Psalms 103 and 104 form a perfect pair. Both begin and end with a personal exhortation to bless the LORD with all of one’s soul. Together they praise God as Savior and Creator, Father and King. Old Testament scholar Derek Kidner says, “In the galaxy of the psalter these are twin stars of the first magnitude.” If the 103rd psalm emphasized the goodness of God in salvation, the 104th highlights the greatness of God in creation. Yes, we may draw near to Him as children with their father, but we are yet His creatures, accountable to God as our Maker and Ruler. The author evidently has in mind the narrative of Genesis 1 and draws his inspiration from that text. Following approximately the same order, he begins with light and ends with human beings. In the first section of the psalm, he describes with great poetic beauty how God made the heavens (v 1-4) and the earth (v 5-9). Of course, the words are intended to be understood figuratively, not literally. He is writing as a poet, not a scientist. We miss the point if we try to picture God riding on a chariot of clouds or building the earth like a house on actual, material foundations. All this is imagery. It’s meant to teach us that God is the Creator of the universe and that He has revealed Himself in it. Unlike adherents of most ancient religions and many of today’s religions, Jewish believers knew that nature is not to be worshiped. The living God is personal and distinct from His creation. Yet He is not distant from it or indifferent to it. Nature is filled with God’s energy and God’s presence. He delights in what He has made—the light, the heavens, the waters, the angels. And all that He has made testifies day and night to its Maker—a God more powerful and glorious than we can possibly comprehend (v 1-4). As the psalmist meditates on the third day of the creation week in particular, he speaks of God dividing the sea from the dry land. “You set a boundary that they may not pass,” he says, rejoicing in the fact that this world is not utterly chaotic and random, but orderly and structured. The discipline of science is possible only because of the regularity of nature and its purposeful design. A personal and intelligent Creator has filled the world with the principles of physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology, electricity, and medicine. In so many ways, our lives have been made more comfortable through scientific developments, and God should be thanked and praised for each one (v 5-9). For further meditation: