Psalms 104

1My whole inner being — honor and declare the greatness of the LORD! O LORD my God — you are very great! God is dressed and wrapped in honor and overwhelming splendor!

2God wraps God's own self in light like a robe! God stretched out the sky above us like someone unrolling a curtain!

3God built the beams of God's own home up in the waters of heaven! God uses clouds as God's own royal chariot! God rides on the wings of the wind — moving swiftly on the wind's power!

4God makes God's angels spirit-beings — invisible and swift like wind. God makes God's servants burn and move like a roaring flame of fire.

5God set the earth on its foundations — locked it in place — so it can never be shaken out of position. It will not move. Ever.

6At creation God covered the whole earth with the deep ocean — wrapped it like a robe. The waters stood higher than the mountains!

7But when God gave the waters a direct command — the waters ran away! When God's voice of thunder spoke — the waters rushed away fast!

8The waters flowed up over the mountains and down through the valleys — flowing to the exact place God had built and set aside for them.

9God drew a fixed line — a boundary the waters can never cross. God said: you will not come back and cover the earth again. And the waters obey.

10God sends freshwater springs bursting out into the valleys. Those springs run freely between and around the hills.

11Those springs give drinking water to every wild animal in the field. Even the wild donkeys find water there and satisfy their thirst.

12Along those streams the birds of the sky make their homes. The birds sit and sing among the branches near the water.

13God waters the hills directly from God's own heavenly home above. The whole earth is completely full — satisfied in every way — from what God's hands have made and done.

14God makes the grass grow for the cattle to eat. God makes plants grow for the people to use. God causes food to come up out of the ground for everyone.

15God gives wine that makes people's hearts jump with joy! God gives oil that makes people's faces shine and glow with health! God gives bread that holds up and sustains people's hearts with strength!

16The great trees that belong to the LORD are overflowing with life — full to bursting! The great cedar trees of Lebanon — which God planted with God's own hand!

17There the birds build their nests; the stork’s home is in the fir trees.

18God made the high mountains as a safe hiding place for wild goats. God made the rocks as a shelter and safe place for the small rock badgers.

19God set the moon in its place with purpose — to mark the seasons and times. The sun knows exactly when to go down — it follows God's schedule.

20God makes the darkness come — and it is night. That is when all the wild animals of the forest come out and creep around to hunt.

21The young lions roar loudly while they hunt their prey. Even the lions are looking to God for their food — God provides even for them.

22When the sun rises — the wild animals gather themselves back together and go lie down in their dens to rest.

23Then people go out to do their work — and they keep working and laboring all the way until evening.

24O LORD — how many and how varied are all the things God has made! God made every single one of them with wisdom! The whole earth is completely full of what belongs to God — God's possessions are everywhere!

25Look at the great wide ocean — enormous beyond counting! It is packed full of creatures without number — small ones and great ones — crawling and swimming everywhere.

26Ships sail across that ocean. And there is the great sea monster Leviathan — the enormous creature God made — playing and frolicking in the deep waters! God made it to play in God's own ocean!

27Every one of these creatures waits on God and looks to God with expectation. They all depend on God to give them their food at exactly the right time.

28What God gives — they gather up and eat. When God opens God's hand — every creature is filled up with good things poured out!

29But when God hides God's face from them — they are thrown into sudden terror and panic. When God takes away their breath — they die. And they return to the dust they came from.

30When God sends out God's own Spirit-breath — new life is created! And God makes the face of the whole earth new and fresh again.

31The magnificent glory of the LORD will last forever and ever! And the LORD takes deep joy and delight in everything God has made!

32God just looks at the earth — and the whole earth shakes and trembles! God just touches the mountains — and they smoke like volcanoes!

33I will sing to the Lord for the rest of my life. I will sing praises to my God as long as I live.

34May my meditation be pleasing to the Lord; I will rejoice in the Lord.

35May sinners be destroyed from the earth; may the wicked be no more. Praise the LORD, my soul! Praise the LORD!