“How many are your works, O Lord!”
[Psalms 104]
We should focus on what God has done for us, rather than thinking about what we have done for Him. In other words, we must live by meditating on what God is doing for us. That is why the psalmist says in Psalms 77:12 – “I will meditate on all Your work And muse on Your deeds.” We must meditate and ponder what the Lord has done. We must meditate on the things He did to us, as well as what He did and still does in this world.
Among the many things that our God has done, God created and rules the heavens and earth and all things (Ps. 104). Our great and strong and majestic God (v. 1) is the Creator God. He made the heavens (v. 2) and set the earth on its foundations so that it can never be moved (v. 5). God the Creator made the heavens and the earth and all things, but made us all in wisdom (v. 24). Therefore, we see God's wisdom through the heavens, the earth, and all things. This Creator God is ruling on the heavens and the earth and all things. If we look at question 27 of the Heidelberg Catechism, the question “What dost thou mean by the providence of God?” comes up. The answer is, “The almighty and everywhere present power of God; whereby, as it were by his hand, he upholds and governs heaven, earth, and all creatures; so that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, yea, and all things come, not by chance, but be his fatherly hand” (Internet). In the 13th article of the Belgic Confession of Faith, we read, “We believe that the same God, after he had created all things, did not forsake them, or give them up to fortune or chance, but that he rules and governs them according to his holy will, so that nothing happens in this world without his appointment: …” (internet). In other words, God, who created the heavens, the earth and all things, is ruling everything in the heavens and the earth in His providence. God makes springs pour water into the ravines so that the wild animals and birds can drink it (vv. 10-11), and even the birds of the air can nest by the waters (v. 12). As a result, “the earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work” (v. 13). In addition, God makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate – bringing forth food from the earth (v. 14). And also, our God gives us wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread that sustains his heart (v. 15). God makes rain so that we can get the vegetables, grains, fruits, and oil we need. Those who see these groceries, conscientiously, cannot deny that they are made by the craftsmanship of the Creator (Park). God manages the moon and the sun, and is the God who controls the night and the day (vv. 19-20). Also He controls all the beasts of the forest (vv. 21-22). The God who made the sea and all the creatures below it in His wisdom (vv. 24-25) and created and governed all things, is our God who especially preserves and cares for creation, and provides the needs of all creation. When this God opens His hand and gives it to His creatures, they are satisfied with good things (v. 28). In the end, the glory of God will endure forever, and God rejoices over His works (v. 31).
Looking at the many things that the Creator God has done, what should we do? When the psalmist saw the many things God has done, he made this decision: “I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the LORD. … Praise the LORD, O my soul. Praise the LORD” (vv. 33-35). The psalmist decided to sing and praise God all his life. Praise, but rejoicing in God, dedicated to exalting God for life. Knowing the movement of God's great, wonderful, and great power, we cannot help but praise God all the days of our lives. I want to praise the hymn “How Great Thou Art”: (v. 1) “O, Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder/ consider all the worlds Thy hands have made/ I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder/ Thy power through out the universe displayed/ Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee”, (v. 2) “When through the woods and forest glades I wander/ And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees/ When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur/ And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze”, (chorus) “Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee/ How great Thou art, how great Thou art!/ Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee/ How great Thou art, how great Thou art!” The psalmist, who was determined to praise the Lord God's greatness for life, prayed to God that sinners and wicked would be destroyed from the earth and vanish from the earth (v. 35). He wanted sinners to disappear from this world. He also prayed the curse of this world to return (MacArthur). In other words, the psalmist yearned for “a new heaven and a new earth” prophesied in Revelation 21:1. I want to praise the hymn “How Great Thou Art” verse 4: “When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation/ And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!/ Then i shall bow in humble adoration/ And there proclaim, my God, how great Thou art!” He wanted to praise the Lord forever in that new heaven and new earth. Like the psalmist, we must glorify in our hearts all the worlds that the Lord God has made, and we must forever praise the greatness of the Lord in longing for the new heavens and new earth. Let’s praise forever the God who made, ruled the heavens and the earth, the God who wisely claims the heavens and the earth in the providence of God, the great and powerful omniscient, and the Almighty Creator.
As my soul sings “How great Thou art”,
James Kim
(Yearning for “a new heaven and a new earth”)