WWUTT 1154 Speak of All His Wonders? (Psalm 104, 105)

The entire Bible points to Christ. The Old Testament is in anticipation of the coming of Christ.

The New Testament is looking back on Christ. There are even portions of the Old Testament that look back when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand the Text, a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the

Word. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we feature New Testament Study, an Old Testament book on Thursday, and our

Q &A on Friday. Now here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. Well, in our study of the

Psalms, we're up to Psalm 104 today. This is a little lengthier psalm, so we probably won't get too much farther than this, but I'll begin by reading all 35 verses.

This is Psalm 104. Bless the Lord, O my soul.

O Lord my God, You are very great. You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering

Yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent.

He lays the beams of His chambers on the waters. He makes the clouds

His chariot. He rides on the wings of the wind. He makes

His messengers' winds, His ministers, a flaming fire. He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved.

You covered it with the deep as with a garment. The waters stood above the mountains.

At Your rebuke, they fled. At the sound of Your thunder, they took to flight.

The mountains rose. The valleys sank down to the place that You appointed for them.

You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth.

You make springs gush forth in the valleys. They flow between the hills.

They give drink to every beast of the field. The wild donkeys quench their thirst.

Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell. They sing among the branches. From Your lofty abode,

You water the mountains. The earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your work.

You cause the grass to grow for the livestock, and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth, and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread to strengthen man's heart.

The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that He planted.

In them the birds build their nests, the stork has her home in the fir trees.

The high mountains are for the wild goats, the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.

He made the moon to mark the seasons. The sun knows its time for setting.

You make darkness, and it is night, when all the beasts of the forest creep about.

The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God. When the sun rises, they steal away, and lie down in their dens.

Man goes out to his work, and to his labor, until the evening. O Lord, how manifold are

Your works! In wisdom have You made them all. The earth is full of Your creatures.

Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great.

There go the ships, and Leviathan, which You formed to play in it.

These all look to You, to give them their food in due season. When You give it to them, they gather it up.

When You open Your hand, they are filled with good things. When You hide Your face, they are dismayed.

When You take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. When You send forth

Your Spirit, they are created, and You renew the face of the ground.

May the glory of the Lord endure forever! May the Lord rejoice in His works!

Who looks on the earth, and it trembles? Who 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 being. May my meditation be pleasing to Him, for I rejoice in the

Lord. Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more.

Bless the Lord, O my soul! Praise the Lord! Let me ask you here, and maybe you know, before I get to the specifics, what is this psalm about?

What have we just read about over the course of this psalm? I'll give you a hint. You've read about it before in the

Old Testament, but this is a more poetic approach, or you might consider it a musical interpretation of the creation story.

Not just praising God for the things that have been made, but this is specifically going through the story of creation as we have it in Genesis 1.

Let me show you portions of this. We won't necessarily go through this verse by verse, through all, what was it, 35 verses.

We won't do all that again, but I'll just highlight for you how each day of creation is emphasized here going through this psalm.

It's like the song of creation. So what did God make on day one? God created light.

Let there be light, and it was so. What do we have here at the beginning of the psalm? O Lord my

God, you are very great. You are clothed with splendor and majesty, for God existed even before creation.

Then verse 2, covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent.

Just as the Lord said, let there be light, and it was so. How about day 2? What did

God create on day 2? He created the expanse that divides the waters.

So what do we have next in Psalm 104 verse 2? Stretching out the heavens like a tent, he lays the beams of his chambers on the waters.

He makes the clouds his chariot. He rides on the wings of the wind. He makes his messengers winds, his ministers a flaming fire.

There you have the description of the expanse that is separated from the waters, that which

God made on day 2. How about day 3? What did God create? It was on that day he created land that was distinct from the water.

So look at verse 5. He set the earth on its foundation so that it should never be moved.

You covered it with the deep as with a garment. The waters stood above the mountains.

At your rebuke they fled. At the sound of your thunder they took to flight. The mountains rose, the valley sank down to the place that you appointed for them.

You set a boundary that they may not pass so that they might not again cover the earth.

Now, we're talking about separating the land from the waters here. This is about the creation story.

But that statement, verse 9, specifically is talking about the receding of the floodwaters after the great flood that came upon the earth.

