Psalm 104:1–5, 24–30

Bible Studies for Life 
Chair and Armstrong Professor of Religion, Samford University

God’s Work of Creation 

Psalm 104:1–5, 24–30

The first message of the Bible is a message of Creation that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” 

The creation of the world is the first of the many majestic and gracious acts of the triune God. Paul reminds us that creation is the result of God calling “into existence the things that do not exist” (Rom. 4.17). 

While the good news of God’s grace has the cross of Calvary at the very center of its proclamation, that grace will not have achieved its final purpose until God “makes all things new” in the establishment of “a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness will dwell.” Theologically creation stands at the beginning and the end of the drama of redemption — it is central to the purposes of God in salvation.

The psalmist often celebrates the work of God as Creator to enable us to enter into a spirit of worship, to adore God for His wisdom, majesty, power and love. To know God as Creator is to place every aspect of our daily lives into His loving tender care.

God Creates Out of His Power (1–5)

The psalmist uses a variety of images in this Psalm to express his understanding of God’s power as Creator. The God who is Creator is the God who has entered into a covenant of love and mercy and so he can begin by speaking of God as the “Lord, my God.” 

Yet this God who is close and caring is still “clothed with honor and majesty.” He is dazzlingly resplendent. The psalmist describes the majesty of God as effortless, as one who creates the heavens with no more effort than we would use to hang a curtain within a tent. He rides the clouds as if they were His chariot. Wind and fire become His messengers to a world that He is to be honored and adored.

God Creates Out of His Wisdom (24–26)

Not only does creation manifest the power of God, but it also speaks of His wisdom. He is a master craftsman, skillfully designing everything that exists according to plans and purposes. The vastness of the oceans speak of the vast horizons where innumerable creatures swim in their depths. 

Leviathan, a mythical creature that is mentioned in the Old Testament as being the source of fear and terror, is no more to God than a plaything. All the creatures of the earth, sea and sky are wholly dependent on the daily provision of God’s providence.

God Creates Out of His Love (27–30)

The goodness of God to His creation is spoken of in terms of God opening His hand to fill the mouths of His creatures with good things. Humanity is always viewed as being created in the image of God and is seen as the pinnacle of God’s work of creation. 

It is typical however of the biblical accounts and celebrations of creation that the Scripture does not pretend to describe in empirical detail the way in which the world came into being. Rather they declare the world is radically dependent on the generosity, wisdom and power of God in whom we are to place all our trust and confidence.

The psalmist helps us to understand that in creation God gives life to others, that God lets others exist alongside and in fellowship with Himself, that God makes room for others. This does not mean, in any sense, that God created because of some inner deficiency in the Triune Godhead that had to be satisfied, but rather God freely chose to create in order to share His love with His creation. Creation thus fittingly expresses the true character of God, who is love and whose love and will-to-community are freely displayed in the act of creation. 

No wonder the psalmist uses the word “Hallelujah” for the first time in the Psalms to express his thanks and praise.