Our Great God

Psalms 103 & 104 are similar.

Notice they both begin and end with “Bless the LORD O my soul. The difference is:

Pslam 103 speaks of God’s salvation.

Psalm 104 speaks of God’s creation.

Psalm 103 describes the benefits of God.

Psalm 104 describes the works of God.

It’s clear the author is familiar with the Genesia account of creation. If you look closely you can see some parallels to the way the Psalm is laid out and the account of creation in Genesis 1. We’re not going to stress that in our study. You can study it on your own if you’re interested.

I’m going to show you that the Psalm is outlined in a beautiful way. It describes God as the creator who is actively involved in His creation and rejoices over it.

1. God rules over all creation (1-4).

“You are very great!” He proves that with this Psalm.

There’s a lot of poetic language used to describe God here.

“Clothed with splendor and majesty”

“Covering yourself with light as a garment”

God is light. His appearance is brilliant. Scripture says He dwells in a light which no man can approach (1 T. 6:16).

Think about this: Without light there is no life. God is light. Therefore without God there is no life. God Himself is light and life. We will see Him in His brilliance one day.

God is described as One who exists above His creation:

Stretching out the heavens like a tent

Laying the beams of His chambers on the waters

Genesis 1:7 says:

And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so.

Many believe this extra layer of water was what enabled people to live so long in the early days of creation.

God’s control over His creation is seen next:

He makes the clouds His chariots

He rides on the wings of the wind

He makes His messengers winds

His ministers a flaming fire

All of creation is controlled by God.

He exists above it.

He rules over it.

2. God is the Creator of the earth (5-9).

We see the security of the earth (5). It’s not going anywhere. God set it where He wanted it. He set it upon nothing!

He covered the earth with water (6). The waters were so deep they were above the mountains.

He spoke and the waters fled (7-9). This is God separating the water from the dry land.

Our oceans formed.

Our rivers formed.

Our lakes formed.

At God’s command the oceans stay where they have been placed (9).

3. God is the sustainer of all life (10-18).

We see His purpose for making the springs gush in the valleys and flow between the hills.

They give drink to every beast of the field. Wild donkeys represent animals that are not domesticated. They have no human to water them. Were it not for the Lord they would die of thirst.

He gives the birds a place to live. They live in the trees the Lord has created. Notice they sing. There is beauty in the songs of the birds. I try to be in nature as often as I can. There is nothing more pleasant than the birds singing just as the sun rises. It’s as if they start their day with worship.

He satisfies the earth with water (13). God makes it rain. There are trees and plants all over this earth. They have been here longer than we have. Man is not the author of agriculture. God is.

He causes the grass to grow for livestock (14). We move to domesticated animals. The animals that depend on us ultimately depend on God. Man can do many things, but man cannot make it rain.

Our own food depends on God as well. We plant. God makes it grow.

The wine

The oil

The bread

We have none of that without God.

Notice the benefit of the food:

Gladdens our heart (15)

Makes our face shine (15)

Strengthens us (15)

We move to the forest.

The trees of the Lord. I like that! They are His trees. The cedars of Lebanon were very big trees. It takes a lot of water to keep large trees alive. God makes sure they stay alive. He waters them abundantly.

Note God planted the trees. We have seeds only because God made the trees first.

These trees also serve another purpose. They give a home to the birds. This gives the birds safety. They can lay their eggs without fear of animals eating them.

God has even given the wild goats and rock badgers a special home. They live in the high mountains. Here they can hide from predators and thrive.

God is the sustainer of all life. Human life, plant life, and animal life. Jesus said God cares for the sparrows and for the grass of the field (Matthew 6:26-30).

4. God controls the earths cycles (19-23).

God has established the moon so that we can mark time and seasons. Also, the sun rises and sets marking off a day.

Notice how God has made day and night so that His creation may benefit from it.

God created certain animals so that they can hunt at night. The young lions are mentioned in verse 21. Many animals are nocturnal. They hunt at night. This gives them an advantage, so they are less likely to be detected. God has given many animals the ability to see well at night. He has heightened their senses of hearing, smelling, feeling. These things help animals travel, hunt, and mate at night.

