Good morning and I invite you to take your copy of scripture and turn to Psalm 104. And if you're using one of the Bibles that we provide for you, you'll find our passage on page 502 and 503. We've been in a series in the Psalms for some weeks now and come to Psalm 104. We're working through the Psalms sequentially and so just taking one at a time, working through. And this morning we come to Psalm 104. I'm going to read the Psalm. Well, in its entirety, it's a little bit of a longer psalm, it's 35 verses, and then we'll pray and we will consider God's Word together, okay? So beginning in verse 1, Psalm 104. Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, You are very great. You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering Yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent. He lays the beams of His chambers on the waters. He makes the clouds His chariot. He rides on the wings of the wind. He makes His messengers winds, His ministers a flaming fire. He set the earth on its foundation so that it should never be moved. You covered it with the deep as with a garment. The water stood above the mountains. At Your rebuke, they fled. At the sound of Your thunder, they took to flight. The mountains rose. The valleys sank down to the place that You appointed for them. You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they may not again cover the earth. You make springs gush forth in the valley. They flow between the hills. They give drink to every beast of the field. The wild donkeys quench their thirst. Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell. They sing among the branches. From your lofty abode you water the mountains. The earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work. You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread to strengthen man's heart. The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that He planted. In them the birds build their nests. The stork has her home in the fir trees. The high mountains are for the wild goats. The rocks are the refuge for the rock badgers. He made the moon to mark the seasons. The sun knows its time for its setting. You make darkness, and it is night when all the beasts of the forest creep out. The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God. When the sun rises, they steal away and lie down in their dens. Man goes out to his work and to his labor until the evening. O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom have You made them all. The earth is full of Your creatures. Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great. There go the ships and Leviathan, which you form to play in it. These all look to you to give them their food in due season. When you give it to them, they gather it up. When you open your hand, they are filled with good things. When you hide your face, they are dismayed. When you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. When you send forth your Spirit, they are created. And you renew the face of the ground. May the glory of the Lord endure forever. May the Lord rejoice in His works. Who looks on the earth and it trembles. Who touches the mountains and they smoke. I will sing to the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praise to my God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to Him, for I rejoice in the Lord. Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Praise the Lord. Amen. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, we pause for a moment to ask for your help. And Lord, we do pray that even in these moments now that the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts would be acceptable in your sight. We pray, Father, that you would lead us and guide us into all truth by your Spirit. And Father, we pray that we would be a people who glory in all your works and that we would be a people who are characterized by praise and rejoicing. And it's through Jesus Christ, our Lord, we ask it. Amen. When I was a boy in 1982, PBS, the public broadcast station, began producing a wildlife series entitled Nature. And every season had about 10 to 20 episodes. And I confess as a young boy that I especially liked the episodes when lions or bears were seeking out their prey to kill them. But all the episodes really were fascinating in different ways. And I haven't watched that television show in decades, and so as I was preparing for the messages last week, I kind of checked on it to see, well, when did it stop running? And actually, I found out that it hasn't stopped running. In fact, it is still running. To date, there are over 40 episodes of Nature that have been produced. And of course, those early shows in the 80s led to the later production of extraordinary nature miniseries like Planet Earth, some of y'all may have watched that before, or The Blue Planet. Does anybody know what I'm talking about? Have you seen these things? They're fascinating, they're incredible. And then to entire TV stations like National Geographic or Discovery Channel that are devoted in large part to nature shows. And the production and success of all this fascinating and thrilling material is really a testimony to the truth of Psalm 104 verse 24. Oh Lord, how manifold are your works. In wisdom you made them all. The earth is full of your creatures. Psalm 104 teaches us that creation is to be a source of joy, and a source of wonder, and a source of glory for God, for us as individuals, and for the people of God as a whole. I want to repeat that again because that's what we're going to see this morning in our text. Psalm 104 teaches us that creation is to be a source of joy and wonder and glory for God, for us as individuals, and for the people of God as a whole. I've entitled the sermon this morning, Bless the Lord, Oh My Soul, Part 2. And the reason is because if you look at Psalm 103, the psalm that we considered last week, Psalm 103 began and ended