World English Bible
- Bless the LORD, my soul. The LORD, my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honor and majesty.
- He covers himself with light as with a garment. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain.
- He lays the beams of his rooms in the waters. He makes the clouds his chariot. He walks on the wings of the wind.
- He makes his messengers winds, and his servants flames of fire.
- He laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be moved forever.
- You covered it with the deep as with a cloak. The waters stood above the mountains.
- At your rebuke they fled. At the voice of your thunder they hurried away.
- The mountains rose, the valleys sank down, to the place which you had assigned to them.
- You have set a boundary that they may not pass over, that they don’t turn again to cover the earth.
- He sends springs into the valleys. They run among the mountains.
- They give drink to every animal of the field. The wild donkeys quench their thirst.
- The birds of the sky nest by them. They sing among the branches.
- He waters the mountains from his rooms. The earth is filled with the fruit of your works.
- He causes the grass to grow for the livestock, and plants for man to cultivate, that he may produce food out of the earth:
- wine that makes the heart of man glad, oil to make his face to shine, and bread that strengthens man’s heart.
- The LORD’s trees are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon, which he has planted,
- where the birds make their nests. The stork makes its home in the cypress trees.
- The high mountains are for the wild goats. The rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.
- He appointed the moon for seasons. The sun knows when to set.
- You make darkness, and it is night, in which all the animals of the forest prowl.
- The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their food from God.
- The sun rises, and they steal away, and lie down in their dens.
- Man goes out to his work, to his labor until the evening.
- LORD, how many are your works! In wisdom, you have made them all. The earth is full of your riches.
- There is the sea, great and wide, in which are innumerable living things, both small and large animals.
- There the ships go, and leviathan, whom you formed to play there.
- These all wait for you, that you may give them their food in due season.
- You give to them; they gather. You open your hand; they are satisfied with good.
- You hide your face; they are troubled. You take away their breath; they die and return to the dust.
- You send out your Spirit and they are created. You renew the face of the ground.
- Let the LORD’s glory endure forever. Let the LORD rejoice in his works.
- He looks at the earth, and it trembles. He touches the mountains, and they smoke.
- I will sing to the LORD as long as I live. I will sing praise to my God while I have any being.
- Let my meditation be sweet to him. I will rejoice in the LORD.
- Let sinners be consumed out of the earth. Let the wicked be no more. Bless the LORD, my soul. Praise the LORD!
Psalm 103 taught us to bless the Lord for forgiveness: he remembers that we are dust. Psalm 104 turns and asks: what kind of God does such things with dust? He makes a world.
This psalm is not sentimental “nature writing.” It is a quiet overthrow of idolatry. In the ancient Near East, the sea, storm, sun, and great beasts were feared as divine powers. But here the Lord wears light like a robe, rides on the clouds, sets limits for the waters, and even Leviathan—that great sea-creature men trembled before—is not God’s rival but God’s plaything. That is one of the psalm’s most liberating surprises: what the nations worshiped or feared, Israel learned to see as creaturely. Only the true God can make the terrifying become almost joyful.
The psalm also refuses the idea of a retired Creator. Its verbs keep moving: he stretches, sets, sends, causes, makes. This is why Calvin loved such texts: creation is not merely an event behind us but a gift arriving every moment. Springs in the wadis, birds nesting in Lebanon’s cedar heights, wild goats on cliffs, rock badgers in crags, lions seeking prey by night, men going out to labor by day—this is not “nature” as modern Western people imagine it, a neutral background for human life. It is a house already occupied by God’s generosity.
And notice what he gives: grass for cattle, plants for man, wine to gladden, oil to make the face shine, bread to strengthen. To older Protestant instincts, it is worth saying plainly: Psalm 104 is not suspicious of material joy. The world is not a trap for the spiritual life. It is a theater of providence. We do not worship the gifts, but neither do we honor God by pretending they are small.
The deepest moment may be verses 29–30. If God hides his face, creatures are dismayed. If he takes away their ruach—their breath, wind, spirit—they die. If he sends forth his ruach, they are created, and the face of the ground is renewed. That Hebrew word is wonderfully large: breath and Spirit are not two unrelated things. The same God who first animated Adam still sustains every lung, every field, every living thing. This is creation leaning toward new creation. The Spirit of Genesis 1 is already the Spirit of Ezekiel 37, and ultimately the Spirit poured out by the risen Christ.
Then comes the startling last note: “May sinners vanish from the earth.” Why end a creation psalm there? Because sin is not natural. It is the one thing in the world that does not fit. Creation obeys its boundaries; rebellion does not. So the psalm ends where all true praise must end: longing not merely for a beautiful world, but for a holy one.
Suggested cross-references: Genesis 1; Job 38–41;
Ezekiel 37:1–14; John 1:1–3; Colossians 1:15–17; Romans 8:19–23.
Hymn suggestion: O Worship the King.
Lord of light and sea and breath, teach me to receive the world as your gift and not my possession. Send forth your Spirit to renew what is dry in me, and make my life fit your creation again—grateful, obedient, and full of praise. Amen.