Psalm 104:24-34, 35b (NRSV)
Read Psalm 104:24-34, 35b on biblegateway.com
Verse 24O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
Verse 25Yonder is the sea, great and wide, creeping things innumerable are there, living things both small and great.
Verse 26There go the ships, and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.
Verse 27These all look to you to give them their food in due season;
Verse 28when you give to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
Verse 29When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
Verse 30When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground.
Verse 31May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works-
Verse 32who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke.
Verse 33I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
Verse 34May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord.
Verse 35Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Praise the Lord!
Devotion
This is indeed a hymn to God the Creator and Provider. It brings to mind the meaning of the word ecology: The science of the relationships between organisms and their environments, and the effects of human civilization on them as well. It even heralds the "Leviathan" that God formed to sport in the seas. I think of whales, dolphins, and sharks, jumping and diving, having fun because that is part of their God-given nature.
The Psalmist speaks for all of us as God's creatures: "I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being." If this Psalm could be required reading for those in our culture who believe that nature is something to be exploited, not preserved or sustained, we might have a different world to pass on to the generations to come.
Prayer
Gracious God, help us all to be enamored of, and in harmony with, the world you loved so greatly that you sent us Jesus Christ. Amen.