PSALM 104 [1]

Bless Yahweh, O my soul!

1 Bless Yahweh, O my soul! [2]	O Yahweh 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 (mayim);	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.[3]
6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment;		The waters (mayim) 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.

10 He sends forth springs in the valleys;		They flow between the mountains;
11 They give drink (shaqah) to every beast of the field;		The wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;		They lift up their voices among the branches.
13 He waters (shaqah) the mountains from His upper chambers;		The earth is satisfied with the fruit of His works.
14 He causes the grass to grow for the cattle,	And vegetation for the labor of man (’adam),		So that he may bring forth food from the earth,
15 And wine which makes man’s (’enowsh) heart glad,	So that he may make his face glisten with oil,		And food which sustains man’s (’enowsh) heart.
16 The trees of Yahweh drink their fill,		The cedars of Lebanon which He planted,
17 Where the birds build their nests,		And the stork, whose home is the fir trees.
18 The high mountains are for the wild goats;		The cliffs are a refuge for the shephanim.

19 He made the moon for the seasons (mow`ed);	The sun knows the place of its setting (yada` mabow’). [4]
20 You appoint darkness and it becomes night,	In which all the beasts of the forest prowl about.
21 The young lions roar after their prey	And seek their food from God.
22 When the sun rises they withdraw	And lie down in their dens.
23 Man (’adam) goes forth to his work	And to his labor until evening.

24 O Yahweh, 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, [5]		they are satisfied with good. [6]
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 Yahweh endure forever;	Let Yahweh 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 Yahweh 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 Yahweh.
35 Let sinners be consumed from the earth	And let the wicked be no more.
Bless Yahweh, O my soul.	Praise YAH! [7] [8]

[1] In Psalms 104-107 there is an emphasis upon God’s work in history: past, present and future.

Ø In Psalm 104 we learn that God actively governs all creation all the time.

Ø In Psalm 105 there is an emphasis upon God’s faithfulness to His covenant in His sovereign working throughout history. God governs all history for His glory and the good of His people.

Ø Psalm 106 emphasizes God’s faithfulness to His covenant despite Israel’s unfaithfulness

Ø In Psalm 107 we learn that one of the main principles by which God works in history is peripety.

[2] Psalm 103 also begins and ends “Bless Yahweh, O my soul!” (103:1,22).

[3] Verse 5 was used by the church and scientists in the Middle Ages to argue that the earth could not be in motion (also Psalm 93:1).

[4] Adele Berlin points out the parallelism of sound (Hebrew) in v.19.

[5] For a picture of God opening His hand and feeding His creation including a "leviathan" see the following bait ball feast:

Bait Ball Feast - Nature's Great Events: The Great Feast

[6] “The providence we ascribe to God belongs not only to His eyes, but to His hands” (John Calvin).

[7] This contracted form of Yahweh occurs 50x in the Hebrew Scriptures, 43 of which are in the Psalms. Psalms 104-106 end Book IV of the Psalter each by ending with Hallelujah. Revelation 19:1,3,4,6 also concludes with “hallelujah” after Babylon’s judgment. Greg Beale suggests that these hallelujahs in Revelation are an allusion to the conclusion of Psalm 104 since the hallelujah in this Psalm is proclaimed because of God’s judgment of sinners (The Book of Revelation, 926).

[8] To hear Psalm 104 sung click here.