Would you turn to Psalm 104? This is a lengthy psalm, but
we're going to look at it all today. And I kind of made my determination
to just do one, you know, not spend more than one week on a
psalm. Someone says, why? I don't know. Going to answer
that, but Psalm 119 will spend more than one week, but. Psalm
104. Bless the Lord, oh my soul. Oh
Lord, my God. Thou art very great. Thou art
clothed with honor and majesty. who covereth thyself with light
as with a garment, who stretches out the heavens
like a curtain, who layeth the beams of his chambers in the
waters, who maketh the clouds his chariot, who walketh upon
the wings of the wind, who maketh his angels, spirits, his ministers
a flaming fire. who laid the foundations of the
earth, that it should not be removed forever. Thou coverest
it with the deep as with a garment. And this is talking about the
flood, I believe, now. Thou coverest it with the deep
with a garment, talking about the earth. The water stood above
the mountains. At thy rebuke, they fled. At
the voice of thy thunder, they hasted away. They go up by the
mountains, they go down by the valleys into the place which
thou hast founded for them. Thou hast said abound that they
may not pass over, that they turn not again to cover the earth.
Remember the Lord made that promise. He goes on to talk about the
water. He sendeth the springs into the
valleys which run among the hills. They give drink to every beast
of the field. The wild asses quench their thirst
by them, shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation,
which sing among the branches. He watereth the hills from his
chambers, the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.
He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for
the service of man, that he may bring forth food out of the earth,
and wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make
his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart.
The trees of the Lord are full of sap, the cedars of Lebanon
which he hath planted, where the birds make their nests as
for the stork, the fir trees, or her house. The high hills
are a refuge for the wild goats and the rocks for the conies.
He appointed the moon for seasons. The sun knoweth his going down.
Thou makest darkness. It's night. We're in all the
beasts of the forest who creep forth. The young lions roar after
their prey and seek their meat from God. The sun ariseth, they
gather themselves together and lay them down in their dens. Man goeth forth unto his work,
into his labor, into the evening. O Lord, how manifold are thy
works. In wisdom hast thou made them
all. The earth is full of thy riches.
So is the great and wide sea wherein are things creeping innumerable,
both small and great beasts. There go the ships, there's the
Leviathan whom thou hast made to play therein. These wait all
upon thee, that thou mayest give them their meat in due season.
That thou givest them, they gather. Thou openest thy hand, they're
filled with good. Thou hidest thy face, they're
troubled. Thou takest away their breath,
they die and return to the dust. Thou sendest forth thy spirit
there created and thou renewest the face of the earth. The glory
of the Lord shall endure forever. The Lord shall rejoice in his
works. He looketh on the earth and it
trembleth. He toucheth the hills and they
smoke. That's a description of what
happened on Mount Sinai. I will sing unto the Lord as
long as I live. I will sing praise to my God
while I have my being. My meditation of him shall be
sweet. I will be glad in the Lord. Let the sinners be consumed out
of the earth and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the Lord,
O my soul. Praise ye the Lord. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the
Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation that's in him. How we thank you
for your wonderful creation How we thank you that you're God,
and beside thee is none else. Lord, give us the grace to enter
in with the psalmist saying, bless the Lord, O my soul. Lord, we can only do that by
thy spirit, but we pray that we might be privileged and allowed
to do that. We pray that your gospel would
be preached in the power of your spirit. Pray for the salvation
of our children. We pray that you would be pleased
to make yourself known to them. Wherever your people meet together,
we ask for your blessing and your grace. Accept our thanksgiving
through thy son. We thank you, Lord, accept our
praise and thanksgiving for who you are and that salvation is
all of your grace. Forgive us of our sins for Christ's
sake, in his name we pray, amen. I love the way the psalmist begins,
bless the Lord, oh my soul. Now you and I know that we can't
add to his blessedness, but we can say, bless the Lord, oh my
soul. Look at the way he says, oh,
Lord, my God. Isn't it a blessing when we can
say, oh, Lord, my God? And the only reason we can say
that is because the Lord Jesus said, I go to my father and your
father and my God and your God. And because the Lord Jesus Christ
said that, he is my God. Thou art very great. Thou art
clothed with honor and majesty. Who covers thyself with light
is with a garment. Now what imagery do we have here?
What would be the splendor of his brightness when he actually
covers himself with light as a blanket? He takes light and
covers himself. That's how splendid he is in
his person. I think of the sun that came
to Saul, the great light that was above the brightness of the
sun, the Lord Jesus Christ. We're just talking about things
that all we can do is just bow. That's it. He covers himself
with light as with a garment. This is a reference to creation
and he uses such amazing imagery here. He says, who stretches
out the heavens like a curtain, who layeth the beams of his chambers
in the waters, who maketh the clouds his chariot, who walketh
upon the wings of the wind. Now this is a poetic language,
but it's beautiful, isn't it? Describing our God. Verse four, this is quoted in
Hebrews one with regard to the angels, who maketh his angels
spirits. Now somehow angels are spiritual
beings. I don't understand how, we're
tied to the flesh. They can be in one place and
then transport themselves to another place. And Lord made
them that way, but they're his angels. And isn't it an amazing
thing to think of every believer does have a guardian angel, an
angel watching over you right now. And the Lord says their
angels do always behold the face of their father. Now, somebody
says, explain that to me. Again, I can't, but I believe
this altogether. Angels are in the presence of
the assembly of the saints. Angels are here right now. Can
I see him? No. They're always interested
where the gospel is preached. There are many places where they
have no interest to be whatsoever, but which things angels desire
to look into. And his angels are spirits, his
ministers, flames of fire. verse five, who laid the foundation
for the earth, that it should not be removed forever. Now, I hope this is not a political
statement, and if it is, I'm wrong in making it, because you
should never make political statements in the church. It just shouldn't
be done, it can just be divisive, and I do not want this in any
way to be a political statement, but I know this, when people
start talking about We're going to destroy the earth. No, you're
not. No, you're not. It's the Lord's earth. And men,
I'm not in any way advocating irresponsibility. We ought to
be very responsible in the way we use energy and all that kind
of stuff. But man can't destroy the earth.
The Lord said it's here for good. That's his promise. Now once
again, I'm not advocating in any way irresponsibility. Let's act however we want and
do the earth the way we want. No, act responsible. It's so
arrogant of man to think we can destroy the earth. No, you can't.
The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and
they that dwell therein. So I'm, well, that's my commentary. Verse six, thou cover'st it with
deep as with a garment. This is talking about the flood.
Thou cover'st it with deep as with a garment. The water stood
above the mountains. The scripture says 20 feet above
the highest peak. Verse seven, thy rebuke, they
fled. At the voice of thy thunder,
they hasted away. The water went back down. They
go up by the mountains, they go down by the valleys into the
place which thou hast founded for them. Thou has said abound
that they may not pass over. You know, the Lord promised I'm
not going to destroy the earth with a flood ever again. That's
his promise. That they turn not again to cover
the earth. Now he goes to the water again in a different way.
And I love thinking about this. He sendeth the springs into the
valleys which run among the hills. They give drink to every beast
of the field. The wild asses quenched their
thirst. Isn't that wonderful to think
of the Lord giving his creation water to drink? Verse 12, by them shall the fowls
of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches,
the singing of the birds. They're singing to their God,
their creator. He watereth the hills from the
chambers, the rain that comes down. The earth is satisfied
with the fruit of thy works. He causes the grass to grow for
the cattle. I love that passage of scripture.
The cattle on a thousand hills are mine. If I was hungry, I
wouldn't tell you about it. The cattle on a thousand hills
are mine. And just to think of the millions
of cattle, eating his grass that came from his reign. He's so
good. Somebody says, well, if he's
so good, why does he let these bad things happen? He's so good. And he always brings good out
of evil. And you can just rest assured
in that the Lord is good. He causes the grass to grow for
the cattle. an herb for the service of man
that he may bring forth food out of the earth. What goodness. But look in verse 15, and wine
that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face
to shine, and bread which strengthen man's heart. Now, if you do not want to touch alcohol
and wine, that's fine, you shouldn't do it. If you think it's sinful,
you shouldn't do it. But don't try to press that on
everybody. The Lord drank wine. He was called a winebibber by
his enemies. He's a winebibber. He's a gluttonous
man. The abuse of alcohol is sin. That's all it can be called. Drunkenness is sin. But don't
say with regard to wine, well, it's wrong. No, it's not. The
Lord drank wine and wine makes glad the heart of man, the scripture
says. Wine that makes glad the heart
of man and oil to make his face to shine and bread which strengthens
man's heart. This is all a part of his bounty
and his goodness toward man. The Lord gave us this creation
to enjoy. May we be impressed with that.
You know, I love thinking about this. The Lord's happy. Right
now, he's happy. He's not got his fist clenched,
frustrated because things aren't going his way. He's in absolute
sovereign control. And he is the happy God, the
blessed God. And that's what he's saying when
he says, bless the Lord, O my soul, all that's within me, bless
his holy name. Look at the verse 17. I love thinking about this where
The trees of the Lord, verse 16, are full. The cedars of Lebanon,
which he hath planted, where the birds make their nests. As
for the stork, the fir tree, or her house, the little birds,
the big birds, the Lord provides them with a home. There's not a spare that falls
to the ground without your heavenly Father. That's what the Lord
said with regard to our God. The high hills are a refuge for
the wild goats. You've all seen mountain goats
and the rocks for the coneys, the rock badgers. The Lord's
got a purpose in everything he does. He has appointed the moon
for seasons, the control of the tide. The sun knows his going
down. I love the way that said the
sun is personified as knowing what it's to do. I love the hymn
we sing, well might the sun in darkness hide to shut his glories
in when Christ, the mighty maker died for man, the creature sinned,
but the sun knows he's going down. The sun knows who his ruler
is. Thou make us darkness. Verse
20, I formed the light. I create
darkness, I make peace, I create evil, I, the Lord, do all these
things. Thou makest darkness in its night,
wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth. The young
lions roar after their prey and seek their meat from God. Now,
if you think of any animal that probably He's on his own, he's
gonna get his food on his own. You think of a lion, the king
of the beasts, but he's seeking his meat from God. The lion knows
where his food comes from. The young lions roar after the
prey. They seek their meat from God. The sun ariseth. They gather
themselves together and lay them down in their dens. Verse 23,
man goeth forth unto his work and to his labor, to the evening. Now, what a blessing work is. What a blessing. Work was before
the fall. So don't look at it as evil. What a blessing to have a work
to do. I love what Paul said, if a man
won't work, anybody know the rest of the verse? Neither let
him eat." Work is of the Lord. Work is good. And I don't want to settle for
mediocrity in anything. Whatever responsibility the Lord
has given us, let's do it as unto the Lord. Verse 24, O Lord,
how manifold are thy works. Now you think of the works of
the Lord. He talked about man going forth to the work the Lord
gave him. And now he talks about the Lord's
works. Now his works are works of creation, works of providence,
and his great work of salvation. How manifold, how varied, how
glorious, how complex, How majestic are his works? His works of creation. You know, we don't believe for
a second evolution or the Big Bang Theory or any of those foolishness. In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. God is creator. He spake the
universe. into existence from nothing,
ex nihilo, nothing. How great he is in his creation.
How great he is in providence that he controls everything.
I mean, everything that happens. I don't care where it is. I don't
care how insignificant it may seem to us. He's the first cause
of it. You say, well, he doesn't care
if you, he's not the cause of you burning your dinner. What
is he not the cause of? Think about it. Are you saying
there's something he's not in control of? Where are you going
to draw the line? God is absolutely sovereign over
all things and it's not hard for him. It's not difficult.
He controls everything. Not a sparrow falls to the ground
without your heavenly father. Now talking about something seemingly
insignificant to us. Over in Russia, just now, a sparrow
fell to the ground and died. What's that got to do with my
life? Well, I don't know, but God did it. That's the point.
And he always brings good out of evil. And then his work of
salvation. I mean, his work of creation
is great, infinitely great. His work of providence is great,
but his work of salvation, salvation is by his works. We believe in
work salvation, his works. His works. Salvation is His work. He gave His Son, just the glory
of it all, that He would give His Son to die for sinners, to
make a way for Him to be just and justify the ungodly. Oh,
the glory of His works. Oh, Lord, how manifold are Thy
works. In wisdom hast Thou made them all. The earth is full of
Thy riches. So is the great, verse 25, so
is the great and wide sea wherein there are things creeping innumerable,
both small and great bees, whales, shrimp, you know, they're all
yours. They're all in the sea. Uh, there
go the ships. There's the Leviathan whom Dallas
made to play there in. Now, have you ever seen on TV?
Maybe you've seen in person, but a whale jump up out of the
water, just out of pure joy. They're having fun and they jump
up out of the water and they crashed down and that's the Lord
having his Leviathan to play the ships on the water. Everything is his verse 27. These wait all. upon thee, that thou mayest give
them their meat in due season, that thou givest them they gather."
Now, don't miss this. What you give them, they gather.
You know, I like to sit in my backyard and see the ground squirrels,
the squirrels, the rabbits, the birds, they're gathering. They're
gathering. The Lord put them something there
and they're gathering it up. It's kind of like the manna.
