The Satisfaction of Creation
Psalms 104
April 25, 2021
Tonight we come to the 104th Psalm.
There are many who put 103, 104, and 105 in a sort of trilogy.
After all, we spent much time in Psalms 103 speaking about the command to “Bless the LORD, O my soul!”
And indeed we see that command once again reiterated here.
You also see that same statement end this Psalm.
(35b) “Bless the LORD, O my soul. Praise the LORD!”
Some have even included the final parts of verse 35
As verse 1 of Psalms 105 and thus you see the trilogy of sorts.
They are Psalms in which David commands his soul
To leave its complacency and apathy behind
And to rise up and bless the Lord.
That is still the emphasis of Psalms 104.
The difference is Psalms 103 focused on the BENEFITS OF REDEMPTION,
Psalms 104 focuses on the GREATNESS OF CREATION.
• In Psalms 103 David command his soul to look with spiritual eyes and remember all of God’s benefits.
Things like forgiveness, deliverance, redemption, and blessing.
• In Psalms 104 David commands his soul to look with physical eyes at the splendor of creation and take note of all that God has done, and still does.
In David’s mind both should easily motivate the soul to bless God.
So Psalms 104 is a Psalm that blesses God
Because His great work as the Creator of the universe.
And the Psalm is very specific in this regard.
Keep a finger here in Psalms 104, but also Turn To Genesis 1
And let’s examine the mind of the Psalmist here.
1:3-5 “Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.”
On the first day God created light.
And here in Psalms 104:2 we read:
“Covering Yourself with light as with a cloak, Stretching out heaven like a tent curtain.”
That is Day 1 of Creation.
Then we read about Day 2 in Genesis 1:6-8
(1:6-8) “Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.”
On day 2 of creation God separated the heavens and created the expanse
We refer to as the sky or the atmosphere.
And here in Psalms 104:3-4 we read:
“He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters; He makes the clouds His chariot; He walks upon the wings of the wind; He makes the winds His messengers, Flaming fire His ministers.”
The Psalmist references God’s creation of the sky and the firmament in the heavens upon which God walks and that which does His bidding.
An interesting point to be made on these verses is that
The writer of Hebrews clarifies verse 4 for us.
Hebrews 1:7 “And of the angels He says, “WHO MAKES HIS ANGELS WINDS, AND HIS MINISTERS A FLAME OF FIRE.”
According to the writer of Hebrews verse 4 is not about literal wind or literal lightning, but rather is about God’s angels who at times work in that form and in that way.
But you see day 2 of creation referenced here in Psalms 104.
Day 3 of creation is revealed to us in Genesis 1:9-10
(1:9-10) “Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good.”
God separated the waters and caused dry land to appear.
And in Psalms 104:5-9 we read:
“He established the earth upon its foundations, So that it will not totter forever and ever. You covered it with the deep as with a garment; The waters were standing above the mountains. At Your rebuke they fled, At the sound of Your thunder they hurried away. The mountains rose; the valleys sank down To the place which You established for them. You set a boundary that they may not pass over, So that they will not return to cover the earth.”
David is marveling here at what God did on the 3rd day.
• How God pulled back the oceans and set a boundary for them.
• How God caused the mountains to rise and the valleys to appear.
• How God told the sea where she had to stop.
Job 38:8-11 “Or who enclosed the sea with doors When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb; When I made a cloud its garment And thick darkness its swaddling band, And I placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors, And I said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther; And here shall your proud waves stop’?”
That happened on day 3 and David is marveling at it here.
Can you imagine anyone harnessing the sea?
God does.
Also on Day 3 of creation we read:
(1:11-13) “Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a third day.”
That also on day 3 after the land appeared
God covered it with vegetation and plants.
And in Psalms 104:14-17 we read:
“He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for the labor of man, So that he may bring forth food from the earth, And wine which makes man’s heart glad, So that he may make his face glisten with oil, And food which sustains man’s heart. The trees of the LORD drink their fill, The cedars of Lebanon which He planted, Where the birds build their nests, And the stork, whose home is the fir trees.”
Clearly David is working through the glory of the creation of God.
On Day 4 of creation God created the great luminaries as a sort of time-keepers over the planet.
(1:14-19) “Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.”
So on the 4th day God made the sun and the moon.
And here in Psalms 104:19-23 we read:
“He made the moon for the seasons; The sun knows the place of its setting. You appoint darkness and it becomes night, In which all the beasts of the forest prowl about. The young lions roar after their prey And seek their food from God. When the sun rises they withdraw And lie down in their dens. Man goes forth to his work And to his labor until evening.”
On the 5th day God created the great creatures of the sea and of the air.
(1:20-23) “Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.”
And here in Psalms 104:25-26 we read:
“There is the sea, great and broad, In which are swarms without number, Animals both small and great. There the ships move along, And Leviathan, which You have formed to sport in it.”
