#835 Splendor and Majesty Part 1

Bless the Lord, O my soul!

O Lord my God, you are very great!

You are clothed with splendor and majesty,

2 covering yourself with light as with a garment,

stretching out the heavens like a tent.

3 He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;

he makes the clouds his chariot;

he rides on the wings of the wind;

4 he makes his messengers winds,

his ministers a flaming fire.

5 He set the earth on its foundations,

so that it should never be moved.

6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment;

the waters stood above the mountains.

7 At your rebuke they fled;

at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.

8 The mountains rose, the valleys sank down

to the place that you appointed for them.

9 You set a boundary that they may not pass,

so that they might not again cover the earth.

10 You make springs gush forth in the valleys;

they flow between the hills;

11 they give drink to every beast of the field;

the wild donkeys quench their thirst.

12 Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;

they sing among the branches.

13 From your lofty abode you water the mountains;

the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.

14 You cause the grass to grow for the livestock

and plants for man to cultivate,

that he may bring forth food from the earth

15 and wine to gladden the heart of man,

oil to make his face shine

and bread to strengthen man's heart.

16 The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly,

the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.

17 In them the birds build their nests;

the stork has her home in the fir trees.

18 The high mountains are for the wild goats;

the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.

19 He made the moon to mark the seasons;

the sun knows its time for setting.

20 You make darkness, and it is night,

when all the beasts of the forest creep about.

21 The young lions roar for their prey,

seeking their food from God.

22 When the sun rises, they steal away

and lie down in their dens.

23 Man goes out to his work

and to his labor until the evening.

24 O Lord, how manifold are your works!

In wisdom have you made them all;

the earth is full of your creatures.

25 Here is the sea, great and wide,

which teems with creatures innumerable,

living things both small and great.

26 There go the ships,

and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.

27 These all look to you,

to give them their food in due season.

28 When you give it to them, they gather it up;

when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.

29 When you hide your face, they are dismayed;

when you take away their breath, they die

and return to their dust.

30 When you send forth your Spirit, they are created,

and you renew the face of the ground.

31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever;

may the Lord rejoice in his works,

32 who looks on the earth and it trembles,

who touches the mountains 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 being.

34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,

for I rejoice in the Lord.

35 Let sinners be consumed from the earth,

and let the wicked be no more!

Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Praise the Lord! Psalm 104 ESV

A Psalm the Vulgate and Septuagint attribute to David. An ode to the creative power of God.

Bless the Lord, O my soul - Again like the last song, in spirit and in truth. Demand all of myself, totally engaged in the act of worship, in awe of the Creator.

“The verse sums up the whole of the creative act in one grand thought. In that act the invisible God has arrayed Himself in splendour and glory, making visible these inherent attributes. That is the deepest meaning of Creation. The Universe is the garment of God.” (Maclaren)

Covering yourself with light as with a garment - The sun, the stars, the moon which reflects the radiance of the sun, all lesser lights but splendid revelations of majesty above all things majestic. There is a song we sing, "God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all." There is goodness as men define such, but this is moral purity unsurpassed. The Psalmist is walking through the days of Creation, and this is as fine a meditation as any. 

1 After six days Jesus took with Him Peter, James, and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. 3 Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared before them, talking with Jesus.… Matthew 17: 1-3

…5 For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 Now we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this surpassingly great power is from God and not from us.… 2 Corinthians 4: 5-7

Stretching out the heavens like a tent - Scientist will say that a star is thus far away, and the light we see has traveled this many light years, so what I perceive now is this old. But God, in His wisdom has declared, decreed, stretched out the heavens, and did so in a day. There are at least 11 instances in the Old Testament, in different books, that testify to God stretching out the heavens. He is eternal and controlling all of this that we can only view from inside time and space. Look into it as if from the outside of a globe, but what would you see if you turned around toward eternity? It cracks the framework of my mind, God is above all this, yet ever present in every moment of our history. We can do Him no justice with the limits of our vocabulary. The naturalist mind falls quickly into delusion, trying to reconcile and account for the age he has placed upon the universe, and much of the church today, even the New Calvinist, desire so much to have a seat with the learned, to be respected by the world, that they are more conformed then reformed. Evangelicals go about quoting that a day is like a thousand years to our Lord, but apply that time to each day, rather than evening and morning. Yes, so that we can understand that God is not late, a day is like a thousand years, but God can spread out a thousand light years in a day. You cannot magnify Him enough.

…11 Thus you are to tell them: “These gods, who have made neither the heavens nor the earth, will perish from this earth and from under these heavens.” 12 God made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding. 13 When He thunders, the waters in the heavens roar, and He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He sends the lightning with the rain and brings the wind from His storehouses.… Jeremiah 10: 11-13

He makes His messengers winds - So much is happening outside of our sight, but nothing outside the sovereignty of God.

…6 And again, when God brings His firstborn into the world, He says: “Let all God’s angels worship Him.” 7 Now about the angels He says: “He makes His angels winds, His servants flames of fire.” 8 But about the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever, and justice is the scepter of Your kingdom.… Hebrews 1: 6-8

At Your rebuke they fled - As the setting of their place in Creation, their return and withdraw in the flood, and Who is this Christ Who says, "peace, be still?" 

…2 The springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained. 3 The waters receded steadily from the earth, and after 150 days the waters had gone down. 4 On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.… Genesis 8: 2-4

…25 The disciples went and woke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” 26“You of little faith,” Jesus replied, “why are you so afraid?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it was perfectly calm. 27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey Him!”… Matthew 8: 25-27

The earth is satisfied by the fruit of Your work - No matter what or where the creature, God has delighted so to make it, and provide that it may live. Even in a fallen world we find reason to give thanks, looking up upon the mountains, down into the canyons, everywhere there is life, and everywhere there is reason to praise the One Who spoke it into being. 

And wine to gladden the heart of man - God has been so kind as to produce, not only that which is food, but also medicine and relief. It is not what goes into a man that defiles him, but the Bible speaks to moderation, whether drunkenness, which is abuse of fermentation. Gluttony is the abuse of sustenance, and fornication, which is the abuse of God's original intent and order within the beautiful, the sacred and committed bonds of marriage. Fallen humanity can pervert anything, and will in it's depravity choose less than glorious means. Prohibition has in no way solved the abuses, and has often harmed those, who in the spirit of self control, would have made such remedies as gifts of compassion to those suffering. In my day, it is the lesser of these things, the least addictive as I know, but most helpful as I can see, cannabis, which one type of ignorance demonizes while the other overstates, mystifies or abuses. I believe in individual responsibility, truth, compassion and the honest labeling of both harm and or benefit. Greed is yet another abuse, which compromises all the good we here enjoy. 

- And wine that maketh glad the heart of man. By the aid of genial showers the earth produces not merely necessaries but luxuries, that which furnishes a feast as well as that which makes a meal. O that man were wise enough to know how to use this gladdening product of the vine; but, alas, he full often turns it to ill account, and debases himself therewith. Of this he must himself bear the blame; he deserves to be miserable who turns even blessings into curses. - C. H. Spurgeon

…22 Do not be too quick in the laying on of hands and thereby share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure. 23 Stop drinking only water and use a little wine instead, because of your stomach and your frequent ailments. 24 The sins of some men are obvious, going ahead of them to judgment; but the sins of others do not surface until later.… 1 Timothy 5: 22-24

7 Furthermore, he must have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the snare of the devil. 8 Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued or given to much wine or greedy for money. 9 They must hold to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.… 1 Timothy 3: 7-9