PSALMS LESSON 103
We will begin this lesson by giving the 104th Psalm in metre.
THE PSALMS OF DAVID IN METRE
Chapter 104
Verse 1 "Bless God, my soul. O Lord my God, Thou art exceeding great;
With honor and with majesty Thou clothed art in state."
Verse 2 "With light, as with a robe, thyself Thou coverest about;
And, like the curtain of a tent, The heavens stretchest out."
Verse 3 "He of his chambers doth the beams Within the waters lay; He
doth the clouds his chariot make, On wings of wind make way."
Verse 4 "He doth the flames his ministers, The winds his angels make;
He earth's foundations firmly laid That it should never
shake."
Verse 5 "Thou didst it cover with the deep, As with a garment spread:
The waters stood above the hills, When thou the word hadst
said."
Verse 6 "But at the voice of thy rebuke They fled, and would not
stay; They at thy thunder's dreadful voice Did hasten fast
away."
Verse 7 "They by the mountains do ascend, And by the valley-ground
Descend again to that same place Which thou for them didst
found."
Verse 8 "To them a limit thou hast set, O'er which they may not go,
That they do not return again The earth to overflow."
Verse 9 "He to the valleys sends the springs, Which run among the
hills; They to all beasts of field give drink, Wild asses
drink their fills."
Verse 10 "The fowls of heaven their dwellings Beside each flowing
spring have And there among the branches they With joyful
voices sing."
Verse 11 "He from his chambers watereth The hills when they are
dried: And with the fruit of these thy works, The earth is
satisfied."
Verse 12 "He makes the grass for cattle grow, He makes the herb to
spring For use of man, that food to him He from the earth may
bring;"
Verse 13 "And wine, that to the heart of man Doth cheerfulness impart;
Oil that this face makes shine, and bread That strengtheneth
his heart. "
Verse 14 "The trees of God are full of life; The cedars great that
stand On Lebanon, all planted were By his almighty hand. "
Verse 15 "Where birds a place of safety choose In which their nests to
make; As for the stork, the lofty firs They for their
dwelling take. "
Verse 16 "Wild goats a place of refuge find Upon the mountains high;
The conies also to the rocks Do for their safety fly. "
Verse 17 "He sets the moon in heav'n, thereby the seasons to discern;
From him the sun his certain time of going down doth learn. "
Verse 18 "Thou darkness mak'st, 'tis night, then Of forests creep
abroad. The lions young do roar for prey, And seek their meat
from God.
Verse 19 "The sun doth rise, and home they flock, Down in their dens
they lie. Man goes to work, his labor he Doth to the ev'ning
ply."
Verse 20 "How manifold, O Lord, thy works, In wisdom wonderful Thou
ev'ry one of them hast made; Earth's of thy riches full: "
Verse 21 "So is this great and spacious sea, Where things creeping
are, Which numbered cannot be; and beasts Both great and
small are there. "
Verse 22 "The ships go there, and there the Leviathan to play.
mak'st These wait on thee, and from thy hand In due time fed
are they. "
Verse 23 "And what thy kindness gives to them They gather for their
food; Thine hand thou open'st lib'rally, And they are filled
with good."
Verse 24 "Thou hid'st thy face; they troubled are, Their breath thou
tak'st away; They die, and to their kindred dust Return again
do they. "
Verse 25 "Thy spirit then thou sendest forth, And they created are;
The face of earth thou dost revive, And all things new
appear. "
Verse 26 "The glory of the mighty Lord For ever shall endure; And in
his works Jehovah shall Rejoice for evenmore. "
Verse 27 "Earth, as affrighted, trembleth all, If he on it but look;
And if the mountains he but touch, they presently do smoke. "
Verse 28 "I to the Lord Most High will sing so long as I shall live;
And while I being have I will to my God praises give. "
Verse 29 "Of him my meditation shall Sweet thoughts to me afford; And
as for me, I will rejoice In God, my only Lord. "
Verse 30 "From earth let sinners be consumed, Let ill men no more be.
O thou my soul, bless thou the Lord. Praise to the Lord give
ye."
We will now begin the verse by verse study of the 104th Psalm.
Psalms 104:1 "Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very
great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty."
