Psa 104:19-24 | KingComments | STEP | God also made a unique time arrangement ( ). Here we are reminded of the fourth day of creation ( ). This clock of God is never ahead and never behind, but always on time. Man can set his clock to it. Nor can he change it. It is wisdom if, as far as possible, he adapts to it. The 24-hour economy breaks with this regularity, resulting in much disruption of family life and social life. The moon was made by God “for the seasons”. Because of this, He made the months as units of time. These seasons God has also given to His people in regard to the various feast days or feast times He wants them to keep for Him ( ). The word for “seasons” is translated “appointed times” in Leviticus 23. This refers to the times when the LORD wanted to meet with His people. Some of the feasts of the LORD are determined by the moon: the Passover and the Feast of Booths when it is full moon, and the Feast of the blowing of trumpets when it is new moon. “The sun” is represented as a celestial body that “knows the place of its setting”. It is always obedient to God’s command to do so. It never sets before its time. Man knows that he can rely on the sun. So do the other creatures rely on the sun, especially the nocturnal animals, for they can emerge when the sun sets. Everything serves the good of man and beast. The psalmist again addresses God directly when he speaks of darkness and night ( ). God “appoints darkness and it becomes night”. Darkness comes and night falls as a result of an act of God. Then life does not cease, but the nocturnal animals begin to live. “All the beasts of the forest prowl about” in search of food. “The young lions” make themselves heard ( ). They “roar after prey and seek their food from God”. God gives it to them (cf. ; ). In this they are examples to countless people who devour food without any thought of God. The believer will ask God for food and thank Him for the food He gives ( ; ). This again shows that the LORD is the Sustainer of His creatures. The issue here is not the LORD as Creator, but as Sustainer. When He had created heaven and earth there were no predators and prey, the animals lived in harmony with each other. We are talking about the period after the Fall. The night ends when “the sun rises” ( ). It becomes light and the darkness is dispelled. A new situation arises. The nocturnal animals know that their time to provide themselves with food is over. It is time to go to sleep. They “withdraw and lie down in their dens”. There they are until the sun sets again. At the rising of the sun, it is time for man to wake up, get up, and go “forth to his work” ( ). Arriving at his workplace, he begins “his labor”. With this he is busy “until the evening”. He finds full satisfaction in his service work, which he can do with all his creativity and skill.

‏ Psalms 104:19-24

God Regulates the Rhythm of Day and Night

God also made a unique time arrangement (Psa 104:19). Here we are reminded of the fourth day of creation (Gen 1:14-19). This clock of God is never ahead and never behind, but always on time. Man can set his clock to it. Nor can he change it. It is wisdom if, as far as possible, he adapts to it. The 24-hour economy breaks with this regularity, resulting in much disruption of family life and social life.

The moon was made by God “for the seasons”. Because of this, He made the months as units of time. These seasons God has also given to His people in regard to the various feast days or feast times He wants them to keep for Him (Lev 23:2 ; 4). The word for “seasons” is translated “appointed times” in Leviticus 23. This refers to the times when the LORD wanted to meet with His people. Some of the feasts of the LORD are determined by the moon: the Passover and the Feast of Booths when it is full moon, and the Feast of the blowing of trumpets when it is new moon.

“The sun” is represented as a celestial body that “knows the place of its setting”. It is always obedient to God’s command to do so. It never sets before its time. Man knows that he can rely on the sun. So do the other creatures rely on the sun, especially the nocturnal animals, for they can emerge when the sun sets. Everything serves the good of man and beast.

The psalmist again addresses God directly when he speaks of darkness and night (Psa 104:20). God “appoints darkness and it becomes night”. Darkness comes and night falls as a result of an act of God. Then life does not cease, but the nocturnal animals begin to live. “All the beasts of the forest prowl about” in search of food.

“The young lions” make themselves heard (Psa 104:21). They “roar after prey and seek their food from God”. God gives it to them (cf. Job 38:39-40; Psa 147:9). In this they are examples to countless people who devour food without any thought of God. The believer will ask God for food and thank Him for the food He gives (Mt 6:11; 1Tim 4:4-5). This again shows that the LORD is the Sustainer of His creatures. The issue here is not the LORD as Creator, but as Sustainer. When He had created heaven and earth there were no predators and prey, the animals lived in harmony with each other. We are talking about the period after the Fall.

The night ends when “the sun rises” (Psa 104:22). It becomes light and the darkness is dispelled. A new situation arises. The nocturnal animals know that their time to provide themselves with food is over. It is time to go to sleep. They “withdraw and lie down in their dens”. There they are until the sun sets again.

At the rising of the sun, it is time for man to wake up, get up, and go “forth to his work” (Psa 104:23). Arriving at his workplace, he begins “his labor”. With this he is busy “until the evening”. He finds full satisfaction in his service work, which he can do with all his creativity and skill.

God Made All His Works in Wisdom

All previous structures were created by God with precision. Everything interlocks like the wheels of a clockwork. He has given everything in creation a fixed place and time and takes care of both life and inanimate matter. The whole cycle of time and life comes from Him and He sustains it. We cannot help but exclaim in admiration with the psalmist: “O LORD, how many are Your works!” (Psa 104:24).

The psalmist again speaks directly to God. He says to Him that in all His works His wisdom is evident. “In wisdom” He has “made them all”. Wherever we look on earth or in the deepest seas, we see His possessions everywhere. When we look at creation with a telescope, with a microscope or even an electron microscope, we see His wisdom and His possessions. The earth is full of it, both by day and by night. It is all His, it is His possession. What a poor, blind, fool man is who believes that the earth and life on it came into being ‘by chance’ and developed through evolution.

Then the psalmist looks at the sea (Psa 104:25). What he sees overwhelms him. He sees how “great and broad” the sea is. The sea is full of life. There are “swarms” living in it. Their number is so great that they cannot be counted. Nor are they all equal in size, for there are “beasts both small and great”. God has also provided great variety in the life in the sea. Here we recognize the fifth day of creation (Gen 1:20-23).

On the sea “ships move along” (Psa 104:26). This is also striking when the psalmist looks at the sea. The sea carries the ships. It is a wondrous sight. The ships cross the great, wide expanse of the sea to areas that are otherwise inaccessible. God has made it possible for man to navigate the sea.

Another thing that stands out about the sea is that it is a playing area for a special sea creature, the “Leviathan”, which God has “formed to sport in it”. From the description of this beast in the book of Job, it is clear that it is an indomitable giant, like a dinosaur, which man is incapable of subduing (see commentary on Job 41). But God deals with him with ‘playful ease’. He shows him the space where he can move. Beyond that he cannot go. He is completely in the power of God.

All life on earth depends on God. The beasts know this instinctively. “They”, the psalmist says to God, “all wait for You, to give them their food in due season” (Psa 104:27). With this we can connect the sixth day of creation, which is not only about the creation of the beasts and man, but also about the provision of food for man and beasts (Gen 1:29-30).

They have no food sources of their own. God has to give it to them. Even if they can stockpile, it is because God gives it to them. When God gives it, they go out and gather it (Psa 104:28; cf. Exo 16:4; Rth 2:8). They receive food from His opened hand. To open the hand means to give (Deu 15:8 ; 11). Thus “they are satisfied with good”. When God opens His hand to give, He gives with a generous hand. He also always gives the good, and so much, that the recipient is satiated with it.

It may also be that God hides His face (Psa 104:29). This is a terrible thing, causing such a great terror that it “dismays” them. Even worse is when He “takes away their spirit [or: breath]”. Then “they expire and return to their dust”. Life and death are in the hand of God. Everything depends on Him. All life ends when He withdraws Himself.