The End of the Matter: Doxology and Justice Text: Psalm 104:31-35
Introduction: The Point of It All
We have come to the end of a magnificent psalm, a grand tour of God's creative genius. The psalmist has taken us from the heavens, stretched out like a tent, to the foundations of the earth, from the waters above to the waters below. We have seen God's care for the lions and the leviathans, the trees and the wild donkeys. This is not a detached, sterile catalog of biological specimens. It is a symphony of praise, a declaration that the world is shot through with the glory of God because it is the handiwork of God. It is personal, it is intricate, and it is very, very good.
But a symphony must have a finale, a crescendo that brings all the themes together and resolves them. That is what these final verses do. They move from observing God's work to declaring the purpose of God's work. And what is that purpose? It is the glory of God and the gladness of God. And flowing directly from that, it is the gladness of God's people in God, and the removal of all that stands against that gladness. Our modern, sentimental age has a difficult time holding these last two things together. We want a God who is glad in His works, and we want to be glad in Him, but we choke on the final demand of the psalm, that sinners be consumed from the earth. We want a doxology without damnation.
But the psalmist, inspired by the Holy Spirit, understands that these are not in conflict. Rather, they are two sides of the same coin. The permanent establishment of God's glory and joy necessitates the final removal of sin and rebellion. You cannot have a truly and eternally renewed earth while leaving the vandals and squatters in place. Justice is not the enemy of joy; it is the foundation of it. And so, as we come to the end of this great hymn to the Creator, we are confronted with the end of all things: the eternal glory of God, the responsive joy of His people, and the just removal of the wicked. This is the only possible happy ending.
The Text
Let the glory of Yahweh endure forever; Let Yahweh be glad in His works; He looks at the earth, and it trembles; He touches the mountains, and they smoke. I will sing to Yahweh throughout my life; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. Let my musing be pleasing to Him; As for me, I shall be glad in Yahweh. Let sinners be consumed from the earth And let the wicked be no more. Bless Yahweh, O my soul. Praise Yah!
(Psalm 104:31-35 LSB)
God's Everlasting Delight (v. 31-32)
The psalmist begins the conclusion with a prayer that is also a declaration of what must be.
"Let the glory of Yahweh endure forever; Let Yahweh be glad in His works;" (Psalm 104:31 LSB)
This is the ultimate purpose statement for the entire cosmos. Why does anything exist? So that the glory of Yahweh might be put on display, and that this display might endure forever. This is not a fragile glory that needs our help to prop it up. It is an objective, brilliant, and eternal reality. The prayer "Let it endure" is a prayer of alignment, where we ask for what God has already willed. We are getting our hearts in tune with reality.
And notice the second phrase, which is inextricably linked to the first. God is not a stoic, impassive deity. He is not a cosmic watchmaker who wound the thing up and walked away. He is a God who takes joy, who finds gladness, in what He has made. This is a staggering thought. The triune God, eternally content and joyful within Himself, chose to create a world that would be an object of His divine pleasure. When He looked at His creation in the beginning, He declared it "good," and this was not a mere technical assessment. It was an expression of delight. And His greatest delight is in the pinnacle of His work, the new creation in Christ. God the Father is eternally glad in the work of His Son.
But this gladness is not a soft or sentimental thing. It is backed by immense and terrifying power.
"He looks at the earth, and it trembles; He touches the mountains, and they smoke." (Psalm 104:32 LSB)
This is the same God whose works bring Him gladness. His glance makes the planet shake. His touch sets mountains on fire, a clear reference to Sinai (Ex. 19:18). This is not the God of the deists, and He is certainly not the cuddly grandfather of liberal theology. This is the Holy One of Israel, whose power is absolute and whose presence is overwhelming. The stability of the earth we stand on is entirely contingent on His permissive will. The mountains, which are our symbols of permanence and strength, are like wax before Him. This is crucial to understand. God's joy is not frivolous. His gladness is the gladness of a king whose authority is absolute. The creation rejoices before Him, but it also trembles. This is the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom. It is a reverent awe that understands both His goodness and His severity.
Man's Responsive Joy (v. 33-34)
God's glory and gladness demand a response from His creatures. The psalmist now turns to his own personal, lifelong resolution.
