Bless the Lord: God's Ongoing Work in Creation

Psalm 104 begins and ends by speaking firmly to the soul: “Bless the Lord, oh my soul.” The psalmist does not treat that as empty religious language. The psalmist calls the soul awake, because feelings are unreliable, and because a relationship with God may need “beefing up.” Blessing God means loving him with heart, soul, mind, and strength, and that kind of life brings joy to God.

Psalm 104 then opens up creation in a way that is much bigger than a quick reading may suggest. The language rises into poetry because ordinary speech is not enough for spiritual realities. God is “clothed with splendor and majesty,” he covers himself with light, and he stretches out the heavens like a tent. The poetry says what would otherwise be unsayable: God is the supreme ruler, resplendent in glory, dwelling beyond time and space, yet not remote from the world he has made.

The grammar of the psalm matters. God is not only the one who made the world long ago. God is the one who waters, causes, appoints, plants, gives, opens his hand, hides his face, takes away breath, sends forth his Spirit, and renews the face of the ground. The psalm presses against a view of creation that is only past tense. God is at work in his creation now.

The waters of the psalm carry the image of chaos, unstable and destructive, yet God builds above them and sets boundaries around them. God controls the waters so life can flourish. The grass grows for livestock, plants grow for mankind to cultivate, and food, wine, oil, and bread come from God’s wise provision. God is not just supplying the basics. God gives what strengthens the heart, gladdens the heart, and makes the face shine.

Psalm 104 therefore challenges a self-centered, materialistic, exploitive way of life. The earth is full of God’s creatures, and all of them look to him for food in due season. Life and death, good and bad, conception and dust, all stand under God’s wise rule. Job’s lesson is close at hand: God is to be trusted even when understanding fails.

The New Testament brings the psalm into full focus in Jesus. Through Jesus the world was created, by the word of his power the universe is upheld, and in him all things hold together. The boundary against chaos is held by Christ. All wisdom and knowledge are hidden in him, and all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Blessing God brings him joy. Blessing God is not a matter of giving God something he lacks. The psalm’s command reaches the whole person, because love for God with heart, soul, mind, and strength brings pleasure to him. Repentance, faithfulness, and a life awake to God are not small things in heaven. [56:06]
• 2. Creation is present tense. Psalm 104 does not leave God’s creative work locked in the past. The verbs of the psalm show God acting now: causing grass to grow, feeding creatures, opening his hand, renewing the ground. Creation is not a machine running by itself, but a world constantly upheld by wisdom. [66:14]
• 3. God rules over chaos. The waters picture instability, danger, and disorder, yet God builds above them and sets their boundaries. Chaos may look like a terrible foundation, but it cannot threaten the one who is over and above it all. The world remains habitable because God restrains what would overwhelm it. [68:34]
• 4. Wisdom stands behind every breath. Psalm 104 joins provision and death under the same wise God. The open hand fills creatures with good things, and the hidden face leaves them dismayed. Trust becomes necessary precisely where explanation runs out, because God’s wisdom remains larger than human understanding. [79:18]
• 5. Jesus holds all things together. Psalm 104 points forward to the one through whom creation was made and by whom it is sustained. Colossians and Hebrews name Jesus as the one in whom all things hold together. The world is not finally held by chance, force, or human control, but by Christ’s wise authority. [90:29]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [49:10] - Psalm 104 and Psalm 103
• [50:57] - Bless the Lord, Oh My Soul
• [54:29] - What It Means to Bless God
• [59:06] - Psalm 104 and Creation
• [60:29] - Poetry That Says the Unsayable
• [66:14] - God’s Work Is Present Tense
• [68:19] - Water, Chaos, and God’s Rule
• [72:21] - Grass, Food, Wine, Oil, and Bread
• [76:11] - God’s Wisdom in All His Works
• [81:47] - Faith, Science, and Young People
• [87:33] - Loving God With the Mind
• [89:54] - Psalm 104 Points to Jesus
• [93:15] - Sing to the Lord as Long as I Live

Bible Reading

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 their 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!” [49:01]

Colossians 1:16-17
“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.” [01:31:03]

Hebrews 1:2-3
“But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,” [01:30:25]

Mark 12:30
“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” [56:06]

Observation questions

1. In Psalm 104, what are some of the present-tense actions God is described as doing right now, not only in the past? [01:06:14]
2. What kinds of good gifts in Psalm 104 are named as coming from God for human life and joy? [01:12:21]
3. In Psalm 104, what happens when God opens his hand, hides his face, takes away breath, and sends forth his Spirit?
4. According to Colossians 1:16-17 and Hebrews 1:2-3, what specific things are said about Jesus’ relationship to creation? [01:30:25]

Interpretation questions

1. Psalm 104 begins and ends with “Bless the Lord, O my soul.” Why might the soul need to be spoken to so directly and firmly? [53:34]
2. Psalm 104 uses poetic language like God being clothed with light and laying beams on the waters. What does that kind of language help readers understand about God that plain speech might miss? [01:04:47]
3. If Psalm 104 shows that God gives food, sets boundaries, and renews the earth in the present, how does that change the way creation should be understood? [01:07:41]
4. Psalm 104 says God rules over the waters, and the New Testament says all things hold together in Christ. How do those truths help explain what it means to say Jesus holds back chaos? [01:31:30]

Application questions

1. “Bless the Lord, O my soul” is a call to wake up and not drift. Where has the heart grown sleepy toward God lately, and what might it look like this week to speak truth to the soul instead of following feelings? [52:46]
2. Loving God includes heart, soul, mind, and strength. Which of those feels strongest right now, and which one may need the most attention? What would loving God with the mind or strength look like in daily life this week? [01:27:33]
3. God is not only the giver of bare necessities but also the giver of gifts that strengthen, gladden, and brighten life. What are some specific good things that may have been received lately without much thanks being given? [01:18:38]
4. Psalm 104 challenges a self-centered, materialistic, and exploitive way of life. Where is there pressure to use creation mainly for comfort, control, or consumption? What might repentance look like in one practical area? [01:20:14]
5. God’s wisdom covers both what is called good and what is called bad, from life to death. Is there a hard situation right now where understanding is thin but trust is still being asked for? What makes that difficult? [01:21:13]
6. Jesus holds all things together. In a part of life that feels unstable or chaotic, what difference would it make to believe that it is not finally being held by chance, other people, or personal effort, but by Christ? [01:31:24]
7. “May my meditation be pleasing to him.” What tends to fill the mind through the week, and what would need to change for thought life to become more pleasing to God? [01:33:26]