Psalm 104: Beautiful Images of Earth

The glory of the firmament

Genesis 1 and 2 are not the only creation passages in the Bible. Psalm 104 should stand on equal footing as a description of God's handiwork on Planet Earth. The astute reader will recognize a similarity between several verses in Psalm 104 and the first 4 days of Genesis (Ps. 104:2,3,6,19,20). In In the psalm, however, the creatures of the 5th and 6th days of Genesis 1 (marine life, birds, land animals, and humans) are sprinkled throughout without reference to a literal, linear timeline. 

Bless the LORD, O my soul!

O LORD my God, You are very great:

You are clothed with honor and majesty,

Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment,

Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain.

He lays the beams of his upper chambers in the waters,

Who makes the clouds His chariot,

Who walks on the wings of the wind,

Who makes his angels spirits,

His ministers a flame of fire. (vv. 1-4, from biblegateway.com, NKJV)

God is seen, in beautiful poetic language, as intimately joined in essence to the elements, not because the author is a pantheist but because he sees the majesty of the Creator reflected in the beauty and geologic processes of this earth. The atmosphere of Earth was not always beautiful and breathable, but today God is clothed with "splendor and majesty." Light is His cloak. The very heavens with all of its starry glory are the (tent) curtain in which he dwells. The beams of his upper chambers are in the waters (probably the upper waters where the clouds dwell and rain originates). He doesn't just ride through the clouds on His chariot... the clouds ARE His chariot. Winds and fire serve Him as ministers and messengers. I believe that verse 4 can be interpreted at several levels, but it can refer to slow and sometimes violent geologic processes (like hurricanes, glaciers, forest fires, and volcanoes) that help to shape this planet. There is no instant creation in these verses!

What many Evangelicals don't understand is that today's scientists are God's gift to us, His eyes, His voice. Through science...geomorphology, paleontology, archaeology, etc.,...we get a glimpse of the profound investment God put into this floating ark in space. It also warns us to care for it because, as it has been said on occasion, "there is no planet B."

The glory of the earth

Photo by James Wheeler

The earth is also described in phrases of splendor. Its foundation is made firm and solid by God. The land is clothed with the waters of the deep, but those primordial waters are restrained by God so that they cannot uproot His creation by spreading random chaos and destruction. Instead they are tamed to provide springs, streams, and rivers that water the land and nurture the wildlife (vv. 10-13). The needs of man and beast are met in halcyon abundance.

You Who laid the foundations of the earth;

So that it should not be moved forever,

You covered the deep as with a garment,

The waters stood above the mountains. (Similar to Gen. 1:1, 2)

At Your rebuke they fled; (Similar to Gen. 1:9, 10)

At the voice of Your thunder, they hastened away.

They went up over the mountains;

They went down into the valleys,

To the place which You founded for them.

You have set a boundary that they may not pass over,

That they may not return to cover the earth.

Photo by Jeffrey Workman

Who inherits the earth?

However, Genesis 2 and 3 hint at a rumble in the cosmos. A war is afoot, and the heart of man is the battlefield. Choices must be made, loyalties defined and realigned. The right choice, meaning figuring out who is telling the truth and who can really deliver the goods, is a matter of life and death. God challenges the inhabitants of earth, "choose life, not death." Choose Me. The "Serpent" makes the very same claim, and in fact wins the most votes. He gains the title "the god of this world."

However, Jesus Christ made an interesting promise about Planet Earth. In the Sermon on the Mount, in the Beatitudes, He stated that when He finally returns to the earth again, the meek, the peacemakers (those who choose God and who obey his commandments) will inherit it.

This story can also be seen at https://medium.com/@janetkatherineapplebysmith/psalm-104-beautiful-images-of-the-earth-4705f3608d4a