Peter Barnes: Psalm 104:1-18, 19-35 (19 January 2020)
ALL CREATION SINGS GOD’S PRAISE (PSALM 104)
Deism believes that God made the world, then left it to its own devices; Gnosticism believes that God is only connected to things of the spirit, not the physical world. Psalm 104 opposes both positions. Genesis 1 is the narrative, and Psalm 104 is the song on the subject of creation. The creation was very good when God made it, but now it groans – Romans 8:19-22. Yet it still retains evidence of its original creation – Job 38:4; Ps.19:1; Matt.6:28-29; Acts 14:17; Rom.1:20.
1. God as the all-splendid Creator.
– 104:1-4. This is poetry, unlike Genesis 1.
– the creation as evidence of God’s creative wisdom – 104:24. God’s Spirit was present in Genesis 1:1-2, so note 104:29-30. All creation depends totally on God – 104:21.
– 104:26; whales will frolic in the sea.
2. God’s works in creation.
(a) God establishes an order and stability to the earth – 104:5-9.
(b) God provides water which is the basis for all life – 104:10-18. There is order and goodness in creation – 104:14-24.
(c) He made the sea, and all the weird and wonderful creatures in it – 104:24-29. Joseph Addison: ‘The hand that made us is divine.’
3. Praising the Lord of creation.
– 104:31-35. Jonathan Edwards called nature ‘God’s greatest evangelist’, and : ‘the glory of God is an ultimate end in the creation of the world.’ Alec Motyer: ‘Learn to look out of your window and see your God.’ Calvin: ‘There is not one blade of grass, there is no colour in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice.’