CREATED/SUSTAINED (Psalm 104)

I'm looking forward to summer and another crop of blueberries! Every

handful reminds me of God's creativity in providing us with food.

(A continuing series of the 48 psalms recommended for study during times of “feeling down,” as listed in pastor/counselor David Seamands’ book, Healing for Damaged Emotions.)

Getting away from it all, like going to an inspiring outdoors location, is a well-known “medicine” for times when life gets you down. Psalm 104 is the guidebook for such mental health rehabilitation. From time to time we need respite to just absorb in the splendor of God’s creation. If getting away isn’t possible, then there’s value in finding a quiet corner and reading thoughtfully through Psalm 104.

If music aids you in worship, find a hymnal and sing through Robert Grant’s 1830 hymn, “O Worship the King,” based on this psalm. Pause as its lyrics exalt God as King, Shield, Defender, Ancient of Days, Maker, Redeemer, and Friend. Marvel at the poetic expressions for things that are hard to wrap our minds around: His power, might, grace, bountiful care, love, and majesty. In singing this hymn, bear in mind that Grant was born into British political privilege in India. Both he and his father served in high British political positions, including posts in Parliament and India governance. Yet Grant was also known for his love and zeal for the Lord and his mission efforts. India, his adopted homeland, named a medical school in his honor.

Yet despite his worldly honors, his heart remained true to scripture study and worship. His study one day of Psalm 104 led to the lyrics later matched to a hymn tune. Though nearly two centuries old, they still instruct us in how to “gratefully sing [of] His pow’r and His love.” 

CREATOR

Psalm 104 strands in awe of God as Creator and Sustainer, the One “clothed in splendor and majesty” (v. 1) .We get a hint of that in just drinking in the beauty of nature—the land, water, foliage, skies. The psalm restates in poetic form the Genesis-revealed sequence of creation, starting with Genesis 1:3’s “Let there be light.” That’s followed by expressions of God separating out the waters, rising up land and plants, assigning time to the sun and moon, creating animal life (fish, birds, animals), and providing food and a “sprinkling system” to grow them. Finally, there’s the crown of creation—people—with work (purpose) and sustenance. 

In a nod to Genesis 2:7, which described the first man coming alive through the breath of God, Psalm 104:29 reminds us of the mortality that sin imposed: “When you take away their breath, they die and return to the earth.” We depend on God for our very breath.  As someone who takes medicine for my asthma, I’m acutely aware of that—and also that some day, I will take the final breath that separates my earthly existence from eternity.

My blessings far outnumber the generous number

of berries from this picking!

WORTHY

Life would be a meaningless churn of birth, living, and death without a purpose under God. That’s where Psalm 104 ends:I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the LORD. (vv. 33-34).Then it breaks in with disturbing reality: But may sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked be no more. (v. 35) That’s reality. Those who reject God will not enjoy eternity with Him.  How much better the attitude reflecting in the psalm’s ending high note of praise: Praise the Lord, O my soul. Praise the Lord. (v. 35b). In Hebrew, that phrase is “Hallelu jah!” It acknowledges the vast and amazing creation of God and His comprehensive care of it all.  He opens His hand, and we are filled with good (v. 28). No wonder the psalmist urges us to look around and be lifted up in realizing we know and serve such a great God. 

ANOTHER ‘SUSTAINED’ ILLUSTRATION A little over seven years ago, the then-pastor of my church challenged the congregation to “be the church” in the community. That led to a day of volunteerism involving repairs, painting, and cleanup among our community’s needy. The planned projects weren’t the greatest for me as an asthmatic, but I can sew—and in the past had taken patchwork baby blankets to our community’s pro-life ministry, to give women deciding to keep their babies. Others were now fulfilling that agency’s needs, but I learned our local hospital could use these blankets to give babies born into impoverishment.Can you imagine being so poor you don’t even have a nice blanket for your baby, and maybe “home” is a car? Some, I was told, would go with newborns placed in foster homes. I put a way-out-there goal for myself--50-- obviously to be accomplished in more time than just that one “be-the-church” day. With each completed blanket (usually a two-hour effort) and each delivery of several at a time, I sensed the smile and sustaining presence of God. The "50" became 100 and more. People started giving me fabric, batting, and thread, even gift cards to fabric stores. I found other supplies at thrift stores and yard sales.  A few weeks ago, I finished blanket #1,000 and took it to one of five hospitals within 100 miles where I donated regularly. Yes, the staff knows they’re for “people in need”—“and we have many of those,” the head obstetrics nurses in those hospitals have assured me. Who would have guessed that a simple baby blanket could be a ministry?

Making 'Psense' of Psalms--Psalm 104: Creation Glory

Part of an ongoing series on selected psalms.

