21 The young lions roar after their prey, And seek their food from God. 22 The sun ariseth, they get them away, And lay them down in their dens. 23 Man goeth forth unto his work And to his labor until the evening. 24 O Jehovah, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom hast thou made them all: The earth is full of thy riches. 25 Yonder is the sea, great and wide, Wherein are things creeping innumerable, Both small and great beasts. 26 There go the ships; There is leviathan, whom thou hast formed to play therein. 27 These wait all for thee, That thou mayest give them their food in due season. 28 Thou givest unto them, they gather; Thou openest thy hand, they are satisfied with good. 29 Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled; Thou takest away their breath, they die, And return to their dust.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 104:21-29
Commentary on Psalm 104:19-30
(Read Psalm 104:19-30)
We are to praise and magnify God for the constant succession of day and night. And see how those are like to the wild beasts, who wait for the twilight, and have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. Does God listen to the language of mere nature, even in ravenous creatures, and shall he not much more interpret favourably the language of grace in his own people, though weak and broken groanings which cannot be uttered? There is the work of every day, which is to be done in its day, which man must apply to every morning, and which he must continue in till evening; it will be time enough to rest when the night comes, in which no man can work. The psalmist wonders at the works of God. The works of art, the more closely they are looked upon, the more rough they appear; the works of nature appear more fine and exact. They are all made in wisdom, for they all answer the end they were designed to serve. Every spring is an emblem of the resurrection, when a new world rises, as it were, out of the ruins of the old one. But man alone lives beyond death. When the Lord takes away his breath, his soul enters on another state, and his body will be raised, either to glory or to misery. May the Lord send forth his Spirit, and new-create our souls to holiness.