The greatness of God.
This psalm, charged with the truest poetry, sings of the greatness of God (Psalms 104:1) and of the heritage of man. The subjects are inseparably mingled. Of the former we have suggested to us -
I. HIS GLORY. (Psalms 104:1, Psalms 104:2, Psalms 104:31.)
II. HIS POWER. (Psalms 104:3-9.) The winds are his messengers; the fire is his servant; the clouds are his chariot; the waters flee at his command; the ocean stays at the bound he has drawn.
III. HIS WISDOM. (Psalms 104:5, Psalms 104:10.) Nowhere is his wisdom more apparent than in:
1. Providing for the security of the earth. The diurnal and annual rotation (with which we are familiar), giving us our change of night and day, and also of our seasons, in no way interferes with the sense of our security, while it brings into view the wonderful wisdom of God (see Psalms 104:24).
2. In the provision of water for his thirsting creatures. The beautiful circulatory system, by which the vapour is drawn up from the seas and the lakes, carried as clouds by the winds, drawn down by the hills and the trees, purified by the earth through which it passes, comes forth as the springs which flow down in the streams and rivers through the land, and end their course by replenishing the sea,—this is another striking instance of those "manifold works" "made in Divine wisdom."
IV. HIS PROVIDENTIAL GOODNESS.
1. In supplying water for man and beast (Psalms 104:10-13).
2. In providing nourishment (Psalms 104:14-16).
3. In giving shelter and protection to the weak—to the bird, to the goat, to the cony (Psalms 104:17, Psalms 104:18).
4. In dividing time into seasons (Psalms 104:19; see Genesis 1:14); so that we can calculate with perfect accuracy the incoming and outgoing of the tides, as well as the return of summer and winter.
5. In the amplitude of the gift of life. Not only are the air and the earth full of happy life, but so is the "great and wide sea" (Psalms 104:25). All these innumerable hosts of living things—insects, birds, beasts, fishes—are spending a happy life in their own element, and after their own instincts. Who can form any conception of the sum of sentient life and enjoyment at any moment upon this earth?
6. In providing the materials for locomotion. Those ships of Psalms 104:26 are suggestive of all the forces at our command, every year becoming greater, for moving rapidly over land and sea, indefinitely promoting the circulation of produce and intercourse between man and man. All these instances of Divine beneficence are suggestive of—
V. HIS GRACE to his human children. For:
1. If God cares so much for bird and beast, he will care very much more for us, his children by faith in Jesus Christ.
2. if he provides so bountifully with the necessaries of mortal life, we can well believe that he has made ample provision for our spiritual and eternal good.