You see the glory of God’s creation reiterated here again in Psalm 104.
And then on the 6th day God created man and then God commanded man to eat of all the produce which He had provided on the earth.
(1:29-31) “Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”
And in Psalms 104:27-28 we read:
“They all wait for You To give them their food in due season. You give to them, they gather it up; You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good.”
So the connection is obvious.
We have David here basically opening his bible to Genesis 1,
Going through the creation account
And then taking a moment to reflect
On the glory of each day of creation.
And in response to the greatness of creation
David is again commanding his soul to bless God.
But what you also notice in Psalms 104
Is that David doesn’t just marvel at the EXISTENCE OF creation,
But David also marvels as the SUSTENANCE OF creation.
It’s not just that God created the world, but also that God sustains it.
When you look at verses 10-12 we see David focus in on the fact that God also cares for His creation.
(10-12) “He sends forth springs in the valleys; They flow between the mountains; They give drink to every beast of the field; The wild donkeys quench their thirst. Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; They lift up their voices among the branches.”
There is a meticulous care which God gives
To make sure He provides for creation.
In verse 14, “He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the labor of man, so that he may bring forth food from the earth”
I’m reminded of the movie “Shenandoah” with Jimmy Stewart.
Him sitting at the table with his family and offering the prayer before the food.
“Lord, we cleared this land, we plowed it, sowed it, and harvested. We cooked the harvest. It wouldn’t be here, we wouldn’t be eating it, if we hadn’t done it all ourselves. We worked dog bone hard for every crumb and morsel but we thank you just the same anyway Lord for this food we’re about to eat Amen.”
What Jimmy Stewart’s character failed to acknowledge
Is that one pretty important part of the process
Which is that the seed he planted GREW.
• Anyone who farms knows the work behind clearing, plowing, planting, and harvesting.
• Anyone who cooks knows the labor behind taking raw ingredients and fashioning a meal.
But it is not as though man does it all without the help of God.
“He causes the grass to grow…and vegetation for the labor of man, so that he may bring forth food from the earth.”
And the next time you seek to question that reality,
• Then go clear yourself a patch of land, plow it,
• And plant in there a quarter (so that you can grow a money tree)
• And let me know how the harvest works.
• Same amount of work…
• Same amount of effort…
• But without the provision of God there is no harvest, I don’t care how hard you work.
And that is what David also realizes in this Psalm.
It’s not just that God created all things,
But it’s also that God cares for His creation.
He made it and He cares for it.
In fact, look at verses 27-28
“They all wait for You To give them their food in due season. You give to them, they gather it up; You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good.”
And we think of passages like:
Matthew 6:26 “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?”
And this is the focus of David’s song here.
On one hand he is reading Genesis 1 and David marvels at the beauty and majesty and greatness of creation.
• He sees the mountains…
• He sees the mighty ocean…
• He sees the birds in the sky…
• He ponders the creatures in the sea…
• He watches the sun rise every morning…
• He sees all the vegetation…
On the other hand David also marvels because God cares for His creation.
He didn’t make it and then walk off and leave it.
God continues to care for it.
So the Psalm is Psalm of praise for God as Creator and Sustainer.
The overwhelming mood of the Psalm
Is to praise God with your soul for satisfying us
And meeting all our needs.
James 1:17 “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”
Based on that reality we have no problem
Making the application that Jesus made.
Matthew 6:25-33 “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? “And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
God’s unfailing care should inspire peace and faith
And a focus on His kingdom.
But overall what we find in the Psalm is that
DAVID IS SATISFIED WITH ALL THAT GOD HAS DONE.
In this way, tonight’s Psalm is a very fitting balance
To the discussion we had this morning surrounding Ecclesiastes 1:1-11
This morning we looked at what we called “The Circle of Life” and the writer of Ecclesiastes saw it as a futile and even depressing circle of vanity.
And we certainly still hold to that.
If you’re hope is to find your fulfillment in this life then it will greatly disappoint you.
It is all meaningless!
However when we come to Psalms 104 we are again presented with “The Circle of Life” only this time with a much different perspective.
Look at “The Circle of Life” here.
(27-30) “They all wait for You To give them their food in due season. You give to them, they gather it up; You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good. You hide Your face, they are dismayed; You take away their spirit, they expire And return to their dust. You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the ground.”
That’s the same circle isn’t it?
Ecclesiastes 1:3-7 “What advantage does man have in all his work Which he does under the sun? A generation goes and a generation comes, But the earth remains forever. Also, the sun rises and the sun sets; And hastening to its place it rises there again. Blowing toward the south, Then turning toward the north, The wind continues swirling along; And on its circular courses the wind returns. All the rivers flow into the sea, Yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers flow, There they flow again.”