with this statement, Bless the Lord, Oh My Soul. You see it there in Psalm 103 verse 1, and then again in Psalm 103 verse 22. Bless the Lord, Oh My Soul. And now we see that Psalm 104 also begins and ends with the same words. Bless the Lord, O my soul, in verse 1. And then again in verse 35. Bless the Lord, O my soul. You see, the Psalms were written by a variety of authors over several centuries. And at some point there would have been a person or a body of persons who would have collected together all these 150 Psalms and put them together in the Psalter. And they would have organized them according to certain principles or themes. And sometimes, we don't always know, but sometimes we get hints at why the compiler or editor put certain psalms together or groups of psalms together. And we seem to get something of that here as we look at Psalm 103 and 104. Whoever compiled the Psalter, whoever put the Psalms together in this way, seems to put these two Psalms side by side because they both share this similar beginning and end. However, there are important distinctions for us to make between these two Psalms. Both Psalms are Psalms that call us to bless the Lord. But Psalm 103 is a call to bless the Lord for His love and for His salvation. That's what we saw last week. Whereas Psalm 104 is a call to bless the Lord for His creation and for His providence. So in Psalm 103, the psalmist is blessing the Lord because He is Savior and He is Redeemer. And in Psalm 104, the psalmist is blessing the Lord because He is Creator and He is Sovereign. In fact, Psalm 104 is so devoted to the worship of God as Creator that one commentator has observed that Psalm 104 constitutes, quote, the most extended explication of God's work of creation outside of Genesis, end of quote. And of course, when he speaks there of Genesis, he's speaking of the opening chapters of the book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible, where the author of Genesis lays out for us God's work of creation. It's really fascinating because much of Psalm 104 generally follows the six-day pattern of creation that we see in Genesis 1. It's not exact, and we'll see that as we work through the psalm. The psalm, Psalm 104, is more of a poetic and fluid reflection on Genesis 1. But generally speaking, it follows the six days of creation. I want us to turn now to Psalm 104, and let's consider the psalm in four parts. So if you're taking notes this morning, these are our four points. First, we'll see that the Lord is great in verses 1-4. Secondly, we will see the Lord's work of creation in verses 5-26. Third, we'll see the Lord's work of providence in verses 27-30. And then finally, rejoice in the Lord's work of creation and providence in verses 31-35. So first of all, we see that the Lord is great in verses 1-4. Look there at the text. Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, You are very great. You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering Yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent. He lays the beams of His chambers on the waters. He makes the clouds His chariot. He rides on the wings of the wind. He makes His messengers winds, His ministers a flaming fire. So here we see in verse 1 that the psalmist begins by spurring himself to praise, right? Bless the Lord, O my soul. And then he declares, O Lord my God, you are very great. And then what we see the psalmist do here is he focuses on the first day of creation. And we see here a reflection on day 1 of creation. On day 1 of creation, God created the light. And so we read in Genesis chapter 1 verse 3, and God said, let there be light, and there was light. And here you see in the opening verses of Psalm 104 verse 1 and 2, we read, you are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a garment. So a king might clothe himself with a luxurious, ornate robe to highlight the splendor and the majesty of his reign. How much greater is it that the eternal God bursts forth from the darkness and clothes Himself with pure, radiant light? Then we see that the psalmist moves on to focus on the second day of creation. On the second day of creation, we know that God separated the heavens from the waters. So in Genesis chapter 1 verses 6 and 8 we read, And God said, Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters. And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning the second day. And now notice here, the psalmist in verses 2 and 4, he records, You stretched out the heavens like a tent. He lays the beams of His chambers on the waters. He makes the clouds His chariot. He rides on the wings of the wind. He makes His messengers winds, His ministers a flaming fire. So let's move through this and consider what the psalmist is saying. God stretches the heavens. Now, of course, this is poetic language, right? God stretches the heavens out like a tent or like a tabernacle in which he will dwell. And the beams of his tent or his tabernacle on which the tabernacle rests, the psalmist says, are the waters which are suspended above the earth. And then the clouds, he says, are like his chariot. They're like his limousine or his private jet, which he zips from one end of the earth to the other. And his messengers, his ministers, they are his angels who are like wind, like a flaming fire that acts swiftly to do his will. In fact, what the psalmist says here about the angels is similar to what David said in Psalm 103, verses 20 to 21. So if you just look up a few verses on the page there, Psalm 103, verse 20. Bless the Lord, O you His angels, you mighty ones who do His word, obeying the voice of His word. Bless the Lord, all His hosts, His ministers who do His will. And so His angels are His ministers who with speed and intentionality and purpose and swiftness execute God's will like flaming fire. In fact, I know the women of the church are studying Hebrews right now in our Wednesday