Commentary - Psalm 104:24-26

Bird's-eye view

After soaring through a majestic survey of God's creative work, from the heavens to the earth, from the waters above to the waters below, the psalmist comes to a crescendo of praise. This section, verses 24 through 26, is an explicit declaration of what the preceding verses have been demonstrating. It is a moment of awestruck reflection on the sheer variety, wisdom, and joyful exuberance of God's creation. The psalmist turns from describing the works of God to addressing God directly about those works. He marvels at the intellectual brilliance behind the cosmos, the staggering number of creatures, and then focuses on the great sea, a place of mystery and teeming life. This section is not just about the what of creation, but the who behind it and the how of His work, which is always in wisdom. It culminates in a picture of God's creation that is not merely functional, but is also filled with play and delight, exemplified by the great Leviathan whom God made to sport in the sea. This is a direct refutation of any deistic notion of a distant, detached clockmaker God. The God of Psalm 104 is intimately, joyfully, and wisely involved in every corner of His world.

Outline

Clause by Clause Commentary

Verse 24

24 How numerous are Your works, O Yahweh! In wisdom You have made them all; The earth is full of Your possessions.

How numerous are Your works, O Yahweh! The psalmist is not asking a question because he is ignorant of the answer. This is a rhetorical question, an exclamation of wonder. He has been listing creation's glories, and now he has to stop and just marvel. Look around. Look at the sheer, unbridled multiplicity of things. God doesn't do minimalism. He doesn't create one kind of bird, but thousands. He doesn't make one kind of fish, but a staggering variety. This is the opposite of a sterile, utilitarian universe. This is the artistry of a God who delights in abundance. The modern evolutionary narrative tries to account for this variety through random chance and millennia of accidents, but in doing so, they are engaged in a flight from glory. They see the works, but refuse to see the Worker. The psalmist knows better. He addresses the Worker directly: "Your works, O Yahweh!"

In wisdom You have made them all; This is the crucial, central claim. The multiplicity is not chaos. It is not random. There is a deep, underlying intelligence to it all. Every creature, from the smallest insect to the largest whale, is fearfully and wonderfully made. The ecosystem they inhabit is a complex, interwoven tapestry. This is not the product of a blind process, but of divine sophia, of wisdom. God knew what He was doing. He doesn't know the position of every electron because He "finds it out;" He knows it because He put it there. The universe is a product of mind, not matter. And because it is a product of the divine mind, it is intelligible. This is the foundation for all true science. We can study the world because it was made with a logic we can, in our small way as image-bearers, begin to comprehend. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and it is also the beginning of knowledge.

The earth is full of Your possessions. The word here can be translated as riches, or creatures, or possessions. The point is ownership. God made it all, and so it all belongs to Him. Every square inch of the planet, every creature that crawls or flies or swims, is His property. This is a direct assault on the autonomy of man. We are tenants, not landlords. We are stewards, not owners. When we look at the resources of the earth, we are not looking at a buffet for our own greedy consumption, but at the storeroom of a great King. This truth has massive implications for how we view everything from environmentalism to economics. The earth is not ours to plunder; it is His to manage, and He has given us the task of doing so under His authority.

Verse 25

25 This is the sea, great and broad, There the creeping things are without number, Creatures both small and great.

This is the sea, great and broad, The psalmist turns his gaze from the land to the ocean. For the ancient Hebrews, the sea was a place of mystery, power, and often, chaos. It was vast and untamable. But here, it is simply another part of God's well-ordered creation. It is "great and broad," its size a testimony to the even greater majesty of its Creator. God sets the boundaries for this mighty sea, telling it where its proud waves must stop. He is not intimidated by it; He made it.

There the creeping things are without number, Just as the land teems with life, so does the sea. "Without number." Again, we see the theme of God's lavish abundance. He fills every possible ecological niche. The depths are not empty; they are swarming with life. These are not just "things," but creatures God has formed. The Hebrew word for creeping things is a general term for all the teeming life that moves in the water. God's creative energy is not limited to what we can easily see and categorize.

Creatures both small and great. The variety is not just in kind, but in scale. From microscopic plankton to the great whales, God made them all. He is the God of the sardine and the shark. He is concerned with the intricate design of the smallest crustacean and the immense power of the largest mammal. This detail should humble us. We tend to be impressed only by the big and the dramatic, but God's wisdom is displayed just as profoundly in the small and the overlooked.

Verse 26

26 There the ships move along, And Leviathan, which You have formed to play in it.

There the ships move along, This is a fascinating detail. In the midst of this catalog of natural wonders, man's artifice appears. Ships. This is a nod to man's dominion. God made this great sea, and He made it in such a way that man, made in His image, could learn to navigate it, to conduct business upon it, to explore it. The sea is not just for the fish; it is also for us. This is a picture of a world made for man to inhabit and cultivate. It is not a pristine wilderness to be cordoned off, but a domain to be wisely ruled.

And Leviathan, which You have formed to play in it. And here we have the climax of this section. Leviathan. Whether this refers to a whale, a great sea creature now extinct, or has mythological overtones representing the chaos of the deep, the point is the same. This immense, powerful, terrifying creature is presented here as God's pet. God formed him. He is a created thing, subject to his Creator. And what is his purpose? What is this mighty beast's chief end? To play. God made this colossal creature to horse around in the ocean. This is pure, unadulterated divine delight. God is not a cosmic utilitarian. He creates for joy. He creates for sport. He wants enormous creatures to fool around. When a whale breaches, coming out of the water and splashing down, God did that so it would be fun. This is a truth that should shatter all our grim, gray, and merely functional views of God. Our God is a God of joy, a God of play, a God who delights in His creation, and we are called to delight in it with Him.

Application

The first thing we must take from this is a right sense of wonder. We live in an age that has been disenchanted. We are told the world is a cosmic accident, a collection of particles governed by impersonal laws. This psalm is a direct antidote to that poison. We are to look at the world and see the handiwork of a wise, powerful, and joyful God. This should lead us to worship. When we see the sheer number of God's works, we should praise Him for His infinite creativity.

Second, we must recognize God's ownership of all things. The earth is full of His possessions. This means we are not our own, and the world is not ours to do with as we please. We are stewards, and we will give an account for how we have managed His property. This applies to our personal lives, our families, our churches, and our societies. Are we treating the world as though it belongs to God?

Finally, we must learn the theology of play. God made Leviathan to play. This is a profound truth. It means that joy, delight, and fun are not frivolous distractions from the "serious" business of life. They are part of the fabric of God's good creation. God rejoices in His works, and He has made us to rejoice as well. The gospel is the ultimate expression of this. Christ came to restore us to a right relationship with this joyful Creator. Through His death and resurrection, He has defeated the true Leviathan, that ancient serpent, and has brought us into the joyful freedom of the children of God. Therefore, we are to live in this world with a deep and abiding joy, seeing the glory of God in everything from a blade of grass to a breaching whale, and giving Him thanks for it all.