• The writer of Ecclesiastes looked at it from the perspective of trying to find
satisfaction in this life and he said it was vanity and meaningless.
• But David looks at that circle, not seeking to find fulfillment in this life, but
rather seeking fulfillment in the Creator of this life and David’s perspective is much different.
This Psalm makes a great balance for us.
We might say that
There is no satisfaction in this life if this life is all you seek,
But there is tremendous satisfaction
In seeking the God who gives this life.
Psalms 84:11 “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”
The key for understanding the Psalm comes in the final stanza.
(34b) “As for me, I shall be glad in the LORD.”
There it is…
• Not, I shall build bigger barns and store up the world…
• Not, I shall hoard my wealth and live life to the full…
• Not, I shall explore how to enjoy ever worldly pleasure…
As the writer of Ecclesiastes will show you, those are POINTLESS quests.
But if your quest is merely to be satisfied with the God of creation,
Then you are the path to fulfillment.
That is really the heartbeat of Psalms 104.
Now, we’ve already looked all over and through it tonight in the introduction,
But let me go ahead and outline it just so you can get a sense of the flow.
There are 2 main points here in this Psalm.
#1 THE GREATNESS GOD DISPLAYS
Psalms 104:1-30
Again, it is merely David taking a look at
THE MAGNIFICENT GREATNESS OF GOD’S CREATION.
Now, we can break that down a little bit further too to help you follow it.
David breaks down for us God’s greatness.
1) HIS CREATIVE POWER (1-9)
You pick up on the recurring statements.
• (3) “He lays…”
• (3) “He makes…”
• (4) “He makes…”
• (5) “He established…”
• (6) “You covered…”
• (8) “You established…”
• (9) “You set…”
Everything you see in this created world is that which God did.
Man created nothing.
• Sure, man designs and builds and man rearranges, but only God creates.
• We may use the land, we may use the sea, we may use the resources under the ground, we may use the wind, but only God created those things.
• Who else can make a sky?
• Who else can create a planet?
• Who else can restrain the ocean?
It is the sheer creative power of God that has captivated David.
“Oh Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds Thy hands have made. I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed. When through the woods and forest glades I wander, And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees; When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur, and hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze. Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee; How great Thou Art!”
Laura Story wrote the song Indescribable:
“From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea Creation’s revealing Your majesty From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring Every creature unique in the song that it sings…Who has told every lightning bolt where it should go Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow. Who imagined the sun and gives source to its light Yet conceals it to bring us the coolness of night, None can fathom
Indescribable, uncontainable, You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name You are amazing God All powerful, untameable, Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim You are amazing God You are amazing God.”
That is David here.
(5) “He established the earth upon its foundations, So that it will not totter forever and ever.”
What a statement!
Who else can do that?
Job 26:7 “He stretches out the north over empty space And hangs the earth on nothing.”
God simply told it to stay there, and it does.
It is sheer creative power and David is blown away.
That is part of God’s greatness.
2) HIS CARE FOR CREATION (10-23)
This is that sustenance we talked about.
In verses 10-13 God provides water
• “He sends for springs in the valleys…”
• “They give drink to every beast of the field…”
This earth has existed for thousands of years
And still has not run out of water.
This past summer our family went to Yellowstone National Park,
• If you’ve been there you know that in the northern parts there is a massive lake that feeds some of the biggest and most glorious mountain rivers you’ll ever see.
• We came down into Jackson Hole and rafted there on the river that in places is hundreds of feet deep.
Where does all that water come from?
Snow, rain, underground springs; and yet they never cease to flow?
It’s incredible.
Many of you have been with us to Africa
• And stood at viewing point to watch Victoria Falls.
• The sheer amount of water barreling over that cliff every second is beyond comprehension.
And yet it continues to flow.
God gives that.
In verses 14-18 God provides vegetation
• “He causes the grass to grow…”
• “He causes…vegetation for the labor of man…”
It’s a remarkable miracle that a farmer can take a seed,
Bury it in the ground,
And it will reproduce into a plant bearing fruit.
Science can tell you how it happens, but only God can cause it to happen.
And just like the earth has never run out of water,
It has also never run out of food.
• How much food does it take to feed a Bison herd for a year?
• How much food does a school of wales need?
God cares for His creation.
In verses 19-23 God provides day and night
God appoints the day and God appoints the darkness.
• Some creatures live by day and others live by night.
• Some labor in the morning and some labor in the evening.
• But all “seek their food from God”
Isn’t it amazing how this earth turns over from day to night?
• During the day man would run free and work free and live off the earth.
• At night man goes to bed, and God appoints the wild beasts to wake up and live off of the same earth.
They operate in a designed cycle and God in His wisdom designed it all.
So you see the greatness of God in His creative power and in His care for creation.
