Psalm 104 - The All Powerful Provider

Finish your week being reminded that your all powerful Father provides.

---

PSALM 104

¹ Bless the LORD, O my soul!

O LORD my God, You are very great;

You are clothed with splendor and majesty,

² Covering Yourself with light as with a cloak,

Stretching out heaven like a tent curtain.

³ He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters;

He makes the clouds His chariot;

He walks upon the wings of the wind;

⁴ He makes the winds His messengers,

Flaming fire His ministers.

⁵ He established the earth upon its foundations,

So that it will not totter forever and ever.

⁶ You covered it with the deep as with a garment;

The waters were standing above the mountains.

⁷ At Your rebuke they fled,

At the sound of Your thunder they hurried away.

⁸ The mountains rose; the valleys sank down

To the place which You established for them.

⁹ You set a boundary that they may not pass over,

So that they will not return to cover the earth.

^------

²⁴ O LORD, how many are Your works!

In wisdom You have made them all;

The earth is full of Your possessions.

²⁵ There is the sea, great and broad,

In which are swarms without number,

Animals both small and great.

²⁶ There the ships move along,

And Leviathan, which You have formed to sport in it.

²⁷ They all wait for You

To give them their food in due season.

²⁸ You give to them, they gather it up;

You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good.

²⁹ You hide Your face, they are dismayed;

You take away their spirit, they expire

And return to their dust.

³⁰ You send forth Your Spirit, they are created;

And You renew the face of the ground.

³¹ Let the glory of the LORD endure forever;

Let the LORD be glad in His works;

³² He looks at the earth, and it trembles;

He touches the mountains, and they smoke.

³³ I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;

I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.

³⁴ Let my meditation be pleasing to Him;

As for me, I shall be glad in the LORD.

³⁵ Let sinners be consumed from the earth

And let the wicked be no more.

Bless the LORD, O my soul.

Praise the LORD!

Heidelberg Catechism

Q&A 26

Q. What do you believe when you say, “I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth”?

A. That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

who out of nothing created heaven and earth

and everything in them,

who still upholds and rules them

by his eternal counsel and providence,

is my God and Father

because of Christ his Son.

I trust him so much that I do not doubt

he will provide

whatever I need

for body and soul,

and he will turn to my good

whatever adversity he sends me

in this sad world.

He is able to do this because he is almighty God;

he desires to do this because he is a faithful Father.

Summary

The opening chapter of the Bible describes God's creative power in a very understated way, by repeating the simple phrase and God said as He omnipotently called everything that is into being. This week's Psalm gives a glimpse into the powerful actions that God's Word brought about.

As He created, God stretched out the heavens, made the clouds His chariot and walked upon the wings of the wind. He established the earth, covered it with the deep [waters], which, although they initially stood above the mountains, fled at the LORD's thunderous rebuke. He raised the mountains and sank the valleys, as He set boundaries for the waters so that they would not cover the earth.

And God was not learning on the fly as He powerful brought reality into existence, as if He needed to try out a few different iterations to see what worked the best. Rather, His Word tells us that in wisdom He has made them all: the earth, which is full of His possessions, the seas and its animals - including the mysterious Leviathan, and even the ships that move along.

There is nothing in all of creation that was not brought into being, or that does not belong to, the LORD our God, who is clothed with splendor and majesty and covered with a cloak of light.

  Dig Deeper  

Psalm 104 makes clear that God did not just create and let go, as if He just wound up some grand cosmic mechanism and sat back to let it autonomously go through all of its motions. Every animal, both small and great, all wait for the LORD to give them their food in due season. In other words, not only does every creature owe its very existence to the LORD, but continually depends upon Him for every bit of their sustenance.

And our loving Father does not hold back! He opens His hand and satisfies with good. But there are also times where He hides His face, bringing dismay. When the LORD takes away their spirit [breath], they expire and return to dust. But then the LORD sends forth His Spirit, renewing creation.

As the psalmist considers our Father's unbridled power and ongoing care, he makes three commitments:

• To sing praise to our God as long as he lives and has being;
  

• To make his meditation - that is, his deepest thoughts - pleasing to the LORD;
  

• To be glad in the LORD;
  

These are the commitments that you make as well, every time you proclaim Bless the LORD, O my soul!

AAA Prayer (About)

• ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, whose glory endures forever!

• ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that, inasmuch as you have influence over, that your actions and words would let the LORD be glad in His works;

• ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

---