Read Psalm 104
When I read a psalm like Psalm 104, there is a cynical part in me that wants to protest the Psalmist because I know how easy it is to exclaim something like,
“1 Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, you are very great!”
Especially when everything is going your way. But, we all know that life is full of mountaintops and valleys. I know that I have a tendency to be more apt to focus inwardly when I’m in a difficult season, and that causes me to resonate more with the woeful psalms that cry out for God to come, to do what he said he would do, and to save his people. As I read this psalm, however, God took me on a journey through the psalmist’s praises that helped give me perspective in my own hardships.
The psalmist paints a picture of how God is at work at the macro level and the micro level. He first proclaims this about God:
“5 He set the earth on its foundations,
so that it should never be moved.
6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
7 At your rebuke they fled;
at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.
8 The mountains rose, the valleys sank down
to the place that you appointed for them.
9 You set a boundary that they may not pass,
so that they might not again cover the earth.”
This was a stark reminder to me that as I am consumed with myself and my own problems, there is a God who is not caught off guard or surprised by what I’m going through because he is holding up the universe at the word of his power (Heb. 1:3). This makes me and my problems feel so small and insignificant. Yet, even though God is not dependent on your happiness or security to be all-powerful, the psalmist shows us how he is intimately involved with his creations.
“14 You cause the grass to grow for the livestock
and plants for man to cultivate,
that he may bring forth food from the earth
15 and wine to gladden the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine
and bread to strengthen man's heart.”
Psalm 104 richly describes how glorious God is, and invites us to step outside ourselves and marvel at how great God is, because it’s in his greatness that we are able to fully appreciate the way he still intimately cares for our every need. It is a beautiful promise that the God of the universe that does not need his creatures to live independently; rather he loves them intimately and will
“27 give them their food in due season.”
This Psalm is so encouraging to me, because the truth is that you only get this kind of perspective on the mountaintop when God has brought you up from the valley first.
“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.”
-- Max Fray