You set a boundary that they may not pass so that they might not again cover the earth.

So it's almost like we're adding in here as we're talking about the separation of water from the land. The psalmist has kind of added in this caveat as though to suggest the water would again cover the land, but then when

God receded it for the final time, he set a limit on it that it can't pass it again. So the reason why the waters will never again cover the earth as they once were at very creation, and then when the judgment came upon the earth, the reason why they won't cover the earth again is because God has put a limit on them that they cannot pass.

So it's an interesting little addition that has been thrown in here, but it still comes straight from the

Genesis story. What was created on day four? On day four, you had the creation of the sun, moon, and stars to govern the day, the sun, and the night, the moon and the stars, and also to give an indication of times and seasons.

That was on day four. So look at what you have in verse 19. He made the moon to mark the seasons.

The sun knows its time for setting. You make darkness and it is night when all the beasts of the forest creep about.

Okay, there you have day four. Consider what was made on day five.

What was that? Well, that was the creatures in the sea and the birds that fill the air.

So look at verses 25 and 26. Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great.

There go the ships and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.

The ships have work they've got to do as they journey across the surface of the water. Leviathan owns the sea, and he even plays in it.

It's his playground. So that's day five. How about day six? What did God make on day six?

Well, he made the land animals and man as well as food for these creatures.

So consider what we have in verses 27 through 30. These all look to you to give them their food in due season.

When you give it to them, they gather it up. When you open your hand, they are filled with good things. When you hide your face, they are dismayed.

When you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. When you send forth your spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.

You send forth your spirit, they are created. Remember the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters before God said, let there be light.

So the Holy Spirit present with God even throughout creation, but this is specifically in reference to God breathing into man and giving him life.

The very breath he breathed into his nostrils, you send forth your spirit, and they are created.

You renew the face of the ground. May the glory of the Lord endure forever.

May the Lord rejoice in his works. And thus the Psalm concludes, finishing the same way it began, bless the

Lord, oh my soul. Let's go on here to Psalm 105. This is a

Psalm about God's faithfulness to his people. Beginning in verse one. Oh, give thanks to the

Lord. Call upon his name. Make known his deeds among the peoples.

Sing to him, sing praises to him. Tell of all his wondrous works.

Glory in his holy name. Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

Seek the Lord and his strength. Seek his presence continually. Remember the wondrous works that he has done.

His miracles and the judgments he uttered. Oh, offspring of Abraham, his servant, children of Jacob, his chosen ones.

He is the Lord our God. His judgments are in all the earth. He remembers his covenant forever.

The word that he commanded for a thousand generations. The covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac, which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying, to you

I will give the land of Canaan as your portion for an inheritance. When they were few in number, of little account and sojourners in it, wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people.

He allowed no one to oppress them. He rebuked kings on their account, saying, touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm.

When he summoned a famine on the land and broke all supply of bread, he had sent a man ahead of them,

Joseph, who was sold as a slave. His feet were hurt with fetters. His neck was put in a collar of iron until what he had said came to pass.

The word of the Lord tested him. The king sent and released him.

The ruler of the peoples set him free. He made him lord of his house and ruler of all his possessions to bind his princes at his pleasure and to teach his elders wisdom.

Then Israel came to Egypt. Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham, and the

Lord made his people very fruitful and made them stronger than their foes.

He turned their hearts to hate his people to deal craftily with his servants.

He sent Moses, his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen. They performed his signs among them and miracles in the land of Ham.

He sent darkness and made the land dark. They did not rebel against his words.

He turned their waters into blood and caused their fish to die. Their land swarmed with frogs, even in the chamber of their kings.

He spoke, and there came swarms of flies and gnats throughout their country.

He gave them hail for rain and fiery lightning bolts through their land. He struck down their vines and fig trees and shattered the trees of their country.

He spoke, and the locusts came, young locusts without number, which devoured all the vegetation in their land and ate up the fruit of their ground.

He struck down all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their strength.

Then he brought out Israel with silver and gold, and there was none among his tribes who stumbled.

Egypt was glad when they departed, for dread of them had fallen upon it. He spread a cloud for a covering and fire to give light by night.

They asked, and he brought quail and gave them bread from heaven in abundance.

