Psalm 104:24-34
O Lord, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures. Here
is the ocean, vast and wide, teeming with life of every kind, both large and
small. See the ships sailing along, and
Leviathan, which you made to play in the sea. They all depend on
you to give them food as they need it. When you supply it,
they gather it. You open your hand to feed
them, and they are richly satisfied. But if you turn away
from them, they panic. When you take
away their breath, they die and turn again to dust. When
you give them your breath, life is created, and you renew the face of the
earth. May the glory of
the Lord continue forever! The Lord takes
pleasure in all he has made! The earth trembles at his glance;
the mountains smoke at his touch. I will sing to
the Lord as long as I live. I
will praise my God to my last breath! May all my thoughts
be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord.
This passage moves from
the general to specific. The Psalmist
begins with the vast diversity of God’s creation (what a variety of things
you have made) to the prayer of a specific man for what God has done. It is nothing more or less than the
fundamental essence of worship; we see what God has done, and awe pours forth!
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The Psalmist’s reaction
to the awe he obviously felt while considering God’s creative power and majesty
is a reminder of the slippery slope to which we can fall victim, if we are not prudently
watchful over our emotions and senses.
It is a small leap (but a very costly one) to begin to worship creation
itself, rather than be in awe of the creation and maintain the focus on
Creator.
The Apostle Paul shows
us that God considers that sinful, a break with trust in God, and leading to
all sorts of mayhem to the soul and spirit of man, for which God had much different,
and better plans.
But God shows his
anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by
their wickedness. They know the truth about God because
he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world
was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly
see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t
worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of
what God was like. As a result, their
minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they
instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the
glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people
and birds and animals and reptiles. So God abandoned them to do whatever
shameful things their hearts desired. As
a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. They
traded the truth about God for a lie. So
they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator
himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.
Romans 1:18-25
Let’s Pray Together
Father, God, our hearts, minds, soul, and spirit
are always touched by the majesty of what You have created. Help us to keep our very beings focused on
the Who of creation, more than the What of creation.
For You Today
Creation invokes awe,
but our Creator is the source of both the created realm and the awe it
inspires. Don’t make an idol of what you
can see; God, after all, is Who created even your eyes!
For another
post on Psalm 104:24-34 see Reason to Rejoice and
for “Worship” as a theme see gods or God? See the whale video HERE
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