night Bible studies, and we know that the author of Hebrews cites Psalm 104 verse 4, this verse in Hebrews chapter 1. And he cites it to contrast the angels who are ministers in the service of God with the Son, the Lord Jesus, who is in fact God Himself. Now notice here in our text that as the psalmist reflects on the first two days of creation, Right? The creation of light, creation of the heavens, and separation of the heavens and the waters. The psalmist's conclusion is, bless the Lord, oh my soul, oh Lord my God, you are very great. So the psalmist's conclusion is not, bless nature, worship the cosmos. Mother nature is very great. Unfortunately, that's an error often repeated in our own day. It is the sin that Paul highlights in Romans chapter 1 when he declares that humanity exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator who is to be blessed forever. Amen. Here we see in Psalm 104 that the psalmist does not make that mistake. Instead, his reflection on the first two days of creation leads him to rightly proclaim, Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, You are very great. The psalmist teaches us to respond as the great hymn writer declares, Oh Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds Thy hands have made. I see the stars and I hear the rolling thunder. Thy power throughout the universe displayed. Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee, how great Thou art, how great Thou art. This is the profession of the psalmist. Now let's consider, secondly, the Lord's work of creation. So we first see that the Lord is great in verses 1-4. And then we see in verses 5-26, which is the bulk of our psalm, we see a further explanation of the Lord's work of creation. And in this section, the psalmist will continue to generally follow the six-day pattern of God's creation in Genesis 1, but we'll see that it's more of a poetic and fluid description of creation, and so he jumps back and forth some. They're intermingled, the days of creation. Notice as we see the Lord's work of creation here in these verses that we see the division of land and sea in verses 5 through 9. Look there in the text, verse 5. He set the earth on its foundation so that it should never be moved. You covered it with the deep as with a garment. The waters stood above the mountains. At your rebuke, they fled. At the sound of your thunder, they took flight. The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them. You set a boundary that they may not pass so that they might not again cover the earth." So here the psalmist is actually reflecting on the third day of creation. In Genesis chapter 1 verses 9 and 10 we read, and God said, let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear. And it was so. And God called the dry land earth, and the waters that were gathered together He called seas. And God saw that it was good. And here in our text, you see there in verse 6 that the psalmist recognizes, it seems, that originally the earth was covered with water. You covered it with deep as with a garment. The water stood above the mountains. And then in verse 7, the psalmist declares, at your rebuke. So this is consistent with the account in Genesis 1, right? Where it is the voice of the Lord that speaks all things into creation. And so the psalmist says, it is at your rebuke. At the sound of the thunder that they took to flight. And the consequence there is in verse 8. The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed them. And so here the psalmist is indicating that the majestic mountains, the vast oceans that we witness all around us were created and their boundaries were appointed by the voice of God. And then you see in verse 9 there, this is likely a reference to God's promise following the flood. So in the early chapters of Genesis, we have a record of a universal flood. And in Genesis chapter 9 verse 11, the Lord promises, I establish my covenant with you, that is with Noah, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth. And the psalmist here declares in verse 9 of Psalm 104, you set a boundary that they may not pass so that they might not again cover the earth. My friends, we should recognize that it is a testimony to the Lord's grace and to the Lord's mercy that is vast and tumultuous as the sea is. That it's tide goes out and it's tide comes in, but it's boundaries have been determined by God. It's as though the mighty waters of the sea are on a leash. And at moments they rage and they are violent. And the waters reach their limits. But they know the end of that leash. And they are always pulled back to their appointed home. This is a testimony to God's grace and mercy. So we see here the division of the land and sea in verses 5-9. But then notice also we see God's abundant provision for animals and humanity in verses 10-18. Look there at verse 10. You make springs gush forth in the valleys. They flow between the hills. They give drink to every beast of the field. The wild donkeys quench their thirst. Beside them, the birds of the heavens dwell. They sing among the branches. From your lofty abode, you water the mountains. The earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work. You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth. and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread to strengthen man's heart. The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that He planted. In them the birds build their nests. The stork has her home in the fir trees. The high mountains are for the wild goats. The rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers." Now in these verses, the psalmist continues his reflection on day three of creation, but here the emphasis is on God gathering the waters to provide both water and food for the animals and for man. So day five and six are kind of mixed in here as well. They are assumed because several times the psalmist