21 The young lions are roaring for prey, And to seek from God their food. 22 The sun riseth, they are gathered, And in their dens they crouch. 23 Man goeth forth to his work, And to his service—till evening. 24 How many have been Thy works, O Jehovah, All of them in wisdom Thou hast made, Full is the earth of thy possessions. 25 This, the sea, great and broad of sides, There 'are' moving things—innumerable, Living creatures—small with great. 26 There do ships go: leviathan, That Thou hast formed to play in it. 27 All of them unto Thee do look, To give their food in its season. 28 Thou dost give to them—they gather, Thou dost open Thy hand—they 'are' satisfied 'with' good. 29 Thou hidest Thy face—they are troubled, Thou gatherest their spirit—they expire, And unto their dust they turn back.
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.