God Speaks
Let all that I am praise the Lord.
O Lord my God, how great you are!
You are robed with honor and majesty.
2 You are dressed in a robe of light.
You stretch out the starry curtain of the heavens;
3 you lay out the rafters of your home in the rain clouds.
You make the clouds your chariot;
you ride upon the wings of the wind.
4 The winds are your messengers;
flames of fire are your servants.
5 You placed the world on its foundation
so it would never be moved.
6 You clothed the earth with floods of water,
water that covered even the mountains.
7 At your command, the water fled;
at the sound of your thunder, it hurried away.
8 Mountains rose and valleys sank
to the levels you decreed.
9 Then you set a firm boundary for the seas,
so they would never again cover the earth.
10 You make springs pour water into the ravines,
so streams gush down from the mountains.
11 They provide water for all the animals,
and the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 The birds nest beside the streams
and sing among the branches of the trees.
13 You send rain on the mountains from your heavenly home,
and you fill the earth with the fruit of your labor.
14 You cause grass to grow for the livestock
and plants for people to use.
You allow them to produce food from the earth—
15 wine to make them glad,
olive oil to soothe their skin,
and bread to give them strength.
16 The trees of the Lord are well cared for—
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 There the birds make their nests,
and the storks make their homes in the cypresses.
18 High in the mountains live the wild goats,
and the rocks form a refuge for the hyraxes.
19 You made the moon to mark the seasons,
and the sun knows when to set.
20 You send the darkness, and it becomes night,
when all the forest animals prowl about.
21 Then the young lions roar for their prey,
stalking the food provided by God.
22 At dawn they slink back
into their dens to rest.
23 Then people go off to their work,
where they labor until evening.
24 O Lord, what a variety of things you have made!
In wisdom you have made them all.
The earth is full of your creatures.
25 Here is the ocean, vast and wide,
teeming with life of every kind,
both large and small.
26 See the ships sailing along,
and Leviathan, which you made to play in the sea.
27 They all depend on you
to give them food as they need it.
28 When you supply it, they gather it.
You open your hand to feed them,
and they are richly satisfied.
29 But if you turn away from them, they panic.
When you take away their breath,
they die and turn again to dust.
30 When you give them your breath, life is created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
31 May the glory of the Lord continue forever!
The Lord takes pleasure in all he has made!
32 The earth trembles at his glance;
the mountains smoke at his touch.
33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live.
I will praise my God to my last breath!
34 May all my thoughts be pleasing to him,
for I rejoice in the Lord.
35 Let all sinners vanish from the face of the earth;
let the wicked disappear forever.
Let all that I am praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord!
Source: New Living Translation: BibleGateway.com
We Respond
Reflection: Psalm 104 causes one to wonder at and be uplifted by the majesty of the LORD God and His marvelous creation. It focuses on the LORD God and all of His creation, large and small, near and far away. This poor blogger cannot improve on it, or even explain it. The reader should just take the time to reread Psalm 104 aloud slowly and contemplate the beauty, vastness, power, compassion, wisdom, and creativity of our great and uniquely awesome God.
Prayer: Let all that I am praise You, LORD God, the great I AM. All honor and power belong to You. You created the vast heavenly bodies, both the clouds and winds encompassing the earth and the far-flung galaxies. You established the very foundation of the earth and clothed it with mountains and river valleys, with oceans and meadows. You created vast varieties of animals on the land, each with their own habitat and food chain. You created birds and other flying creatures as well as fish in the various bodies of water. You set up the cycle of life for each one and continue to provide for them. The vast variety of Your creation and the extent of Your wisdom is beyond human comprehension. You supply all that we need whether we be animals or humans. You are the source of all life. Your glory will continue forever! May You take pleasure in all You have made! May I sing (or speak) to You, LORD, until my last breath. Let all that He has made praise the LORD! AMEN
Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on one of the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)
- I will watch a documentary that displays God’s great creation and discuss it with the next generation, praising God for His mighty power and wisdom.
- I will take children to a zoo and discuss the great wisdom and variety of God’s creation.
- I will thank God for the way He provides grass for the livestock, and food (for myself and other humans) such as wine, olive oil, and bread.
- I will pray through this psalm daily for a month to keep my mind focused on God’s greatness, goodness, and creativity. I will memorize Psalm 104:33-35.
Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.