A God Worthy to be Praised: an Exposition of Psalm 104:1-9

The topic of praise is one that seems to always be on the tongues of men. People praising others on their wonderful contributions to music, people praising a certain method of child rearing as the best way to raise a child, sports fanatics praising the player they feel to be the one who really makes the team great, health food advocates praising the avocado for its marvelous health benefits. The list goes on and on. The act of praise is central to the human soul, and without thinking, praise easily comes to our lips. However, there is one area where men seem to fail to praise. We neglect the praise of our God.

            Psalm 104 addresses that very problem. The entire song is about the greatness of God, and all of His deeds, attributes, and provisions which make Him worthy of our praises.

1 Praise the LORD, O my soul.

            The call to praise is one that is common in the Psalter, but here, the writer of the psalm, (who, from this point forward, is to be referred to as the Psalmist) declares that the entire soul is to praise God. Not just with your lips, not just on Sundays, not only when you are with your Christian friends, not only when you’re sure you will not be bullied, or picked on, or martyred. The praise of God is something that should be an all the time thing, full of genuine love and gratefulness to our LORD.     

O LORD my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty. 

            In the second half of this verse the psalmist tells us why God is so worthy of this unceasing praise and addresses God directly to His face, telling Him why the psalmist believes He is so beyond all our imagination. He is great, He is clothed with majesty.


           But not only is God a great God who is far beyond anything we lowly humans can fully comprehend, He is the psalmist’s God. Not only is He the most powerful and awesome creator of the world, but He is also the personal, loving Father of the psalmist. And as we sing, or read, or pray, or memorize this psalm, we are also able to call God ours; the psalmist was our praising predecessor, and through his words, we to are able to praise this great and glorious God.     

² He wraps himself in light as with a garment; He stretches out the heavens like a tent 

³ and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.

He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind.

 ⁴ He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants. 

⁵ He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.

            Again the psalmist describes his God. He is so powerful, that the very light of the world obeys Him and surrounds Him like a cloak; the impossible task of creating the heavens is as simple to Him as is opening a curtain on a bright summer morning. The liquid sea becomes a firm foundation for His chamber, for at His command all things are made firm.

            The latter half of verse three may, at first read, seem rather odd. We are Americans living in the 21^st century. We don’t have chariots, and have no notion of the significance of riding on the wind. For the ancient world, when they would hear of something riding on the wind they would automatically think of Yahweh, or if it was a pagan nation, any one of them would think of any one of their gods. This same language is used in the New Testament when Matthew recounts Jesus speaking of His second coming.

Matthew 24: 30 At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of

the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and

great glory.     

            The end of verse five is a pledge to the feeble mortal who has no power whatsoever over any force of nature. This assurance is that the God who rides on the wind and who summons fire to do His bidding will not let the world be shaken by any. He is the one who established the world and will never let nefarious creatures of man utterly destroy it.

 ⁶ You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.   

⁷ But at your rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;   

⁸ they flowed over the mountains, they went down into the valleys, to the place you assigned for them. 

⁹ You set a boundary they cannot cross; never again will they cover the earth. 

            Another testament to God’s power, (and again, the psalmist is directing these words to God Himself) these verses loosely follow the creation account and briefly speak of the flood of Noah. The waters of the sea are personified, and are rebuked for moving beyond the appointed places God had ordained for them and are set within boundaries that they may never cross. The ordering of nature can be translated to personal life and experience today. Not only are these four verses speaking of the actual fact of creation and the flood, they can also be seen as a testimony to God’s amazing providence. God will never allow the flood waters of persecution, suffering, and human sinfulness to completely cover the earth, to run free and unchecked. He has the power to sustain our lives, to give us food from His own hand, and to bring us through any trial or suffering.

Romans 8:37-39 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For

I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the

future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to

separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.        

While Reading, Singing or Praying this Psalm:

• Acknowledge the blessings God has given you in your own life.
• Examine your heart and root out any traces of self-entitlement or greed. God didn’t need to give us any of the blessings He has, such as beautiful spring flowers or magnificent summer sunsets, and be grateful for what He has provided.
• Give glory to God for blessing creation with beauty and wonder.
• Recognize that there are others who do not see God revealing Himself through the creation, and endeavor to explain it to them.

Ask Yourself:

• Am I praising God, or am I praising man?
• How do I see God’s providence working in my life?
• Does God’s creation bring me joy and wonder?
• Do I rest in God’s unfailing love?

Psalm 1: Who are Blessed by God?

Before investing a few hours to watch a movie, I usually inspect the summary on the back of the case.  Moreover, a promise of conflict and espionage often draws my attention, while a story about a friendly, sparkly vampire tends to make me put the movie back on the shelf.  In a similar way Psalm 1 provides an introduction to the entire book of Psalms.  If the Psalms, as stated in Colossians 3:16 and expounded in Psalm 1, dwell in our hearts and receive our constant mediation, we will be blessed by God, counseled to live in His ways, and furnished with ample reason to rejoice.  With such a grand and applicable summary, it is definitely a good idea take this book of the bible off the shelf.

Specifically in Psalm 1 verses 1-2, the righteous and the ungodly are contrasted by how they fulfill their lives and who they obey.  Verses 3-6 continue by comparing the reward of the blessed man with the destruction of the ungodly, and this contrast is both a stark warning to those who do not treasure God’s law and a promise to those who do obey God’s law instead of the world.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Colossians 3:16

Who are Blessed by God?
1 Blessed is the man
   Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
   Nor stands in the path of sinners,
   Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
  And in His law he meditates day and night.

Verse 1 explains that a blessed man is one who perseveres in obeying God and avoids being led astray by the wicked.  The Psalm of the Month article in the RP Witness explains the progression in this verse with quite effective economy of words.

“The blessed man does not “walk in the counsel of the wicked” (does not conform to the thoughts of the world), does not “stand in the way of sinners” (does not act like the world) and does not “sit in the seat of mockers” (does not join those who mock God). The blessed man, be he walking, standing, or sitting, does not conform his mind or actions to those of the godless.” 

Acting like the world and mocking God are both grievous sins in which we often fall into; however, I believe the temptation to allow the world to warp our very thoughts, particularly in our modern day in age, is especially dangerous.  Think about it.  Through the internet and TV, we receive a constant stream of advice telling us to place priority in a healthy lifestyle, to be utterly accepting of homosexuality, or to set personal happiness in the forefront of our lives.  When I personally analyze my own life while singing this Psalms, I often find that I have allowed music or the status quo of our culture to take hold of my thoughts.  This Psalms challenges us, Christians, to fight this most subtle temptation of allowing the ungodly to influence our very thoughts. The second verse paints a beautiful picture of a blessed man who finds delight in meditating on God's law and as a result abides in Him and avoids obeying the counsel of the ungodly.

Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”? James 4:5

What can the Blessed by God Expect?
3He shall be like a tree
  Planted by the rivers of water,
  That brings forth its fruit in its season,
  Whose leaf also shall not wither;  And whatever he does shall prosper.  

We can see the sure security and prosperity of the blessed man who delights in God’s law.  God promises that if we seek Him though His word, we will be a like a well cultivated tree with a bountiful supply of spiritual sustenance; we will bear the fruits of the Spirit, “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” Ephesians 5:22-23 which will not wither and will cause us to prosper in all we do.  For it is not outward prosperity we seek but spiritual prosperity through which we can serve God.   I find great joy in this verse for it is my greatest wish, as it is for any Christian, to be able to faithfully serve God with His unwavering support and merciful blessing.

What can the Wicked Expect? 
4The ungodly are not so,
  But are like the chaff which the wind drives away. 
5Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
  Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 
6For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
  But the way of the ungodly shall perish. 

The great spiritual blessings in verse 3 do not apply to the wicked, and Psalms clearly intends to contrast the righteous and the ungodly.  While the blessed man is like a tree that cannot but help to flourish, the ungodly are described as chaff blown away by the wind.  The sinner will not be acquitted in the Day of Judgment and will not enter heaven; instead the sinner can only expect the wrath of God.  Just like in Ephesians 2:13 where the words “but now in Christ Jesus you who once were afar off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” brings relief by proclaiming our previous state of utter hopelessness, Psalms 1 shouts “The ungodly are not so,”.  Why ever choose sin over godliness?  Why ever reject the blessings of adoption through Christ for death?

While Reading or Singing this Psalm:

• Give glory to God for blessing His people.
• Examine yourself to make sure your life is only led by God’s law.
• Recognize that without Christ, you have no hope of being the blessed man (or woman).
• Give thanks that Christ has saved you and that, though you cannot obey this Psalm perfectly, Christ has done it for you.

Ask Yourself:

• Do I allow others, besides God, to counsel the way I live?
• Have I allowed sin to take hold of my life?
• Do I seek the friendship with the ungodly as a result of un-repented sin?
• Do I love the word of God and meditate on it constantly?
• Do I recognize the heavy consequences of sin?