"I will sing to Yahweh throughout my life; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being." (Psalm 104:33 LSB)
This is the only sane response to the reality of who God is. If God is the glorious, joyful, and all-powerful Creator, then the chief purpose of man is to reflect that glory and joy back to Him in praise. Notice the totality of the commitment: "throughout my life," "while I have my being." Worship is not a segment of the Christian life, reserved for Sunday mornings. It is the Christian life. Every breath is a gift from the one who gives life, and so every breath should be oriented toward praise. This is not a burden, but a liberation. We were created to praise, and we are never more human, never more alive, than when we are doing what we were made to do.
The praise is not just external; it is internal. It is not just a matter of the lips, but of the mind and heart.
"Let my musing be pleasing to Him; As for me, I shall be glad in Yahweh." (Psalm 104:34 LSB)
The psalmist prays that his meditation, his deepest thoughts, would be sweet to God. This is a profound desire. It is one thing to sing the right words; it is another for the secret thoughts of your heart to be a fragrant offering to God. This gets to the heart of true worship. God is not interested in outward performance that masks an inward rebellion. He desires truth in the inward parts. And what is the result of this internal alignment? "As for me, I shall be glad in Yahweh."
Here is the great exchange. God is glad in His works, and the pinnacle of His works, redeemed man, becomes glad in God. Our joy is a reflection of His. We find our deepest satisfaction not in the gifts, but in the Giver. The world seeks gladness in created things, in possessions, in experiences, in self. But this is like trying to quench your thirst with saltwater. The created order is meant to point us beyond itself to the Creator. True, lasting, and durable joy is found only in Him. When our musing is pleasing to Him, our gladness will be found in Him.
The Necessary Conclusion: Justice (v. 35)
And now we come to the verse that makes moderns squirm. After this glorious crescendo of praise, the psalmist turns and prays for the destruction of the wicked.
"Let sinners be consumed from the earth And let the wicked be no more. Bless Yahweh, O my soul. Praise Yah!" (Psalm 104:35 LSB)
Is this a jarring interruption? Not at all. It is the necessary and logical conclusion. If God's glory is to endure forever, and if God's people are to be glad in Him forever, then that which opposes His glory and assaults His people must be removed. Sin is a cosmic treason. It is a marring of God's good creation. The wicked are those who look at this world, so full of God's glory and provision, and refuse to give thanks. They "regard not the works of the LORD, nor the operation of his hands" (Ps. 28:5). They are the source of all the ugliness, violence, and corruption that defaces God's world.
To pray for sinners to be consumed from the earth is to pray for the world to be put right. It is to pray for justice. It is to pray, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." In heaven, there are no sinners. There are no wicked. To pray for this is to long for the final state of affairs, the new heavens and the new earth, where righteousness dwells (2 Peter 3:13). This is not a prayer of personal vindictiveness. It is a prayer for God's name to be hallowed and for His righteousness to triumph. Of course, one way God "consumes" a sinner is by converting him. He destroys the rebel Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus and raises up the apostle Paul. That is the ultimate victory. But for those who will not bend the knee, who persist in their rebellion to the end, the justice of God requires that they be removed. Without this, there can be no final peace, no ultimate joy.
And so the psalm ends where it began, with a call to personal worship: "Bless Yahweh, O my soul." But then it adds a corporate and universal call: "Praise Yah!" This is the first time "Hallelujah" appears in the Psalter. It is a fitting conclusion. After surveying all of creation, from the grandest cosmic scale to the secret meditations of the heart, and after looking ahead to the final consummation of all things, there is only one word left to say: Hallelujah. Praise the Lord.
Conclusion: A World Set Right
Psalm 104 gives us a comprehensive worldview. It teaches us that the world is God's creation, filled with His glory, and sustained by His power. It teaches us that God takes personal delight in what He has made. It teaches us that our proper response is a life of joyful, all-encompassing worship, both internal and external.
And finally, it teaches us that our hope is not just for personal salvation, but for cosmic restoration. We long for the day when all creation is liberated from its bondage to decay (Rom. 8:21). And that liberation requires a final judgment. The presence of evil is a temporary anomaly in God's good world. The day is coming when Christ will return to judge the living and the dead, and He will cleanse His creation of all rebellion. On that day, the glory of the Lord will not just endure, it will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. On that day, God will be fully and finally glad in His renewed works. On that day, our gladness in Him will be complete. And on that day, the wicked will be no more.
Until then, our task is to live as citizens of that coming kingdom. We sing to the Lord as long as we live. We meditate on His goodness. We find our gladness in Him. And we pray with confidence for His justice to roll down like waters, and His righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. We pray for the day when every corner of creation, and every heart within it, will cry out with one voice: Hallelujah! Praise Yah!