refers to the birds, which are created on day five, and animals and man, which were created on day six. So notice there in verses 10 through 13, you make springs gush forth in the valleys. They flow between the hills. They give drink to every beast of the field. The wild donkeys quench their thirst. Beside them, the birds of the heavens dwell. They sing among the branches. From your lofty abode, you water the mountains. The earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work. One commentator observes here that in founding a place for fleeing waters, Yahweh was not simply stopping them from being dangerous, but He was putting them safely into a reservoir available as a resource. And so here we see the Lord's abundant provision for His creation as He not only gathers the water to protect us from them spilling over in a way in which they would destroy us, but gathering them together as a source of life. In verse 14, God is like a cosmic gardener who's watering the earth to provide vegetation for both man and beast. You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate that he may bring forth food from the earth. And then we see in verse 15 that the Lord provides wine and oil and bread for man's sustenance and for his joy. Wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, bread to strengthen man's And then in verse 16, again, we see the ample, abundant supply of water that God graciously pours on the earth. The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that He planted. And all of God's creative powers, all of His ample provision, His constant activity creates this elaborate ecosystem in which all living things are related to one another and interdependent upon one another. And each living thing is appointed its specific habitation in which it will live and dwell. You see it there in verse 17 and 18. In them the birds build their nests. The stork has her home in the fir trees. The high mountains are for the wild goats. The rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers. Charles Spurgeon says at this point, quote, all places team with life. We speak of uninhabitable places, but where are they? Thus all the earth is full of happy life. Every place has its appropriate inhabitant. Nothing is empty and void and waste." We speak of places that are uninhabitable like the Sahara Desert or maybe some rainforest and we think, we could never live there, right? Humans aren't made to live there. Maybe in the Arctic, where it's so cold and freezing. But you go to any of those places, and you will find that they are teeming with life. With creatures and species that have been created for that specific ecosystem. All that God has created is teeming with life. We see in verses 19 through 23 the division of day and night. You see it there in verse 19. He made the moon to mark the seasons. The sun knows its time for setting. You make darkness and it is night. When all the beasts of the forest creep out, the young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God. When the sun rises, they steal away and lie down in their dens. Man goes out to his work and to his labor until evening. Here the psalmist is reflecting on day four of creation. And so in Genesis chapter 1 verses 14 and 19 we read, and God said, let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years. And let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth. And it was so. And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth to rule over the day and over the night and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning the fourth day. Now notice what the psalmist says in verse 19. He made the moon to mark the seasons. The sun knows its time for setting. You made darkness and it is night. And notice that God ordered the day and the night in such a way that many animals hunt at night and rest during the day, which provides a great sense of security and opportunity for men to work while it is light. You see it there in verses 21 to 23. The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God. When the sun rises, they steal away and lie down in their dens. Man goes out to his work and to his labor until the evening. National Geographic reports in an article entitled, Nightlife, Animals After Dark, this was written in 2022, that while most birds are active during the day, many insects and around 70% of mammals are nocturnal, coming out at night to forage for food and to find a mate. We don't live in an agricultural society any longer. And for example, myself, I don't work outside primarily. I work inside. But I am still delighted that badgers and lions and bats and coyotes and most snakes prefer to hunt at night. My sense is, let them do it while I'm asleep. I don't want to know about it unless I'm watching it on a nature show. In verse 24 and 26, through 26, we see the abundance of life on earth and in the sea. So we see the division of day and night, but now notice in verse 24 and 26 the abundance of life on earth and sea. Look there in verse 24. Oh Lord, how manifold are your works and wisdom. You have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures. Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great. There go the ships and Leviathan which you formed to play in it. Here the psalmist is reflecting on day five of creation. So in Genesis chapter 1 verses 20 to 23 we read, and God said, let the water swarm with swarms of living creatures and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens. So God created great sea creatures and every living creature that moves with which the waters swarm according to their kinds. and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good, and God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters and the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth. And there was evening, and there was morning the fifth day." And here you see in verses 25 and 26, the psalmist speaks of God creating all these animals in the sea. Here is the sea, great and wide, and it teems with creatures innumerable. Living things both small and great, there go the ships and Leviathan which form to play in it." You might think someone that wrote this hundreds and hundreds of years ago, how could they know about all the different things that are in the sea? How could they know about all the different animals and so forth? And this idea that the things and the creatures and the species that are in the sea, they're innumerable. Maybe they would have thought, you know, well, I've seen so many and this is about all there is. But no, that's not what the psalmist concludes. The psalmist says that all the creatures and the species in the sea are innumerable. And in fact, he was right. The UN reports that the ocean covers 71% of the earth's surface and that 50 to 80% of all life is found in the ocean. CNN reports that, quote, while scientists believe there are 2.2 million marine species that exist in the Earth's oceans, they estimate that they've only found about 240,000. So 2.2 million species, they don't know how many there are. They're estimating maybe there's around 2.2 million, and we found about 240,000. So scientists tell us that 91% of the ocean species have yet to be classified, and more than 80% of our ocean is unmapped. Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things, both small and great. And this leads to the psalmist's conclusion in verse 24, O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all. All the earth is full of your creatures. And this, my friends, is the reason why there will be schools of science, and there will be scientists, and there will be nature parks, and there will be nature shows and nature miniseries until Christ returns. Because the works of the Lord are manifold. They are works within works within works. What I mean by that is they are innumerable. They are varied and complex. They are magnificent and they are beautiful. They are worthy of our explanation. And they are the source of joy and delight in our hearts. And in wisdom, He has made them all. This is the Lord's work of creation. Notice third though, the Lord's work of providence. So we see that the Lord is great. Secondly, we see His work of creation. Third, we see the Lord's work of providence. Look there in verses 27-30. These all look to you to give them their food and do season. When you give it to them, they gather it up. When you open your hand, they are filled with good things. When you hide your face, they are dismayed. When you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. When you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground. Now, I entitled this section here, these verses here, verses 27 to 30, the Lord's work of providence. But what is the providence of God? What does that word mean? Well, God's providence refers to His purposeful sovereignty. The idea of sovereignty, you hear the word reign in there, is the idea that God rules and He reigns. And this is the truth that by His rule and His reign, God upholds and purposes all things according to His will. There have been several confessions of faith written throughout the years that have beautifully articulated this truth of God's providence. Listen to the Heidelberg Catechism from 1563. The providence of God is, quote, the almighty everywhere present power of God. whereby, as it were, by His hand He still upholds heaven and earth with all creatures, and so governs them, that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, indeed all things come, not by chance, but by His fatherly hand." Or listen to the Belgic Confession from 1561 on the providence of God. Quote, we believe that this good God after creating all things did not abandon them to chance or fortune, but leads and governs them according to His holy will in such a way that nothing happens in this world without God's orderly arrangement. Or listen to the London Baptist Confession of Faith from 1689, the providence of God. Quote, God the good creator of all things in his infinite power and wisdom does uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures and all things from the greatest even to the least by his most wise and holy providence to the end for which they were created, end of quote. Now as we hear those beautiful articulations of this truth of the providence of God, I want you to notice in these verses how the psalmist here articulates God's pervasive providence, His meticulous sovereignty. Look there in verse 27. These all look to you. And who are these? Well, if you scan back through the psalm, you'll notice that these are the beasts of the field and the wild donkeys in verse 11. They are the birds of the heaven in verse 12. They are the livestock, in verse 14. It is man, in verse 15. It is the trees and the cedars, in verse 16. It is the birds and the stork, in verse 17. It's the wild goats and the rock badgers, in verse 18. It's the young lions, in verse 21. It's the sea creatures innumerable, both small and great, in verse 25. It is Leviathan, which is a reference to some type of sea creature, in verse 26. And notice what the psalmist says. All these look to you to give them their food and their deseason. When you give it to them, they gather it up. When you open your hand, they are filled with good things. When you hide your face, they are dismayed. In other words, every drop of water they drink Every bite of sustenance that they take, every meal they enjoy that sustains their life is a good gift from the open hand of a generous, wise, all-sovereign God. Every single time. And notice the psalmist does not shy away from the difficult but complimentary truth. He says, when you hide your face, they are dismayed. In other words, the scarcity of water and the absence of food is also assigned to God's sovereign providence. In fact, the psalmist even