Look at verses 22-23. When the sun rises the animals go to their dens and man comes out to work. God in his wisdom has given the earth balance.

There are seasons of growing, harvesting, dying, planting.

Each day has a cycle itself. There is day and night. Their purpose in it all.

5. God has created beautiful oceans (24-26).

“Manifold” speaks of the variety in God’s creation. One place variety can be seen is in the ocean. He says the sea is great and wide and filled with innumerable creatures.

There are about 240,000 known marine species on earth. It’s estimated there are over 1 million different species that are unknown to humans.

The oceans are one of the most magnificent things on earth:

A simple shell

A star fish

A jelly fish

A seahorse

Fish that glow in the dark

Whales

“There go the ships” God has given us the wisdom to build ships so we can explore the ocean. The Psalmist could have never imagined the technology we have today:

Scuba suits

Cameras that go deep into the ocean

Submarines

Leviathan is mentioned. We are not sure what this was. We know it was a sea creature. It was large and scary. It’s mentioned five times in the bible (Job 3:8; 41:1, Ps. 74:13-14, Psalm 104:26, Isa. 27:1). In Scripture this sea beast is under the control of God. In verse 26 we see that God put the great sea monster in the sea to play.

The ocean has always mesmerized man. It is beautiful. It is also scary. It’s known but it’s also mysterious. It’s traveled but much of it is uncharted. When you look at the ocean with all of its creatures, great and small, stand in awe of God.

6. God is the sustainer of all creation (27-30).

“These all look to You”.

God is pictured as One who hand feeds His creation. Notice they are filled. Verse 29 tells us the Lord determines when anything living dies. When something dies God creates one to take its place. Notice the Spirit of God is involved in bringing forth life. When God created Adam, He breathed life into him.

Death occurs when God withholds Himself from any living thing. The moment He stops sustaining a life it dies. Just as easily He can create a new life. The ease at which God ends life and creates life shows the great power of God.

We are fragile. We are only alive because God is continually sustaining us. This should humble us. We should recognize that God holds our life in His hands.

7. God is worthy of praise (31-35).

The Psalmist prays that the glory of the Lord will endure forever. He’s talking about the glory revealed by God’s creation. Notice he add “May the Lord rejoice in His works.”

As we close we see the judgment and the joy of God.

The judgment of God is seen in verse 32. He can look at the earth and it will tremble. He can merely touch the mountains and they would be engulfed in smoke.

In verse 35 we see the Psalmist prays that sinners will be consumed from the earth. That may be difficult for us to accept. The truth is sinners must be removed if God’s creation is to be restored to perfection. The removal of the wicked should move the righteous to worship. That’s what we see at the end of verse 35.

Too often we only think of the judgment of God. God rejoices too. Look at verse 31 He rejoices in His works. He has created a glorious universe that displays His own glory. This brings Him joy.

God rejoices in His creation, we should rejoice in God.

I will sing to the Lord as long as I live (33)

I will sing praise to my God while I have being (33)

May my meditation be pleasing to Him (34)

The meditation he is talking about could very well be the Psalm He has written. If that is the case the Lord was pleased with it. He preserved it for all generations.

The heavens declare the glory of God. We should regularly consider the creation God has given us and be moved to praise.

Listen to what God says in Job 38:4-7:

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?

Tell me, if you understand.

Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!

Who stretched a measuring line across it?

On what were its footings set,

or who laid its cornerstone—

while the morning stars sang together

and all the angels shouted for joy?

When the angels saw what god did in creation they shouted for joy. We have the privilege of living in this world. We have the privilege of looking to the heavens and seeing the sun, moon, stars, etc. When we see these things, we should rejoice in the Lord.

We should also remind ourselves that Jesus Christ is the agent of creation. The Bible says everything invisible and visible was created by Him. Our creator is also our Savior. We have more reasons to glorify God than we can number.