The manna, it didn't just pop up into your house. He was out
on the ground and you had to go gather it. That's what faith
is. But thou givest them and they
gather. That's the Lord's rule. Thou
givest them and they gather. Thou openest thy hand and they're
filled with good. Verse 29. Thou hidest thy face. They're troubled. Thou takest
away their breath. They die and return to their
dust. This is all of God's Created
beings, thou sendest forth thy spirit, they're created, and
thou renewest the face of the earth. That's going on all the
time. All the time, isn't that beautiful? Our God is an absolute,
glorious, sovereign control of everything. This is my Father's
world. And let me ne'er forget that
though the wrong seems off so strong, God is the ruler yet. This is my father's world. The
battle is not done. Jesus who died shall be satisfied
and earth and heaven be one. Verse 31, the glory of the Lord
shall endure forever. Now, when Moses said, show me
your glory, What's the first thing he said? I'll make all
my goodness to pass before thee. I'll proclaim my name before
thee. That's his attributes. The person
behind the name. And I will be gracious to whom
I will be gracious. and I'll have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. That glory shall endure forever. The Lord shall rejoice in his
works, his works of creation, his works of providence, his
works of salvation. The Lord's gonna rejoice. Like
I said, he said with regard to every one of his people, I will
rejoice over thee with singing. I think about that. The Lord
singing a song over you, you, his glorious work. Look what
I've done. I've made this person just like
my son. Look, look at my work. That's
what he's saying. He will rejoice in his works. Verse 32, he looks on the earth
and it trembles. He touches the hills and they
smoke. Somebody say, is that reference to volcanoes? And maybe it is, but I think
it's talking about when he touched Mount Sinai and it smoked and
it trembled. Now look at verse 33, and I pray
this is me and you. I will sing unto the Lord as
long as I live. I will sing praise to my God
while I have my being. My meditation, not somebody else's
meditation. My meditation. My music. My thoughts of him. Do you meditate on the Lord?
That's what David's talking about. We're not talking about somebody
else's meditation. David's talking about my meditation. My meditation
of him. Of him. Of him. We worship the Lord Jesus
Christ, the savior of sinners, the creator of the universe,
the one who accomplished my salvation. When he said it is finished,
my salvation was finished. Didn't have anything to do with
my works. Nothing to do with my works. He finished it. My
meditation of him. Oh, may the Lord give us this
meditation of him. My meditation of him, this glorious
creator, this glorious savior, my meditation of him shall be
sweet. I will be glad in the Lord. The only gladness I have, and
there's plenty of gladness, but I've got gladness in this, it's
in the Lord. You know what that means? That
means here's my confidence. Here's my assurance. When God
sees me, all he sees is his son, Jesus Christ, the Lord, and me
in him. And I'll be glad in that. That
makes me happy. that everything God requires
of me, He looks to His Son for. I'll be glad in the Lord." Now,
he gives a kind of a different way of ending this psalm when
he's thinking about the glory of the Lord. When he's thinking
about the beauty of the Lord, when he thinks about the Lord
rejoicing in all of his works, when he thinks of the sweetness
of his meditation on him and him being glad in the Lord. Look
at the way he ends this song. And remember, this is inspired
by God, the spirit. This is not man's production,
this is God's production. And look at the way he ends this
song. Let the sinners be consumed out
of the earth. and let the wicked be no more."
Now, why would he use language like this? Well, I understand
when you think of this, anyone that is in opposition to this
glorious Lord, they'll be just wiped out. Now that's what he's
saying. He's not saying that with a wrong
spirit. You see, he loves the Lord. And
he looks at any kind of opposition to the Lord. That's just being
so evil and wrong. And let him be no more. Let him
be consumed out of the earth. Let him be no more. And this
is he who desired the glory of God. That was his sentiment. This was not a harsh sentiment.
This was love to Christ. Anyone who's contrary to him
and continues in that opposition to him, they ought to just be
wiped out. Paul put it this way in 1 Corinthians 16, verse 22. If any man, now listen to this,
if any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema
maranatha. Let him be damned upon the return
of Christ. Now was Paul being unloving?
No. He loved the Lord and anyone
who does not love Jesus Christ. And we know the only reason we
love him is because he first loved us and gave us the grace
to love him. We realize that. But any man that does not love
the glorious Lord Jesus Christ ought to be damned. Amen. We give our amen to that. And
I know that, and when I say that, I know that in and of myself,
I ought to be damned. I know that. So this is not a
harsh way to end this psalm. But look at his last words. Bless
thou. He's speaking to himself. He's
preaching a message to himself. Bless thou the Lord. Oh, my soul. Praise ye. The Lord, this glorious
Lord that I've described in this song, praise ye the Lord.