25 There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number— living things both large and small.
26 There the ships go to and fro, and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.
27 All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time.
28 When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things.
29 When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust.
30 When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.
31 May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works—
32 he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the LORD.
35 But may sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked be no more. Praise the LORD, my soul. Praise the LORD.[a]

Psalms 104:25-35 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 104

This psalm, though without a title, was probably written by David, since it begins and ends as the former does, as Aben Ezra observes; and to him the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions, ascribe it. The inscription of the Syriac version is,

``a psalm of David, when he went to worship before the ark of the Lord with the priests; and as to us, it teaches us confession and prayer; and intimates to us the constitution of the beginning of the creatures; and declares some things concerning the angels.''

Some copies of the Septuagint version have it,

``a psalm of David concerning the constitution of the world;''

which indeed is the subject matter of it; for it treats of the creation of all things, of the heavens and the earth, and of all creatures in them; and of the providence of God in taking care of them. Christ is the divine Person addressed and described throughout the whole, as appears from the quotation of Ps 104:5 and the application of it to him in Heb 1:7.

\\Bless the Lord, O my soul\\ As for the blessings of grace and mercy expressed in the preceding psalm, so on account of the works of creation and providence, enumerated in this; in which Christ has an equal concern, as in the former.

\\O Lord my God, thou art very great\\; the Messiah, who is Jehovah our righteousness, Lord of all, truly God, and the God of his people; see Joh 20:28 and who is great, and very great, in his divine Person, being the great God, and our Saviour; great in all his works of creation, providence, and redemption; great in all his offices of Prophet, Priest, and King; a Saviour, and a great one; the great Shepherd of the Sheep; the Man, Jehovah's Fellow.

\\Thou art clothed with honour and majesty\\; being the brightness of his Father's glory, and having on him the glory of the only begotten of the Father, and a natural majesty in him as the Son of God and King of the whole universe; and, as Mediator, he has honour and majesty laid upon him by his Father, Ps 21:5, he has all the regalia and ensigns of royal majesty; he is on a throne, high and lifted up, even the same with his divine Father; he has a crown of glory on his head, he is crowned with glory and honour; he has a sceptre of righteousness in his hand, and is arrayed in robes of majesty; and, as thus situated, is to look upon like a jasper and sardine stone; or as if he was covered with sparkling gems and precious stones, Re 4:2,3 and, having all power in heaven and earth, over angels and men, honour and glory given him by both. 23531-950516-0908-Ps104.2

Cross References 21

  • 1. Psalms 69:34
  • 2. Ezekiel 47:10
  • 3. Psalms 107:23; Ezekiel 27:9; John 1:3
  • 4. S Job 3:8; Job 41:1
  • 5. Job 40:20
  • 6. S Genesis 1:21
  • 7. Job 36:31; Psalms 136:25; Psalms 145:15; Psalms 147:9
  • 8. Psalms 103:5; Psalms 145:16; Isaiah 58:11
  • 9. S Deuteronomy 31:17
  • 10. S Job 7:21; Job 34:14; Ecclesiastes 12:7
  • 11. S Genesis 1:2
  • 12. Exodus 40:35; Psalms 8:1; S Romans 11:36
  • 13. S Genesis 1:4; Genesis 1:31
  • 14. S Psalms 97:4
  • 15. S Exodus 19:18
  • 16. Psalms 144:5
  • 17. S Exodus 15:1; Psalms 108:1; Psalms 63:4
  • 18. S Psalms 2:11; Psalms 9:2; Psalms 32:11
  • 19. Psalms 37:38
  • 20. S Job 7:10
  • 21. Psalms 28:6; Psalms 105:45; Psalms 106:48

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Hebrew "Hallelu Yah" ; in the Septuagint this line stands at the beginning of Psalm 105.
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