“Use more descriptive language,” I wrote on my writing student’s assignment.  This middle-age man aspired to become a travel writer, and was pursuing that goal through a correspondence writing course I taught. But his prose was lifeless: “The town has a lovely lake with good fishing.” I challenged him to help the reader see, hear, smell and touch the scene through compelling description: “The tourist-friendly hamlet clutches the shore of a sapphire lake, its surface continuously pocked by hungry trout.”  Well, you get the idea! In a similar way, Psalm 104 brings vibrancy to the Genesis account of creation.  Psalm 103 praised God as Redeemer. Psalm 104 praises God as Creator. Both begin and end with “Praise the LORD, O my soul.” Though no author is cited for Psalm 104 (David is credited with 103), they form a pair that show scripture’s balance. Psalm 103’s message is God’s goodness in salvation, and the benefits we have as children of God.  Psalm 104 is God’s greatness in the works of creation, bringing Him praise and pleasure. Verse 31 holds its key:

May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
May the LORD rejoice in his works.
It’s easy to race through the Genesis order of creation and forget that all this brought God pleasure!
 

GENESIS RETOLD, WITH STYLE

“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light,” reports Genesis 1:3. But Psalm 104:2 says, “The LORD wraps himself in light as with a garment, he stretched out the heavens like a tent.” Psalm 104 brings vigor to the creation account while staying faithful to its historical pattern. Reading the passages side-by-side:
Day 1—Light—Genesis 1:3, Psalm 104:2a.
Day 2—“Firmament” and waters—Genesis 1:6, Psalm 104:2b-4.
Day 3—Land distinct from water—Genesis 1:9-10, Psalm 104:5-9, maybe 10-13; vegetation and trees—Genesis 1:11-13, Psalm 104:14-17.
Day 4—Sun, moon and stars—Genesis 1:14-19, Psalm 104:19-23.
Day 5—Sea and air creatures—Genesis 1:20-23, Psalm 104:17, 25-26.
Day 6—Animals and man—Genesis 1:24-28, Psalm 104:18, 21-24; plus provision of food in Genesis 1:29-31 and Psalm 104:27-28.

A few passages need some explanation:
He set the world on its foundations; it can never be moved. (Psalm 104:5)
The earth cannot be changed apart from God’s command. Yet the Bible teaches that someday, at the “Day of the Lord” (the judgment-end of time), “the heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare” (2 Peter 3:10). After that will come a new heaven and earth lasting forever: “Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth.  The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind” (Isaiah 3:17). “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away” (Revelation 21:1).

He makes springs pour water into the ravines…He waters the mountains from his upper chambers. (Psalm 104: 10, 13)

Water was very important to peoples of the mostly arid Middle East. This verse celebrates God’s wisdom in continuous evaporation of oceans for replenishing water on land.

He makes…plants for people to cultivate—bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts. (vv. 14-15)

This passage names the three life staples of near East peoples. Wine, diluted with water,  provided hydration and must be understood in that historical context. The Bible condemns drunkenness (Proverbs 20:1), a frequent consequence with today’s high-alcohol-content wines. Olive oil, besides a food staple, protected faces from sunburn. Bread was the staple of all meals.

Then man goes out to his work, to his labor until evening (v. 23).

After mentioning some nocturnal animals (forest beasts, lions), the psalmist shows that people normally work during the day. The point is that all creation has a rhythm of work and rest.  More important, the ultimate provision for both animals and man comes from God:



Local cherries--now in harvest

These all look to you to give them their food at the proper time. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things. (vv. 27-28).

The phrase “gather it up” is reminiscent of manna, the “bread from heaven,” which appeared atop the wilderness soil six out of seven days of the week during the Exodus wanderings.  In a bare land where no crops grew, God provided. But they had to work for it: stooping over to pick up the manna and then cooking it. God expects us to work.

BREATH AND DEATH

Verses 29-30 take us right back to our dependence on God as creator. Without infusion of life from Him, we wouldn’t “be”: When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust.  When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground. The words “breath” and “Spirit” come from the same Hebrew word (rûah), taking us back to the creation of man: “And the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). When we quit breathing, we die, and our bodies disintegrate. But Psalm 104 reminds us that life is more than the hyphen between birth and death dates. We—yes, the people-creations given the breath of life—are part of why God rejoices in His creation (v. 31). But “sinners” who choose to live apart from God will vanish (v. 35).

PURPOSE AND PRAISE

We can get so absorbed in all the awesome “omni” attributes of God—omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence—that we forget that He has personality that expresses unfathomable joy in His creation. If I may say it, maybe it’s knee-slapping joy and excitement over what He created. A blast of God-power, and a zebra! A zinnia! A redwood! A butterfly! Another blast, a saguaro cactus. Imagine creation like an infinite Fourth of July fireworks, with never-ending power and delight. No wonder He rejoiced in his works (v. 31), along with all the heavenly beings who saw it happen!

For our part, there’s rejoicing, too. Even the greatest magnifications of microscope or telescope stun us with the variety and complexity of creation. The psalmist gives us our marching orders of praise:

I will sing to the LORD all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the LORD. (vv. 33-34)
The psalm ends:
Praise the LORD, O my soul.
Praise the LORD.
English translations don’t convey it, but that last “Praise the Lord” in Hebrew is “Hallelujah!”—the word’s first appearance in psalms. It’s a fabulous word to end on—or even to begin with, in our focused times of praising God!

Next: Psalm 107