The world around us, all of creation, is a vast and marvelous thing to behold! We see creatures from the giant whales and elephants to tiny insects, from the massive Sequoia trees to microscopic diatoms. When we turn our eyes upward we see the wonder of the clouds, and on into outer space, the moon, planets, and stars. With the advanced space telescopes, we can look deep into the universe. Modern science will tell us that all of this just came about by some lucky chance, that every living thing randomly evolved from some primordial soup in a giant sea, and that the universe came about by some lucky chance of different elements randomly coming together. What brought the spark of life to that ancient assortment and mix of cells? What are the chances of the right elements coming together to create the universe and all of life, and where did those elements come from to begin with? As scientists still can’t give us a solid, factual answer to that, we can look into God’s Word and find the answer. Our psalm this week tells of God’s creation of all we see (and can’t see), and His direct involvement in sustaining His creation. Let’s look at this beautiful psalm.
Psalm 104 is a magnificent hymn of praise that celebrates God’s sovereignty over all of His creation. One might say that it is a poetic reflection of the account of creation found in Genesis 1. It highlights all of God’s creative power and His plan in creation. God’s Word, both here and throughout Scripture, shows that creation was not a product of chance, but the deliberate work of the sovereignty of God.
Our psalm begins with praise for God’s majesty and glory (vs. 1-4). The psalmist describes Yahweh as clothed with honor and majesty, just like a royal robe. As we see the beauty and spectacular pictures that have come to us from the space telescopes, imagine them as Yahweh’s divine robes and curtains around His throne, as we read here. God created light, showing His purity and holiness. He created the whole universe by His Word, and has supreme authority over it.
Next we read how God is sovereign over all of creation here on earth (vs. 5-9). The Lord placed our planet, the earth exactly where it should be to sustain life. A little closer to the sun, or a little further away, life would not be possible. He also keeps our planet on course, as through His control it doesn’t drift away (vs. 5). God set the boundaries of the oceans, seas, and lakes. He directs where the rivers flow, up and down through mountains and valleys (vs. 6-8). All of this shows that He alone controls nature.
As we continue in our psalm we see that God has made provision for all of His creatures (vs. 10-18). Yahweh did not create life, and then just sit back and not take care of it, letting us sink or swim on our own. He lovingly provides what we need. Animals, including man, need both food and water to survive. Some animals can go a bit longer without these, like camels or animals in hibernation, but they can’t go indefinitely. This segment of verses in the psalm show that God provides them with what they need, both food and water, along with places for them to find shelter. Jesus, Himself, told us of the Father’s love and care for creation when He reminded us of how He feeds the birds of the air (Matthew 6:26).
It was God, not random chance, that set how fast the earth spins on its axis, along with how the moon rotates around the earth, and the earth around the sun (vs. 19-23). Day and night are regulated by the Lord, along with the various seasons. He knew that we, both man and beast, needed periods of day and night, periods of wakefulness and work, along with a time for rest and sleep, otherwise we could not remain healthy or even continue to live.
The psalmist gives praise for how wide and diverse God’s creation is, and briefly focuses on the creatures of the sea (vs. 24-26). The oceans are filled with such a huge variety of fish and other types of sea-life, including some mammals, as we all see whenever we visit an aquarium. We read of the Leviathan in verse 26, some unspecified large sea creature which could possibly be a type of whale, and is some creature that joyfully plays in the oceans. God delights in His creation!
All creatures are dependent upon God for life (vs. 27-30). It is He, alone, which gives us what we need, food, water, the air we breathe. Without Him and His provisions, we could not survive. He gives creation its life, and when it is time, He takes it away. Rather than being so flippant and impertinent about God as so many people are, they should be grateful to Him for every breath they have, as it comes from Him, and He can take it away.
Our Scripture concludes with the psalmist giving a call to worship and to righteousness (vs. 31-35). He gives God praise, and desires for His glory to endure forever, which it shall. The psalmist also prays for the removal of sin, which initially caused the fall of creation (vs 35). When that day comes, when all sin is removed, there will be an ultimate restoration of God’s creation.
As we look back over Psalm 104, we see how it is Yahweh, the Lord God, who is the Divine Creator of all, not just some theory of evolution or randomness. We also see through His Word, that God is continually involved with His creation, and not some distant, uninvolved deity as some religions suppose. All of His creation testifies to the glory of God!
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