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Psalm 104 Bible study: How many are your works
One Hebrew verb runs through the psalm three times: the earth is filled (104:13), the LORD's trees are well watered (104:16), and the creatures that wait for him are satisfied (104:28). And one verb for gladness does too: wine gladdens man's heart (104:15), the LORD rejoices in his works (104:31), and the psalmist rejoices in the LORD (104:34).
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“LORD, how many are your works! In wisdom, you have made them all. The earth is full of your riches.”
Try it · Did you catch it?
“Where Psalm 104:4 has "his messengers", Hebrews 1:7 has "his angels".”
Is that in Psalm 104, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
To my soul, to the LORD, about the LORD
The psalm has no title. The psalmist begins by speaking to his own soul: "Bless the LORD, my soul" (104:1) (tap Bless). In the same verse it turns and speaks to the LORD: "The LORD, my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honor and majesty" (104:1). The next verse speaks about him: "He covers himself with light as with a garment. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain" (104:2). All through the psalm it moves between the two, you and he: "You covered it with the deep as with a cloak" (104:6), "He sends springs into the valleys" (104:10), "LORD, how many are your works!" (104:24) (tap works). And it ends where it began: "Bless the LORD, my soul. Praise the LORD!" (104:35). Psalm 103 opens and closes with the same Hebrew words, and Psalm 103's notes follow them (Psalm 103:1, 103:22).
Where it leads to Jesus
Give us today our daily bread
Psalms 104:27leads toMatthew 6:11
Teaching his disciples on the mountain (Matthew 5:1-2), Jesus said, "Pray like this" (Matthew 6:9), and the prayer he gave them asks, "Give us today our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11). Speaking to the LORD of the living things he made, Psalm 104 says, "These all wait for you, that you may give them their food in due season" (Psalm 104:27), and "You give to them; they gather" (Psalm 104:28). Jesus doesn't cite Psalm 104, so setting the two side by side is a reading, resting on a shared subject, looking to God for food, and not on a shared word: the psalm's word in 104:27 is food, and Jesus' is bread. Some hear in the prayer Jesus' disciples asking the Father for the food the psalm says all these wait on God for. Others read the psalm as praise of the LORD's care for what he made, and the prayer within Jesus' own teaching to his disciples, without looking from one to the other. Neither reading makes the creatures a picture of anyone.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Psalm 104
That was a taste
The rest of Psalm 104 is waiting in Favor
- Filled, watered, satisfied
- Glad, and glad, and glad
- Psalm 104:4 in Hebrews
- Psalm 145 says it again
- 12 questions as you read
- 14 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Psalm 104 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
רוּחַruachsay ROO-akh
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "breath, wind, spirit". Strong's: "wind; by resemblance breath". The psalm has it four times, and the WEB gives it four ways: "He walks on the wings of the wind" (104:3), "He makes his messengers winds" (104:4), "You take away their breath" (104:29), and "You send out your Spirit" (104:30). In Hebrew 104:29's their breath is rucham, and 104:30's your Spirit is ruchakha: the same word, with their and with your. Psalm 18's notes follow the wings of the wind (Psalm 18:10), and Psalm 31's follow the word in "Into your hand I commend my spirit" (Psalm 31:5).
For your group
Psalm 104 Bible study questions
- 1The psalm names grass for the livestock, bread, wine and oil (104:14-15) among the things God gives. What ordinary thing in your week would you name as a gift from God, if you stopped to?
- 2"These all wait for you, that you may give them their food in due season" (104:27). What is it like for you to wait on God for something you need? What makes it hard?
- 3The psalm asks that the LORD rejoice in his works (104:31), and says, "I will rejoice in the LORD" (104:34). Where have you seen something God made this week that made you glad?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Psalm 104 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home