A God who Delights in Beauty: An Exposition of Psalm 104:10-23

            The sounds of little children laughing, the smell of hamburgers grilling, the sight of colorful kites drifting lazily through the bright blue sky, all images and sounds we know well, and without much need to contemplate, the mental image of a picnic comes to mind. So it is with nature. Each piece of nature is a testimony to the greatness of God, declaring His wonders every day. No one can fully understand God, He is all-knowing, and to know the all-knowing is impossible. However, in the wonder of creation we are given glimpses into the mind and heart of God Himself.    

         

          In the absurdity of a little puppy chasing his tail we see a glimpse of the God who loves laughter, in the sober majesty of the great mountains we see a hint of the God who must be approached with fear and reverence, in the wretchedness of a majestic species going extinct we see a sight of the God who knows well what it is to weep, and in the wonder of a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly, and in the marvel of an apparently dead seed bursting from the ground as a mighty branch, and in the astonishment of cold, dark winter running its course and heralding warm spring, bristling with color and song we see an image of the God who delights in life.

           

          Psalm 104 is full of rich imagery such as this, describing God and the wonderful creation which He has created to sing His praises, and show His glory for all the generations.      

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.

      

          Verses one through nine had been on the creative acts of God during the days of creation. Verse ten changes the focus from the established creative works of God to that which He sustains each and every day. God is the creator of the world, and He brought it into existence, without Him nothing would even have come from the formlessness from which the earth was formed. But not only is God the creator, He is also the sustainer. He causes the springs to pour forth their waters; He is the one who not only created the world, but also constantly sustains it. Without Him the world would fall apart. But He does more than merely sustain it; He also fills it with bird song that brings music and beauty into the life of the earth.      
   

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.

           

          During these three verses the Psalmist changes the audience to whom he is speaking and addresses God directly. The Psalmist had honed the reader, or singer, in from a broad and sweeping view of the sustaining works of God to a point that is intensely personal, the psalmist sings of how the Lord is sustaining the life of man. The wild donkey is not the only one who is able to find sustenance in the wilderness; the birds of the air are not the only ones who are able to sing with joy. The Lord also sustains mankind and provides for him, giving him the abilities to cultivate the ground and the knowledge he needs to induce it to bring forth food. 

           

          But this provision is more than merely hard bread crusts and water. It is wine to make the heart glad after a hard day cultivating the land, oil to make his face shine. In our culture, the thought of oil being poured over one’s head makes one shudder, the oil and grease seeping into the pores of ones face is almost always a recipe for disaster, but in the arid middle east, moisture was scarce and oil was constantly used for cleansing and refreshing the body, the nourishing qualities of the oil is a picture of life and plenty which the Lord provides to the humans He has created.

            And the Lord also provides bread to sustain us. Wine gladdens the heart in times of celebration, a provision for the soul, oil cleanses the body and makes it full of life, even though it is not a sustainer of life it brings comfort and ease to the mind, a provision for the spirit. And finally God gives food to maintain the stomach of man, because the physical body cannot be overlooked and is in need of care just as much as the soul and spirit.                        

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. 

           

          The tall trees are a picture of God’s hand. But even more so is His work seen in the noble cedars of Lebanon which for their loftiness, their height and their sheer majesty bear an even stronger imprint of the hand that planted them. Massive though they are, they are merely small seedlings in the hands of the Creator God. Once more the image of a bird nesting in peace is used to conjure up the image of God’s providence. A nesting bird is vulnerable, but the Lord provides tall cedars in which she may next so that she may wait in safety. Even the inanimate and wild things that for man may be inaccessible, such as the very tops of towering trees, or the sheer rocky cliffs are made for creation and each fulfills a purpose. The high mountains are for the mountain goats, both mountain and agile goat were created with the other in mind, their particularities fit together in such a way that each is the perfect counterpart to the other.

           

          Furthermore, even in the bodies of the heavens is man provided for. The moon marks the seasons, the times for planting, the times for harvesting, the time for rest and a time for work. And the sun knows when it is time to set each day. The setting of the sun is an often overlooked providence of God which is one that affects every human in every culture in every part of the world. God did not make the work day perpetual, He ordered the world in such a way that man is given rest each night. Mankind does not need to endlessly toil, but the day will end and the night will come when man may put down his tools of labor and enjoy sweet rest in the graciousness of God.  

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.

           

          The separation of night and day is not only a benefit for man. The day of the wild and roaming creatures is during the darkness of night, just as mankind toils throughout the day lit by the sun, the animals arise and hunt for their food in the hours of the night. Each of God’s creatures provided with their own days on which to work. Also, the potentially harmful animals, such as the lion, are given the night to wander, while the humans they may hurt have driven in their cattle and have settled themselves into their houses, safe from the hungry jaws of the beasts. And when the sun rises, when man goes out once again to labor, the animals steal away back to their own houses.

           

          This giving of the day to humans and the night to animals is amazing when thought about. The humans hunt the animals for food and shelter, and so to preserve the creatures, during the day when man are active, most beasts are asleep in their little dens, their own houses, so preserving the species but yet still providing for the needs of man. On the flip side, when ravenous and potentially dangerous creatures are on the prowl, human beings are asleep in their homes, preserving their lives and giving them rest. This night and day relationship is like how the mountain was made for the mountain goat. As they shared a mutual relationship of providing for one another so does night and day provide for both man and beast.       

           

          These verses may seem very set apart from our modern culture. We either have little value for nature, or what is valued is esteemed to the point of becoming an idol to many people. However, I think a lot can be learned from the lessons of nature, and much can be learned about the caring temperament of God through studying the provisions He has made for all of His creation, man, beast and all plants.

While Reading, Singing or Praying this Psalm:

• See the beauty of God proclaimed through the wonders of creation.
• Be thankful for the beauty of creation. It did not need to be created as beautiful as it was.
• Examine yourself for traces of callousness towards the earth and the other humans who share it with you. Creation is a gift and it is not to be wasted.   
• Thank God that He reveals Himself to all humanity through the works of His hands.

Ask Yourself:

• Am I taking for granted the beauty God has placed around me in the form of nature?
• Do I realize I am responsible, in part, for the care of creation as I was placed here as part of it?
• Do I delight in the beauty God has given me?
• Have I fallen prey to the temptation to raise creation to the level of a god?
• Do I brush off such language as is seen in the 104^th psalm as silly and irrelevant to the 21^st century?