Why Psalm 104 is so Dear to my Soul

 

       Ever since I was young I have liked to be in charge of things. I liked being the leader when playing games with my friends, I wanted to be the one to choose which Land before Time movie my family rented from Blockbuster, and I always wanted to have my own way. I tried to be the god for my own little universe as I attempted to ordain all that happened around me and to me. But this is not the way we ought to behave, we are commanded to depend on God for all the things in our life, for the food we eat, for the clothes we wear and for the very air we breathe. Even the sparrow may build her nest by the house of the Lord, and as He cares for that little creature by granting her shelter, wouldn’t He as much care for the creature that was created in His own image?

         

       This psalm taught me a hard lesson, that no matter how much I try, I cannot stretch out the heaven like a tent, nor can I build a foundation in the depths of the sea. But it did not only teach me what I cannot do, it also taught me what I can do. With my mortal mouth, that cannot cause the sun to rise or bring about the change in seasons, I can praise the One who can! This psalm showed me what a Great and Awesome God is the Lord who reigns in heaven, and how very small and insignificant I am. However, as opposed to rejecting His supremacy as the limitation of our so called free-will, this is a reason for rejoicing because on our own, without the sustaining power of God, the world would spiral into oblivion and disappear.    

           

       This psalm is very dear to my heart because when the cares of human life loom huge and unconquerable, when finals seem so very threatening, when that research paper seems to never be finished, when the world seems about to end because work and stress has piled up into an insurmountable mountain, I remember this psalm and know that God is in control over my life. I remember that He is the One who stills the churning waves of my mind, that I don’t have to worry about being in charge of every little detail because I know that the Lord reigns crowned in heaven and that nothing on earth, be it sea or fire, will ever change that fact.

           

       I rest in the assurance that a new day will dawn, one day the finals will be over, one day the paper will be written, one day I will be rid of this body of sin, and because of these things I will praise the Lord, who sustains my life and gives peace to my soul.

           

       This is what the psalm has taught me, and what sins it has caused me to see in my own life. But psalms do more than simply cause the reader to see the transgressions in their lives, the beauty of the psalms is that they can also bring joy and gladness to the hearts of the reader.

           

       On an earthly level, another reason I love this psalm is because of the way it speaks about nature. I have loved animals and flowers and trees and everything in nature ever since I was very very small and this psalm is a wonderful testimony to the fact that nature is God’s creation and we ought to delight in it. Who can read of the leviathan frolicking in the depths of the sea and not smile when they picture this great, bumbling creature dancing around with others of his kind. The pictures of creation that the psalmist paints are amazing. All of nature plays, and they are content and not filled with worry or stress because God fulfils their every need. The leviathan can frolic because the Lord has given him his food, and when it is time for him to die he does so, without complaint or objection because he knows somewhere in his little brain that God is the one who gave him life, so He is also the one who decides when to take it.

           

       This psalm fills me with delight every time I read it or sing it. The picture of God as the sustainer of this magnificent world He created is one that brings rest and gladness to my soul, which then bursts forth as a acclamation of praise to my God for all of the wonders He has done.