“The more I study nature, the more I stand amazed at the work of the Creator.” —Louis Pasteur
As with Psalm 103, in Psalm 104 the psalmist bookends his thoughts with the same call to action: “Bless the Lord, O my soul!” (vv 1, 35). This time he adds, “Hallelujah!” Before we see what the psalmist thinks we should bless God for, let’s ask what it means to bless Him. Normally we think of blessing coming from God to us. That involves Him giving us some material or spiritual provision. But here the word bless really means “to kneel.” It carries the thought of adoration. We might think of adoration as admiration to the max. So why should we bless Him here? Psalm 104 is a poem of praise to the Creator, following the creative order in Genesis 1 and 2. The creation story begins with Day 1, when “God said, ‘Let there be light’” (Gen 1:3), and the psalmist starts with these words, “O Lord my God, You are very great: You are clothed with honor and majesty.” You “cover Yourself with light as with a garment” (Ps 104:1-2). On Day 2, God blanketed the earth with the firmament or expanse, what we call the atmosphere. Thus the next line in the psalm, “who stretch out the heavens like a curtain” (v 2). God made the watering system for the earth, and provided plant life on Day 3, so we read of the clouds and winds, oceans and rivers, as well as vegetation for animals and people (vv 3-18). On Day 4, He placed heavenly bodies in space, setting a clock to regulate man and beast (vv 19-23). Then the psalmist describes the “innumerable teeming things” in the water and “living things both small and great” (v 25), made on Days 5 and 6 (vv 24-30). He concludes with a sabbath song, when “the Lord rejoice[s] in His works” (v 31), and we “sing to the Lord” (v 33), with the desire, “May my meditation be sweet to Him” (v 34).