Psalm 104:34 Kommentar

It is very probable that this psalm was penned by the same hand, and at the same time, as the former; for as that ended this begins, with "Bless the Lord, O my soul!" and concludes with it too. The style indeed is somewhat different, because the matter is so: the scope of the foregoing psalm was to celebrate the goodness of God and his tender mercy and compassion, to which a soft and sweet style was most agreeable; the scope of this is to celebrate his greatness, and majesty, and sovereign dominion, which ought to be done in the most stately lofty strains of poetry. David, in the former psalm, gave God the glory of his covenant-mercy and love to his own people; in this he gives him the glory of his works of creation and providence, his dominion over, and his bounty to, all the creatures. God is there praised as the God of grace, here as the God of nature. And this psalm is wholly bestowed on that subject; not as Psa 19:1-14, which begins with it, but passes from it to the consideration of the divine law; nor as Psa 8:1-9, which speaks of this but prophetically, and with an eye to Christ. This noble poem is thought by very competent judges greatly to excel, not only for piety and devotion (that is past dispute), but for flight of fancy, brightness of ideas, surprising turns, and all the beauties and ornaments of expression, the Greek and Latin poets upon any subject of this nature. Many great things the psalmist here gives God the glory of I. The splendour of his majesty in the upper world (Psa 104:1-4). II. The creation of the sea and the dry land (Psa 104:5-9). III. The provision he makes for the maintenance of all the creatures according to their nature (Psa 104:10-18, Psa 104:27, Psa 104:28). IV. The regular course of the sun and moon (Psa 104:19-24). V. The furniture of the sea (Psa 104:25, Psa 104:26). IV. God's sovereign power over all the creatures (Psa 104:29-32). And, lastly, he concludes with a pleasant and firm resolution to continue praising God (Psa 104:33-35), with which we should heartily join in singing this psalm.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 104 This psalm, though without a title, was probably written by David, since it begins and ends as the former does, as Aben Ezra observes; and to him the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions, ascribe it. The inscription of the Syriac version is, "a psalm of David, when he went to worship before the ark of the Lord with the priests; and as to us, it teaches us confession and prayer; and intimates to us the constitution of the beginning of the creatures; and declares some things concerning the angels.'' Some copies of the Septuagint version have it, "a psalm of David concerning the constitution of the world;'' which indeed is the subject matter of it; for it treats of the creation of all things, of the heavens and the earth, and of all creatures in them; and of the providence of God in taking care of them. Christ is the divine Person addressed and described throughout the whole, as appears from the quotation of Psa 104:5 and the application of it to him in Heb 1:7.

My meditation of him shall be sweet,.... Of the glories, excellencies, and perfections of his person; of his offices, as Mediator, King, Priest, and Prophet, the Saviour and Redeemer; of his works of creation, providence, and redemption; of his word, the blessed truths and comfortable doctrines of it; of his providential dispensations, and gracious dealings with his people in the present state; which to meditate upon, when grace is in exercise, is very sweet, delightful, and comfortable. The Targum renders it as a petition, "let my meditation be sweet before him;'' that is, grateful and acceptable to him: or, as the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions, "let my speech", discourse, colloquy, address in prayer; see Psa 141:2, or, "let my praise", so the Arabic and Syriac versions: the spiritual sacrifices both of prayer and praise are acceptable to God through Christ; and the speech of the church, and every believer, whether in the one way or the other, is sweet to Christ, very pleasant and delightful to him, Sol 2:14. I will be glad in the Lord: the Targum is, "in the Word of the Lord;'' in the essential Word, the Lord Jesus Christ; in his person, the greatness, glory, beauty, and fulness of it; in his righteousness, its purity, perfection, and perpetuity; in his salvation, being so suitable, complete, and glorious.

Thus then, being before instructed and taught, they [the people of Israel] learned not to do service to any one but the Lord. They began to know how long the shadow would last and not to forget the time that was at hand, in which no longer should the bullock of the herd be a sacrifice to God, or the ram of the flock or the he-goat, but all these things should be fulfilled in a purely spiritual manner and by constant prayer and upright conversation, with godly words; as David sings, “May my meditation be pleasing to him. Let my prayer be set forth before you as incense, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.” The Spirit also, who is in him, commands, saying, “Offer to God the sacrifice of praise, and pay to the Lord your vows. Offer the sacrifice of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord.”

Prayer is a great good: someone conversing with a virtuous person gains no little advantage from the experience, so how much good will the one communing with God be granted? Prayer, after all, is conversing with God. For proof of this, listen to the words of the inspired author: “Let my meditation be pleasing to God,” that is, may my words seem acceptable to God. I mean, he is able to offer help before we ask for it, isn’t he? Still, he wants so as to take occasion from us for daily bestowing on us providential care from himself. Accordingly, whether we have our requests granted or not, let us persist in asking, and render thanks not only when we gain what we ask but also when we do not. Failure to gain, you see, when that is what God wants, is not worse than succeeding; we do not know what is to our advantage in this regard in the way he does understand. The result is, then, that succeeding or failing we ought to give thanks.

"Let my discourse be pleasing to Him: my joy shall be in the Lord" [Psalm 104:34]. What is the discourse of man unto God, save the confession of sins? Confess unto God what you are, and you have discoursed with Him. Discourse unto Him, do good works, and discourse. "Wash you, make you clean," says Isaiah. [Isaiah 1:16] What is it to discourse unto God? Unfold yourself to him who knows you, that He may unfold Himself to you who know not Him. Behold, it is your discourse that pleases the Lord; the offering of your humility, the tribulation of your heart, the holocaust of your life, this pleases God. But what is pleasing to yourself? "My joy shall be in the Lord." This is that discoursing which I meant between God and yourself: show yourself to Him who knows you, and He shows Himself unto you who know not him. Pleasing unto Him is your confession: sweet unto you is His grace. He has spoken Himself unto you. How? By the Word. What Word? Christ....

After an exhortation to praise God, addressed especially to the chosen people, the writer presents the special reason for praise, in a summary of their history from the calling of Abraham to their settlement in Canaan, and reminds them that their obedience was the end of all God's gracious dealings. (Psa. 105:1-45) call . . . name-- (Psa 79:6; Rom 10:13). Call on Him, according to His historically manifested glory. After the example of Abraham, who, as often as God acquired for Himself a name in guiding him, called in solemn worship upon the name of the Lord (Gen 12:8; Gen 13:4). among the people--or, "peoples" (Psa 18:49). deeds--or, "wonders" (Psa 103:7).