The Wisdom of God in Creation
Psalm 104:24-30
24 O LORD, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your possessions--
25 This great and wide sea, In which are innumerable teeming things, Living things both small and great.
26 There the ships sail about; There is that Leviathan Which You have made to play there.
27 These all wait for You, That You may give them their food in due season.
28 What You give them they gather in; You open Your hand, they are filled with good.
29 You hide Your face, they are troubled; You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
30 You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the earth.
31 May the glory of the LORD endure forever; May the LORD rejoice in His works.
32 He looks on the earth, and it trembles; He touches the hills, 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 my being.
34 May my meditation be sweet to Him; I will be glad in the LORD.
35 May sinners be consumed from the earth, And the wicked be no more. Bless the LORD, O my soul! Praise the LORD!
Psalm 104 is a great worship psalm that helps us celebrate the greatness and glory of our Creator. This psalm reminds us that we have the privilege enjoy God’s creation, and also a responsibility as stewards to care for it. And as we experience the wonders of it every day, it should be a source of motivation and inspiration to “meditate with delight on Him and determine that we will be glad in the LORD.” (v. 14).
In verses 1-9, the psalmist declares the greatness of God as he describes the acts of God during the six days of creation (Genesis 1). In verses 10-13, he reminds us that God created everything with a plan and for a purpose and that everything has a specific place it His creation! Now in these final verses 24-35, we see the wisdom of God revealed in not only His creative acts but in His sustaining hand behind everything in it.
Whether we study invisible microscopic life, visible plant and animal life, human life, or the myriad of things that have no life, the diversity in creation is amazing. God could have made a drab colorless world, one season everywhere, only one variety of each plant and animal, cookie-cutter humans, no musical sounds, and a few minimal kinds of food—but He did not, and how grateful we are! Only a wise God could have planned so many different things, and only a powerful God could have brought them into being.
"The earth is full of thy possessions or property," (v. 24). The reminds us that God made it all, God owns it all, and God has the right to tell us how to use it all. God wants us to enjoy His creation (1 Tim. 6:17) and employ it wisely. When we exploit our wonderful world, we sin and forget that we are stewards, not owners, and that one day we must give an account of how we have used these precious and irreplaceable gifts. The “Leviathan”, which might be the whales (Gen. 1:21), frolic and play in the ocean and God enjoys them! Creation is glad for what the Lord has done (v. 26), mankind ought to be glad (v. 15). God's people especially should be glad (v. 34). Even the Lord Himself rejoices over His works! (v. 31).
Knowing all this about God and His creation, we have some serious responsibilities to fulfill, and the first is glorifying the Lord (vv. 31-32). Beginning with our own bodies and minds, our abilities and possessions, we must gratefully accept all He has graciously given us and use it to glorify Him, not to please ourselves (Rom. 12:1-2; 1 Cor. 4:7). Second, we must praise the Lord, the Creator. What a marvelous gift is His creation! We need to get back to singing the great hymns and paraphrases of the psalms that exalt God the Creator (v. 33). The more we thank God, the less we will exploit His gifts.
Third, we should “meditate” and think about His creation and rejoice in it (v. 34). The study of natural science is but "thinking God's thoughts after Him." If earth and sky are declaring the glory of God (Psalm 19:1), we who have been saved by His grace ought to be glorifying Him even more! Finally, we must pray for Christ's return (v. 35), for only then will the curse of sin be lifted from creation (Rom. 8:18-25). We must share the gospel with sinners so that they might be able to sing this beautiful hymn with us, "This is my Father's world."
This is my Father's world, And to my listening ears All nature sings, and roundly rings The music of the spheres.
This is my Father's world, The birds their carols raise The morning light the lily-white Declare their maker's praise. This is my Father's world, I rest me in the thought Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas His hand the wonders wrought.
This is my Father's world, Oh, let me ne'er forget That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet. This is my Father's world, Why should my heart be sad? The Lord is King, let the heavens ring God reigns, let the earth be glad.
This is my Father's world, He shines in all that's fair, In the rustling grass I hear Him pass, He speaks to me everywhere. In the rustling grass I hear Him pass, He speaks to me everywhere!
God bless!