This almost seems to be a continuation of the praise in the last
lesson. We will see in this Psalm {as some noted scholars have} that
this is a Psalm about creation and the praise due the Creator of it
all. I believe the praise, in this verse, shows that even before
anything was created, He deserved to be praised. The being clothed in
honour and majesty, is just saying the whole world should see those
two aspects of the LORD, when they first look. Our first view with our
spirit should be that we see more than can be imagined, He is majestic
and His honour is beyond reproach. Have you ever seen the glow on a
brand new Christian's face, when they first see that God is real? They
are felling and seeing in their spirit the majesty and honour He has.
Psalms 104:2 "Who coverest [thyself] with light as [with] a
garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:"
We know that He is the Light of the world. The Light had to be
applied before anything, or anyone, could exist. That is why the very
first, Let there be, in Genesis was an application of the power of
Light. This Light gives everything, and everyone, the power to exist.
Genesis 1:3 "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light."
We, also, know that the heavens were next. Genesis 1:8 "And God called
the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second
day." We must, also, remember from the last lesson, who did all of
this. John 1:3 "All things were made by him; and without him was not
any thing made that was made." This, of course, is the Word of God.
He spoke-it became.
Psalms 104:3 "Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters:
who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the
wind:"
The waters, here, are what the heavens were formed of. Do not ask
me how, I do not know. I just know the Word says it, and I believe it.
We do know that the clouds took Jesus wherever He wanted to go. In
Acts, we read of their part in Jesus' ascension into heaven. Acts 1:9
"And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken
up; and a cloud received him out of their sight." We, also, know that
we are promised that He will come back in like manner. Acts 1:11
"Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into
heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall
so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." We, also,
know that the Presence that led the Israelites across the wilderness,
led them in a cloud by day. This is enough said about all of this.
Psalms 104:4 "Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a
flaming fire:"
Angels are sometimes seen in a visible form, but they are really
spirits. We know that the two angels that led Lot out of Sodom were in
the form of men. God is spoken of as a consuming fire. We do know that
there is a spiritual fire and a literal fire. I would assume this is
speaking of fire in the spiritual nature. Jesus baptized with the Holy
Ghost and fire. This is speaking of fire of a spiritual nature. I
believe those who are full of the Spirit of God are, also, filled with
this spiritual fire.
Psalms 104:5 "[Who] laid the foundations of the earth, [that] it
should not be removed for ever."
I have said this numerous times, but it still amazes me, how God
flung this planet, we call earth, out into space and told it to stay
in orbit. That is far above my comprehension. If nothing else, this
would cause me to have great awe of God. This alone sets God so far
above man, that there is a great vast separation.
Psalms 104:6 "Thou coveredst it with the deep as [with] a
garment: the waters stood above the mountains."
I believe the penman to be David here, but whoever he is, the
Holy Spirit moved upon him for all of these facts to be so perfect. We
see, in this, the water covered the earth, before the dry land
appeared. Genesis 1:9 "And God said, Let the waters under the heaven
be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry [land] appear:
and it was so." Genesis 1:10 "And God called the dry [land] Earth; and
the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that
[it was] good."
Psalms 104:7 "At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy
thunder they hasted away."
Even the vapors and waters, and in fact everything that is, is
part of God's creation. The water must obey the voice of its Creator.
God is Supreme Ruler of the universe. Everything, and everyone, is
under His control. We may do our thing for a while, but it is only
because He allows it. We are His creation. He could destroy us the
same as He created. Not only us, but the entire universe. God could
tell it to be gone, and it would be gone.
Psalms 104:8 "They go up by the mountains; they go down by the
valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them."
God created this earth, and in fact, everything on it for the use
of man. We may live on the highest mountain, but it is God's creation.
We may choose to live in the valley, but that is His creation, also.
Notice, He founded this for man.
Psalms 104:9 "Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over;
that they turn not again to cover the earth."
We know that the flood of Noah was not just the rain that fell
from the sky, but was water that was released from its bounds, as
well. The water was from under the earth, as well as from the sky. The
glorious promise that God will never ever allow the earth to be
destroyed by water again is sealed with the rainbow in the sky. When
it rains and we see the rainbow, we know that God has not forgotten
His promise.
Psalms 104:10 "He sendeth the springs into the valleys, [which]
run among the hills."
When America was discovered, it was a land of fields and streams.
