Today’s reading is Psalm 104.
We’ve seen consistently throughout Book IV of the Psalms the notion of deliverance from the captivity and judgment lamented in Book III. Possibly, Psalm 104 is just a blessed respite of praise in the middle those meditations. No doubt, the worshipers could use a break from all that focus on seriously heady topics like judgment, then struggle, then deliverance.
On the other hand, this psalm may fit right in. The psalmist is, no doubt, praising God for creating an inhabitable world. That applies to the entire world. But for the Israelites, what was their inhabitable world? Israel. Jerusalem. And what had happened to it? It had been made uninhabitable for them. They had been driven away. Now, in the middle of a book of psalms consistently seeking from God and honoring God for a restored land, we have a praise about God’s hand in the inhabitable world.
Notice specifically Psalm 104:10-13:
You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
they flow between the hills;
they give drink to every beast of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;
they sing among the branches.
From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work (ESV).
In Deuteronomy 8:7-10, God informed Israel of the land He was preparing for them to inhabit: “For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, or fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, and land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land he has given you” (ESV). Sound familiar?
Israel blessed God for creating an inhabitable earth. They also blessed God for giving them an inhabitable land. What better way to praise God for restoration to that land than a poem blessing God for a world in which He provided man and beast with water to drink and food to eat?
God provides. He has always provided a dwelling place for His people. He will provide a dwelling place for us for all eternity. Praise the Lord!
Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 104.
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PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family
How does Psalm 104 prompt or improve your trust in God?
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