Psalm 104 -- We Laugh At What They Thought, But How Little We Truly Understand

When the writer penned Psalm 104, the commonly held belief was that the earth was flat, that it was circular, based on the horizons men could see, that it had edges we would fall off, that great foundations supported it, and that the bowl of the sky represented the margin between heaven and earth, with the heavenly bodies running on tracks built into that bowl.

Some of his verses reflect those beliefs, but they are not necessarily wrong – simply not fully understood, just as God chooses to reveal more of Himself and His creation in His own timing.  What is remarkable is that though the writer may not have fully understood what he was seeing, God did, and His glory shines through it!

Verse 5, for instance, says, “You built the earth on its foundations so it can never be moved.”  At first we laugh because we know that the earth is moving and in fact never ceases to move.  But the greater truth is that the foundation the earth is resting on is gravity, and that gravity keeps the earth right on course, rock solid and stable, as it hurtles through space!  That same gravity keeps the oceans in place as the earth spins instead of causing them to be flung into space.

It takes man incredible amounts of energy for even the slightest masses to escape earth’s gravity, yet we read in verses 7-8, “But at Your command, the waters rushed away.  When You thundered Your orders, it hurried away.  The mountains rose; the valleys sank.  The water went to the places You made for it.”

And it’s not in vastly large quantities that God can express His power.  As the Israelites crossed the Red Sea and the Jordan River on their way to the Promised Land, God commanded the waters to remove themselves from their path.  They didn’t cross in the mud, but on dry ground.  When each atom of water heard God’s command, it instantly obeyed, fighting past molecules of dirt to do what its Creator commanded, leaving the dirt dry, with not a drop of water anywhere near.  It took no time to dry out because the water obeyed and departed!  Oh, that we could obey God in such a fashion!

The writer also reminds us that, contrary to the script of the movie Oh, God with George Burns, He didn’t wind it all up and sit back as it wound down.  He is actively involved keeping it all together.  Even the very air we breathe presents itself to us at His command.  “When You take away their breath, they die and turn to dust.”

The writer finishes with, “May the glory of the Lord be forever.  May the Lord enjoy what He has made … I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praises to my God as long as I live.  May my thoughts please Him;  I am happy in the Lord … My whole being, praise the Lord.”

Father, You have allowed us to understand only miniscule parts of Your creation, and someday we will marvel at how little of Your wisdom we really understood!  We will sing of Your glory when we dwell with You in eternity because we will realize how awesome, incredible, and above us You truly are!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford