Sunday 26 October 2025
Psalm 104
Bless the Lord, my soul!
Lord God, how great you are,
clothed in majesty and glory,
wrapped in light as in a robe!
You stretch out the heavens like a tent.
Above the rains you build your dwelling.
You make the clouds your chariot,
you walk on the wings of the wind,
you make the winds your messengers
and flashing fire your servants.
You founded the earth on its base,
to stand firm from age to age.
You wrapped it with the ocean like a cloak:
the waters stood higher than the mountains.
At your threat they took to flight;
at the voice of your thunder they fled.
They rose over the mountains and flowed down
to the place which you had appointed.
You set limits they might not pass
lest they return to cover the earth.
You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
they flow in between the hills.
They give drink to all the beasts of the field;
the wild asses quench their thirst.
On their banks dwell the birds of heaven;
from the branches they sing their song.
From your dwelling you water the hills;
earth drinks its fill of your gift.
You make the grass grow for the cattle
and the plants to serve our needs,
that we may bring forth bread from the earth
and wine to cheer our heart;
oil, to make our faces shine
and bread to strengthen our hearts.
The trees of the Lord drink their fill,
the cedars he planted on Lebanon;
there the birds build their nests;
on the treetop the stork has her home.
The goats find a home on the mountains
and rabbits hide in the rocks.
You made the moon to mark the months;
the sun knows the time for its setting.
When you spread the darkness it is night
and all the beasts of the forest creep forth.
The young lions roar for their prey
and ask their food from God.
At the rising of the sun they steal away
and go to rest in their dens.
Men and women go out to their work,
to labour till evening falls.
How many are your works, O Lord!
In wisdom you have made them all.
The earth is full of your riches.
There is the sea, vast and wide,
with its moving swarms past counting,
living things great and small.
The ships are moving there
and the monsters you made to play with.
All of these look to you
to give them their food in due season.
You give it, they gather it up:
you open your hand, they have their fill.
You hide your face, they are dismayed;
you take back your spirit, they die,
returning to the dust from which they came.
You send forth your spirit, they are created;
and you renew the face of the earth.
May the glory of the Lord last for ever!
May the Lord rejoice in his works!
He looks on the earth and it trembles;
the mountains send forth smoke at his touch.
I will sing to the Lord all my life,
make music to my God while I live.
May my thoughts be pleasing to him.
I find my joy in the Lord.
Let sinners vanish from the earth
and the wicked exist no more.
Bless the Lord, my soul.
Reflection
This is a psalm of praise. It is also another creation story (the third in scripture) and includes sea monsters unlike the first two! I love this creation story though because of the poetic way it tells us the story. Instead of simply “God saw it was good, it was evening, it was morning, the x day” here we have the poetry of God “wrapped in light as in a robe:” It is an easy to grasp image – even with the blinding brightness and the elegance of some great fantastic royal robe.
The psalm writer delights in telling this story to create such images that, even today, spark joy and delight in the reader. Even the trickier verses towards the end have a positive resolution to them because we cannot end on sadness – the wicked simply should not exist and the sinners should vanish from the earth – which is reminiscent of the Israelites in the wilderness when they sinned, the earth opened up and swallowed them – they literally vanished from the earth. Maybe this is the simple solution! Maybe I have focused too heavily, maybe I too should have skimmed past and ignored it. In a poem as beautiful as this the harsher words need to be taken note of – even though few in number and towards the end – because they were still put there to remind us that God’s creation is perfect but we are not. We can go astray. It is important that we come back to, and keep finding our joy in, God rather than becoming those who vanish or exist no more.
Let us be part of God’s creation song!
Prayer
Creator God
thank you for scattering stars in the heavens
like sequins on a gown.
Thank you for the incredible
marine, avian, reptilian and mammalian life
that we have barely begun to comprehend
yet are already destroying through our selfish behaviour.
Help us to stop seeing it all
as shoes, bags, clothes, medicine and food.
Teach us to live in harmony with your creation,
so we stop burning the world to the ground. Amen.