3) HIS CREATIVITY (24-26)
David boasts, “O Lord, how many are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all; The earth is full of Your possessions.”
In the past month our backyard has been invaded with chickens.
I’ve never owned chickens before, but I have marveled at them.
I have marveled at God’s creativity while watching them.
• The God of the universe designed a bird that will stay in your yard,
• Follow you around,
• Give you an egg nearly every day,
• And then you can eat it. (Not Abigail’s but other chickens)
• They walk around on two legs, they put themselves up at night, they are remarkable animals.
But what animal isn’t?
• The cow produces milk and meat.
• The horse is so beautiful and majestic and powerful and useful for work and transportation.
God is so creative.
Go to a zoo sometime and marvel at the imagination of God.
• Who could have thought up the giraffe?
• Who could have invented the rhino?
He is remarkable.
He is so great.
4) HIS CONTROL OVER CREATION (27-30)
David recognizes that God also controls their boundary
And the days of their habitation.
He sits in absolute sovereignty over the world He created.
Acts 17:26 “and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,”
And all of this speaks to His greatness.
David is just blown away at the Greatness
God Displays through His creation.
Stop and see His work.
The earth is indeed filled with the glory of the LORD, can you see it?
Well that is the bulk of the Psalm.
David simply wants you to marvel at God as Creator.
But then we come to the SECOND POINT
And this is where the true APPLICATION comes in.
The Greatness God Displays
#2 THE GLADNESS GOD DESERVES
Psalms 104:31-35
Look at verse 31.
“Let the glory of the LORD endure forever; Let the LORD be glad in His works.”
• Do you understand that statement?
• Do you see David’s point?
We often think of the point of the first 30 verses of this Psalm.
• We often think of how glad we should be in God’s creation.
• We often think of how we should recognize God’s greatness in creation.
But here David announces that God desires the same.
God desires to enjoy His creation.
God desires to “be glad in His works”
It brings to mind that hymn:
“I am satisfied, I am satisfied, I am satisfied with Jesus. But the question comes to me when I think of Calvary, is my Master satisfied with me?”
What a tragedy to think that the God of creation
Would find no pleasure in the world He created.
Think back to Genesis 6
Genesis 6:5-6 “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.”
What a horrible reality.
Think back to Psalms 95
Psalms 95:8-10 “Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness, “When your fathers tested Me, They tried Me, though they had seen My work. “For forty years I loathed that generation, And said they are a people who err in their heart, And they do not know My ways.”
What a tragedy
That God would demonstrate such power and provision for creation
Only to have it bring Him no satisfaction.
And certainly it is awful for those who disappoint God
For He has great POWER TO PUNISH those who do so.
(32) “He looks at the earth, and it trembles; He touches the mountains, and they smoke.”
You certainly don’t want to grieve your Maker.
And David understands that.
So look at DAVID’S CONVICTION.
Look at DAVID’S DECISION. (33-34)
(33-34) “I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. Let my meditation be pleasing to Him; As for me, I shall be glad in the LORD.”
As one who is created by God,
David is going to make sure that God finds gladness in him.
1 Corinthians 8:6 “yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.”
David understands that.
He is created for God.
Acts 17:26-27 “and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;”
We were created to seek and to find God.
David most certainly will.
David’s ambition is to be a part of God’s creation that God can rejoice in.
When we talk about the satisfaction of creation,
We are NOT primarily talking about our satisfaction with creation,
We are talking about God’s satisfaction with creation.
What a great goal.
• There are plenty of humans who grieve God.
• Be a human who delights Him.
Be like Abraham
Hebrews 11:13-16 “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.”
And incidentally, this is also where we bring the gospel in.
• For it is only when we are “in Christ” and are clothed in His righteousness that we can truly become pleasing to the Father.
• Christ was “My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
• So in order to be a part of creation that brings God pleasure we run to Christ.
For the alternative is gloomy.
(35) “Let sinners be consumed from the earth And let the wicked be no more. Bless the LORD, O my soul. Praise the LORD!”
This would be those whom God created
Who still refuse to “honor Him as God or give thanks”.
They abide under God’s wrath
And one day will be totally removed from the earth.
And based on that truth it only reaffirms David’s conviction.
“Bless the LORD, O my soul.”
We might say, “BE A BLESSING TO GOD O MY SOUL!”
That is truly a great ambition.
• It is easy for us to marvel at all the glories of creation.
• It is easy for us to marvel at the great care God gives.
• It is easy for us to marvel at God’s great creativity.
• It is easy for us to marvel at God’s sovereign control.
When we stop and think about it,
We are easily satisfied with all that God has created.
The question of Psalms 104 is
Whether God is able to be satisfied in His creation.
Whether God is able to be glad in me whom He has created.
David was determined to make sure He was.
“I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. Let my meditation be pleasing to Him; As for me, I shall be glad in the LORD.”