goes on further in the text to make it clear that God's pervasive providence and His meticulous sovereignty extends to life and to death. You see it there in verse 29 and 30. When you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. And when you send forth your spirit, they are created and you renew the face of the ground. Again here we see parallels between what the psalmist is describing here and the Genesis account of creation. In Genesis 2, verse 7 we read, the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being. So what the author of Genesis is telling us is that we were created from dust and it was the breath of God that gave us life. And now in death, the psalmist says here that God takes away the breath of life. He's using that word there, breath. He takes away the breath of life and we return to our origin, which is dust. And this is true for the animals as well. And then notice that the psalmist's description of life also reminds us of the Genesis account. So you may know that everything that happens in Genesis in terms of God creating and bringing about life is prefaced with the Spirit of God hovering over the waters. That's how the Genesis account opens up. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And then it's by God's Spirit and by His spoken word that He creates a world overflowing with life. And here the psalmist acknowledges that it is the ongoing activity, creative power of God's Spirit that accounts for the cycle of life that we witness in this world. You see it there in verse 30. When you send forth your Spirit, they are created and you renew the face of the ground. So it's not like God created the world and then He just sent it out there and it's doing its thing. But He's constantly and taking life and giving life and providing food and withholding. He's active. He's ongoing. He's engaged constantly in His creation. And so why are the trees already starting to bloom in February in Augusta? And why aren't they barren all year round? Just twigs and no flowers. Why aren't animals extinct, all animals? Why do they keep reproducing and multiplying? Why do hospitals not only specialize in hospice care, but also have maternity wards that are busting with new life? And the psalmist tells us why, because God is intentionally and actively continuing to send forth His life-giving Spirit and to create and renew and grant life. And this way the psalmist is telling us, he's teaching us, that life and death are not impersonal forces of a mechanistic universe. God is the author of life and death. He is the sovereign Lord over all life and death. And in fact, my friends, this should give us comfort. That life and death are not the product of impersonal forces and fate. But life and death, everything that happens, comes under the care, under the wise knowledge of a sovereign, loving, good, and all-powerful God. John Calvin writes, We continue to live so long as He sustains us by His power, but no sooner does He withdraw His life-giving Spirit than we die." Spurgeon writes, quote, note here that death is caused by the act of God. Thou takest away their breath. We are immortal until He bids us die. And so are even the little sparrows who fall not to the ground without our Father." Of course, there he's referring to the teaching of the Lord Jesus who speaks of not even the smallest sparrow falling from the heavens outside of the providential care and purpose of God the Father. And so Psalm 104 is a call to bless the Lord for His creation, for His creative power, and also for His sovereign providence, for His ongoing activity in which He governs and guides and directs all that He has made. He is both creator and He is sovereign. Fourth and finally, rejoice in the Lord's work of creation and providence. Rejoice in the Lord's work of creation and providence. We find this in verses 31 to 35. May the glory of the Lord endure forever. May the Lord rejoice in His works, who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke. I will sing to the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. May my meditation be pleasing to Him, for I rejoice in the Lord. Let sinners be consumed from the earth and let the wicked be no more. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Praise the Lord. So the psalmist here in these last few verses concludes with application. And it's application in the form of a prayer. I've identified here in these verses four points of application. I'm going to hit each one of these very quickly. Now surprisingly, the first point of application is directed to God. Did you see that in the text? Here's the first application. God, rejoice in your works of creation and providence. You see it there in verse 31? May the glory of the Lord endure forever. May the Lord rejoice in his works, who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke. And we should note that God is really good at application, right? So we're not always great at application. We hear things from the Bible or we hear certain truths You know, we know them, but we don't always put them into practice. God never does that. God is excellent at application. He's perfect at application. He always gets it. He always perfectly possesses and lives out what He has revealed in His Word. And God rejoices in His works, day and night. One of the reasons we know this is because in the Genesis account, when God is creating the world, what does God do? What does God say at the end of each day? It is good. In other words, He's rejoicing in His works. He's rejoicing in the works of His creation. Have you ever considered why there are over 2 million species in the depths of the oceans that no human eye has ever seen? For all the humans that have lived, right? And there's billions of humans all over the world right now, right? There are millions of species in the depths of the oceans that no one has ever seen. Why are they there? In