He opened the rock and water gushed out. It flowed through the desert like a river, for he remembered his holy promise and Abraham his servant.

So he brought his people out with joy, his chosen ones with singing, and he gave them the lands of the nations, and they took possession of the fruit of the people's toil, that they might keep his statutes and observe his laws.

Praise the Lord. Now surely you recognize this story. It's kind of picking up where we left off when you think about it.

If we had read the creation story in Psalm 104, then we read the story of God's people, even

Joseph and his faithfulness in the land of Egypt, which brought the people of Israel to Egypt, and they stayed there and dwelled there until the

Egyptians put them under them as slaves. And then as the people were being oppressed, the

Lord remembered his promise to Abraham. He delivered the people out. We had the description of the plagues.

He sent Moses and Aaron. They were guided by a pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night.

The Lord gave them quail. The Lord gave them manna. It's interesting, though, that we skip the sinfulness of Israel, their rebellion against God, their grumbling and complaining in the desert, raising up a golden calf and worshiping that, even though they saw the fire of God descend upon Mount Zion.

We skipped all of the evil of the people there, and that's because the point of the psalm is not to highlight the evil of the people, but the faithfulness of God to his promises that he had given to Abraham, that he would preserve

Jacob, that he would send Joseph, that he would send Moses and Aaron. The Lord did these things because he is faithful to his promises.

He will uphold every single one of his promises. And we see Christ throughout this psalm as well.

We saw Christ in the last psalm, in the psalm about creation, for we know that Jesus was there at creation.

We are told such in the scriptures. Just consider what is said in Colossians 1.

You thought I was going to go to John 1. Well, I'm going to do that here in just a moment. But in Colossians 1, we read,

And he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him.

And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

So that's where Jesus was in Psalm 104. He was the very creator of all of these things.

Through him all things were made, and there was nothing made without him. Where it says that he is the firstborn of all creation,

I've explained this before. It does not mean that he is the first created thing, as though God had to create his own son before he created anything else.

Being the firstborn of all creation means that God has given him all the rights of the firstborn. It all belongs to him.

Then, as I mentioned, we have John 1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the

Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.

So there's Jesus in Psalm 104. How about Psalm 105? Well, we know because of what Paul says to the

Corinthians, that God was in the rock, the water. He opened the rock, and water gushed out.

It flowed through the desert like a river, for he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant.

Jesus was with them in the rock, which was this rock that gave them water at the beginning and at the end of their wandering in the desert.

We also know that the manna that had been sent to the Israelites was a picture of Christ.

It was a type pointing to Jesus, who would come as the fulfillment, being the bread from heaven himself.

Jesus said to the Jews, Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they all died.

But whoever eats of this bread, meaning himself, he who is descended from heaven, will never hunger, will never die.

But whoever eats of this bread will live forever, meaning that we must believe in the

Lord Jesus Christ, his work, what he accomplished on the cross, a sacrifice for our sins, that by faith in him we would not perish, but we would have everlasting life.

He is the bread, the everlasting bread. We eat of Christ, we abide in him, he abides in us, and we will abide together forever in glory.

This is the picture of Christ that we see in both of these psalms, that he might receive all of the honor and glory and praise to his name.

Bless the Lord, oh my soul, praise his holy name.

Let's conclude with prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we see through all that has been made, evidence of your goodness and your glory.

It is through the things that have been made, we even know your eternal power and divine nature, which has been clearly perceived.

Man is without excuse, yet he continues to go stumbling along in his sin, rebelling against God, doing wicked things.

We know that as you have created all things, you govern over all things. Your justice is over all things.

And so may we submit to you in the fear of the Lord and in great praise for all the wonderful goodness that you have shown to us.

You are faithful to your promises to Abraham, so you will be faithful to your promises to us who are in Christ Jesus.

Delivering us up from this world and giving us an inheritance, an eternal kingdom with Christ our

Savior. His great name we praise this day. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Pastor Gabe keeps a regular blog, sharing personal thoughts, alerting readers to false teachers, and offering commentary on the church and social issues.

You can find a link to the blog through our website, www .utt .com. Thank you for listening, and join us again tomorrow as we continue our study in God's word, when we understand the text.