Psalm 104:24-25

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 104:1-35

God's love for living creatures. This psalm celebrates and proves it. For, see— I. HE HAS PLACED THEM EVERYWHERE . The sea, the air, the land, all teem with it, as this psalm tells. And the lower life points to the higher, and proclaims that when God's will is done, that, too, shall fill earth and heaven. II. HE HAS ABUNDANTLY PROVIDED FOR THEM . Food, habitation, refuge ( Psalms 104:16-18 ). And Christ came, that we might have life, and have it more... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 104:24

O Lord, how manifold are thy works! This is a parenthetic ejaculation, from which the psalmist cannot refrain, as he contemplates creation so far. It breaks the continuity of his description ( Psalms 104:2-32 ), but not unpleasingly. In wisdom hast thou made them all (comp. Proverbs 3:19 , "The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens"). (On the "wisdom" of God, as shown in creation, see the whole series of 'Bridgewater Treatises.') ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 104:24

Poet thoughts concerning the Greater. This psalm has been called a poetic version of Genesis 1:1-31 , "a panorama of the universe viewed by the eye of devotion." It is connected with Psalms 103:1-22 ; which reviews God's dealings in the realm of grace. That psalm comes first, because only through our personal knowledge of God do we gain the true understanding of the God of nature. From nature alone man gains ideas of power, and even of malice; so he makes many gods, and they are... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 104:24

The manifoldness of God's works. What profusion, what variety, there is in God's works! How inexhaustible must be the Divine ideas! "When trees blossom, there is not a single breast pin, but a whole bosom full of gems. The leaves have so many suits, that they can throw them away to the winds all summer long. What unnumbered cathedrals has he reared in the forest shades, vast and grand, full of curious carvings, and haunted evermore by tremulous music! and in the heavens above how do stars... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 104:25

So is this great and wide sea; rather, yonder sea too (is thy work), so great and wide stretching. Wherein are things creeping (rather, moving things ) innumerable . The abundant life of the sea, even in its depths, is the admiration of all naturalists. Tens of thousands of microscopic shells have been brought to light by the dredger's labours almost everywhere. Both small and great beasts. Microscopic shellfish on the one hand; seals, walruses, sharks, whales, on the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 104:25-26

The psalm of creation: the fifth day. The corresponding verses to these are in Genesis 1:20-23 , and they tell of the creation of the inhabitants of the sea and of the air—the fish who, by means of fins, navigate the sea; and the birds who, by means of wings, navigate the air. But as it is in this psalm, so it is in Genesis—the creation of the terrestrial forms of animal life follow on that of the other forms, all of which are to be crowned by God's highest work, the creation of man,... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 104:24

O Lord, how manifold are thy works! - literally, “how many.” The reference is to the “number” and the “variety” of the works of God, and to the wisdom displayed in them all. The earth is not suited up merely for one class of inhabitants, but for an almost endless variety; and the wisdom of God is manifested alike in the number and in the variety. No one can estimate the “number” of beings God has made on the earth; no one can comprehend the richness of the variety. By day the air, the earth,... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 104:25

So is this great and wide sea ... - Our translation here does not quite express the beauty and the force of the original; “This sea! Great and broad of hands! There is the creeping thing - and there is no number; animals - the little with the great.” The reference here is, undoubtedly to the Mediterranean Sea, which not improbably was in sight when the psalm was composed - as it is in sight not only along the coast, but from many of the elevations in Palestine. The phrase “wide of hands”... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Psalms 104:24-26

Psalms 104:24-26. O Lord, how manifold are thy works How numerous, how various! Of how many kinds, and how many of every kind. Thus, “transported with a survey of the wonders which present themselves in heaven above, and on earth below, the psalmist breaks forth into an exclamation, on the variety and magnificence, the harmony and proportion, of the works of God, in this outward, and visible, and perishable world. What then are the miracles of grace and glory? What are those invisible and... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Psalms 104:1-35

Psalms 104:0 God’s earthThe theme of this song of praise is the wisdom and power of God as seen in nature. The song begins by considering the splendour of the heavens. The light of the sun, the expanse of sky reaching down to meet the earth on the horizon, the movement of clouds blown by the wind, the flashes of lightning - all these things speak of the magnificence of God who dwells in and rules over the universe (1-4).Land and sea also display the greatness of God. He determined where they... read more

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