October 1, 2009
UNCONTAINABLE
Psalm 104:24-35
Mike Netzer
Central Truth
The earth is God’s magnificent creation. It is good, really good, and it ought to move us to praise Him.
Key Verse | Psalm 104:24
How many living things you have made, O Lord!
You have exhibited great skill in making all of them;
the earth is full of the living things you have made.
(Psalm 104:24)
Psalm 104:24-35
24
O LORD, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom have you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
25
Here is the sea, great and wide,
which teems with creatures innumerable,
living things both small and great.
26
There go the ships,
and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.
1
104:26
Or you formed to play with
27
These all look to you,
to give them their food in due season.
28
When you give it to them, they gather it up;
when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
29
When you hide your face, they are dismayed;
when you take away their breath, they die
and return to their dust.
30
When you send forth your Spirit,
2
104:30
Or breath
they are created,
and you renew the face of the ground.
31
May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
may the LORD rejoice in his works,
32
who looks on the earth and it trembles,
who 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 being.
34
May my meditation be pleasing to him,
for I rejoice 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!
Dive Deeper | Psalm 104:24-35
Psalm 104 is a psalm of worship and thanksgiving. In the first half of the psalm, the author is recounting all of God’s acts of creation. You can almost hear his voice quicken and his tone rise in verse 24, “How many living things you have made, O Lord!” As he was writing it, I imagine he was overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude and greatness of God and His creation--just as I am, reading about it.
I think the only response you can have when face-to-face with the glory of God is absolute worship and praise. This psalm strikes me as a direct outpouring of the heart, following an intense encounter with God. God’s entire body of work can’t possibly be recorded in a single psalm, but the writer is compelled to try.
Have you ever spent an extended amount of time meditating on God’s creation? How did you feel afterward? While writing this devotional, I spent some time looking at pictures of some of the most beautiful places on earth. Then, I considered the work God has done in my own heart. Both works are a tribute to God’s limitless power to impart beauty where it previously did not exist.
I have to believe the writer of this psalm spent some time in similar meditation and afterward wrote this psalm. Look at his reaction in verse 33, “I will sing to the Lord as long as I live.” Have you ever felt like all you ever wanted to do was praise God forever? And then in verse 35, “May sinners disappear from the earth, and the wicked vanish!” What a picture of desire for God to come back and restore His creation. This psalm stirs in me an intense love for God and a longing to spend eternity with Him. My hope is that everyone’s heart would sing like this psalm after reading it.
Discussion Questions
1. What parts of God’s creation move you to burst out in uncontainable praise?
2. Consider all that God has done in the world and in your own life. What action does that make you want to take?
3. What does it look like, practically, to praise God all of your life?