How Many Are Your Works
104 1 Bless our Father, my soul. My Father, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty.
2 He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a canopy. 3 He lays the beams of his upper rooms on the waters; he makes the clouds his chariot; he walks on the wings of the wind. 4 He makes the winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants. a a v4 The book of Hebrews quotes this line to show that our Father makes even wind and fire his servants — while the Son reigns as ruler, not servant.
5 He set the earth on its foundations, so that it can never be moved. 6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. 7 At your rebuke they fled; at the sound of your thunder they rushed away. 8 The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them. 9 You set a boundary they cannot cross, so that they will never again cover the earth.
10 You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills. 11 They give drink to every wild animal; the wild donkeys quench their thirst. 12 Beside them the birds of the sky make their home; they sing among the branches. 13 He waters the mountains from his upper rooms; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work. 14 He makes grass grow for the livestock, and plants for people to cultivate, bringing forth food from the earth, 15 and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread to strengthen the human heart. 16 The trees of our Father are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. 17 In them the birds build their nests; the stork has her home in the fir trees. 18 The high mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.
19 He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting. 20 You make darkness, and it is night, when all the animals of the forest creep about. 21 The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from our Father. 22 When the sun rises, they steal away and lie down in their dens. 23 People go out to their work and to their labor until the evening.
24 How many are your works, our Father! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. 25 Here is the sea, great and wide, teeming with creatures beyond number, living things both small and great. 26 There the ships sail back and forth, and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it. b b v26 Leviathan: a fearsome sea monster in ancient Hebrew tradition, here pictured as God's own creature frolicking in the ocean.
27 These all look to you to give them their food at the right time. 28 When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. 29 When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. 30 When you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.
31 May the glory of our Father endure forever; may our Father rejoice in his works, 32 He looks on the earth and it trembles; he touches the mountains and they smoke.
33 I will sing to our Father as long as I live; I will sing praise to our Father while I draw breath. 34 May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in our Father. 35 Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless our Father, my soul. Hallelujah!