part, for the joy of God. He created them for His own delight. And He rejoices in the works of His creation. Second application. I will rejoice in God's works of creation and providence. I will rejoice in God's works of creation and providence. Look there in verse 33 and 34. I will sing to the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praise to my God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to Him, for I rejoice in the Lord. And the psalmist's meditation here in verse 34 must include Psalm 104, right? This is his meditation. And by way of this meditation, by way of writing Psalm 104, the psalmist is modeling for us what it means to sing to the Lord and to rejoice in Him for His works of creation and providence. One of the effects of the fall and of sin is that our senses are dull and indifferent to the glory and the wonder of God's creation. And so one prayer that we can pray is that like the psalmist here, the Lord would open our eyes. So that our eyes might see and our hearts might rejoice and delight in all that God has created. Of course, spring is just coming around the corner. We're not very far away and we can pray that even this spring the Lord would open our eyes so that we might see the glory and the wonder of spring with fresh eyes and that we would rejoice in His works of creation. Third application, may sinners be removed from God's work of creation in providence. May sinners be removed from God's works of creation in providence. Look there in verse 35. But sinners be consumed from the earth and let the wicked be no more. Now in a psalm that is filled with so much joy and so much praise, you might wonder, why does the psalmist conclude here on such a kind of harsh and judgmental note? But it's not harsh. It's not judgmental. It's not self-righteous. You see, the psalmist understands here that this magnificent creation which we've been talking about will never be restored and never fully reflect the glory of God as it should until sin is eradicated and the wicked are destroyed. And in this way, the psalmist not only calls us to delight in the wonder and glory of creation as it stands presently, but he is pointing us forward to the restoration of creation when God will create a new heavens and a new earth in which sin will not dwell. And so in many ways, verse 35 is a call to repentance. a call to turn from our sins and to trust in the Lord Jesus and His perfect, all-sufficient, atoning sacrifice for our sins, and to trust in His glorious resurrection from the dead so that we might be forgiven and we might experience the reality of this new heavens and this new earth in all its glory, in the absence of sin, and so that we will not be consumed on the day of God's judgment. The fourth application is this, may we rejoice in God's works of creation and providence. May we, and I put an emphasis on we, may we, all of us, rejoice in God's works of creation and providence. Look there at verse 35. Bless the Lord, O my soul, praise the Lord. So here, first of all, we see the repeated refrain that begins Psalm 103 and Psalm 104, bless the Lord, O my soul. The psalmist is speaking to himself, he's spurring himself on, he's saying, bless the Lord, O my soul. But then the next statement in the original language, which is translated, praise the Lord, is actually the word in Hebrew, hallelujah. Now, how many of you have heard that word before, hallelujah? Perhaps you've heard someone sing it in a song, or maybe you've heard someone say it when someone's preaching, someone makes a good point in a sermon, someone says, hallelujah, you know? Do you know what that word means? Well, it's a Hebrew word. The first part of that word is hallelu, coming from the Hebrew word halal, which means to praise. And in the form, halal, in the form of halalu, is in the second person plural. So that means it's not just speaking to an individual like you, one person, but it's like all y'all, y'all, right? It's speaking to a group of people, so it's second person plural. And it's an imperative, which means it's a command. It's not a suggestion. It's a command, okay? So the idea is all y'all praise. But then there's one more part to that word, hallelujah, and the last syllable there is yah, which is the shortened form of the word Yahweh, the personal, covenantal name of God. So hallelujah means all y'all praise Yahweh. And that's how the psalmist ends the psalm. And may we, may we respond to that command. May we as a people respond with praise to God. Not only for His salvation and deliverance which we saw in Psalm 103, but now as we see in Psalm 104, for His creative power and for His ongoing providence. May we praise the Lord. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, we confess before You that You are the author of life that You have created all that we see, that You have created us, that You have given us life and breath and everything. We confess, Lord, that we are utterly and entirely dependent upon You. And Lord, we acknowledge that You have been so good and kind to us in Your creative power and in Your ongoing sovereignty and providence. Lord, You have, from Your hand, given us so many good gifts. Every drop of water we have ever drank, every morsel of food we have ever taken, every sickness from which you have delivered us, every friendship that you have given us, every good gift comes from your hand. You are Creator and you are Sovereign Lord and we do praise you. Father, we pray that our hearts would be filled with praise. We pray, Lord, that you would open our eyes to see the wonder and the glory of the creation that is around us. And we pray, Father, that as we delight in you, and as we delight in all that you have made, and as we delight in your ongoing kindness and goodness in our lives, we pray, Father, that you would be pleased and you would be glorified. And it's through Jesus Christ, our Lord, we ask it.