We are privileged to live on a farm where springs of water gush from
the ground. This is always clear water. When I drink of it, I reflect
on the water that flows from the throne of God. Before pollution, you
could drink from the brooks and streams that flowed down between these
hills. Now man has fouled the water up. You would be afraid to drink
from an open brook.
Psalms 104:11 "They give drink to every beast of the field: the
wild asses quench their thirst."
God cares for the animals. He sees that they have water to drink.
In our part of the country, there are a good many wild deer. There is
plenty of grass for them to eat and an abundance of water for them to
drink.
Psalms 104:12 "By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their
habitation, [which] sing among the branches."
Have you ever noticed how the trees grow more plentiful, near the
water? Now, we see that God did this to have a place of rest for the
fowl. Water is necessary to the life of every living thing, the same
as light is.
Psalms 104:13 "He watereth the hills from his chambers: the earth
is satisfied with the fruit of thy works."
Have you ever watched the rays from the sun gather water into the
clouds? Sometimes when it rains, they say it was a cloud burst. The
cloud gathered the water, and on the command of God released the water
upon the earth. Elijah prayed to God, and it did not rain upon the
earth until Elijah prayed again and asked for God to release the rain.
The Lord is in control of everything on the earth. Satan has only the
power that God permits him to have.
Psalms 104:14 "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;"
Have you ever heard any one say, which came first the chicken or
the egg? The chicken did and the seed was in itself. This is true of
the grass, as well. The seed for the next grass isin the first grass.
The farmers would call this a voluntary crop. When you do not plant
it, the crop comes directly from God. God cares for the animals and
provides food for them in the form of grass. I want to show just one
Scripture that shows the first garden, with food for mankind, was not
planted by man, but God. God prepared the earth for the habitation of
mankind. Genesis 2:8 "And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in
Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed." You see, even
now, we can not even take credit for the crops we grow. We did not
create the dirt for it to grow in. We did not create the seed to
plant. We do not even cause the rain to come and water it. We have no
control over the sun shining on it to cause it to grow. Do you
suppose, knowing this, is what makes farmers more humble than the
average person?
Psalms 104:15 "And wine [that] maketh glad the heart of man,
[and] oil to make [his] face to shine, and bread [which] strengtheneth
man's heart."
One thing that makes us know for sure that it is God who feeds
and clothes His people, is the Manna that fell from heaven. In the
verse before this one, we saw that God provided for the necessities of
life for the man. In this verse, we see the Lord going beyond the
necessities, and bringing man some of the things to make him happy, as
well. The Bread spoken of here, is not physical bread, because it
strengthens the heart of man. This is speaking of that Bread which
saves our soul, {Jesus Christ}. The oil, in the verse above that makes
the face to shine, could easily be speaking of the Holy Spirit, which
causes our face to shine when we are full of Him.
Questions 103
1. What two things is the LORD clothed with in verse 1?
2. What is this Psalm about?
3. When was the beginning time for the LORD to be praised?
4. Have you ever seen the glow on a new Christian's face?
5. In verse 2, what is He covered with that is like a garment?
6. It, also, says that He stretchest out the heavens like a _______.
7. Why must the Light be applied first?
8. Quote Genesis chapter 1 verse 3.
9. On what day did He make the heaven?
10. What was created by the Word of God?
11. What are the waters in verse 3?
12. What did Jesus use frequently as a chariot of the heavens?
13. What presence led the children of Israel across the wilderness?
14. What are angels?
15. Is the flaming fire in verse 4 physical or spiritual?
16. What does the author say amazes her about verse 5?
17. Quote Genesis chapter 1 verse 9.
18. God is _________ _______ of this universe.
19. In verse 8, we find that God made the mountains and the valleys
for whom?
20. Was the flood in Noah's day just rain? Explain.
21. What promise of God to man does the rainbow show us?
22. When America was discovered, it was a land of _______ and _______.
23. Who provided drink for the animals?
24. Whose habitation is in the trees?
25. Who prayed and it didn't rain, until he prayed again and asked for
it to rain?
26. Why do you suppose that farmers seem to be more humble than the
average citizen?
27. Who planted the garden of Eden?
28. In verse 14, we saw God providing the needs of man, what is He
doing in verse 15?
29. What is the Bread in verse 15?
30. What is the oil symbolic of in verse 15?
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