Psalm 104:1-4 "Everything I am will praise and bless the Lord! O Lord, my God, your greatness takes my breath away, overwhelming me by your majesty, beauty, and splendor! You wrap yourself with a shimmering, glistening light. You wear sunshine like a garment of glory. You stretch out the starry skies like a tapestry. You build your balconies with light beams and ride as King in a chariot you made from clouds. You fly upon the wings of the wind. You make your messengers into winds of the Spirit, and all your ministers become flames of fire.” This week we will explore this Psalm in more detail. Today's episode talks about the first four verses. It talks about God's majesty and various places this majesty shows up. I talk about praising the Lord with our whole being. I talk about a few wonderful things I have seen that just took my breath away. I also touch on how it says God wraps himself in light which reminds us that God is light and He can bring light into our darkness. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Psalm 104 The Lord’s Majesty (Part 1)
Psalm 104:1-4 "Everything I am will praise and bless the Lord! O Lord, my God, your greatness takes my breath away overwhelming me by your majesty, beauty, and splendor! You wrap yourself with a shimmering, glistening light. You wear sunshine like a garment of glory. You stretch out the starry skies like a tapestry. You build your balconies with light beams and ride as King in a chariot you made from clouds. You fly upon the wings of the wind. You make your messengers into winds of the Spirit, and all your ministers become flames of fire.”
For the next few days, we are going to look at Psalm 104. Someone mentioned it at prayer group last week, and it is a beautiful Psalm that shows us how majestic the Lord is and all the amazing things He does in the world. Nature can be such a powerful place to see God’s work. Sometimes, He shows off in incredible ways, and this week, we are going to take a look at some of those ways. I pray that by examining this Psalm and the ways the Lord shows off for us in Nature, we will begin to notice the Lord more in all the amazing things we see around us.
Today’s verse starts off by saying, “Everything I am will praise and bless the Lord! Is this how we are praising the Lord? With everything that we have? For me, I would say yes and no. There are definitely some songs that I sing, and when I am singing those songs, I sing with everything I am. I pour my heart and soul into singing that song. The reason for this is because I resonate with the words of the song. Whatever it is about certain songs, I sing them with my whole being. I love music, and I love songs like that.
How about you? Is it music for you, too, or is it something else that helps you praise the Lord with your whole being? Maybe it is nature. When you see an amazing sunset or you watch the wildlife, you become overcome with praise for the Lord. Or, maybe it is your family. Whenever you spend time with them, you are overcome with gratitude for the Lord. It seems David often became overcome with Gratitude for the Lord. It seems like King David understood how amazing the Lord is and praised Him with His whole being.
Next, it says, “O Lord, my God, your greatness takes my breath away, overwhelming me with your majesty, beauty, and splendor! Has this ever happened to you? The Lord has done something in your life, taking your breath away. It has definitely happened to me. There have been many moments in my life when my breath was taken away. When I got married and when I had my children, there were definitely times when the Lord took my breath away. I couldn’t imagine how lucky I was for the Lord to have blessed me with a husband who loved me so much and three handsome, healthy boys.
Looking at God’s majesty, beauty, and splendor over my lifetime has been amazing, too! I am lucky enough to have seen not only many parts of the United States but many other countries as well. There have been so many wonderful things that we have gotten to see. One time, when we visited Scotland, we got to take a boat trip out and see The Corryvreckan Whirlpool, which is situated off the west coast of Scotland between the islands of Jura and Scarba. It is one of the largest permanent whirlpools on earth and one of the most dangerous stretches of water around the British Isles.
I also lived in Turkey and visited many beautiful places there, especially Cappadocia. Cappadocia is known for its surreal landscape, sculpted over millennia by volcanic eruptions and erosion, and is a spectacle unlike any other. Towering rock formations, whimsically dubbed “fairy chimneys," dominate the horizon, creating an otherworldly atmosphere that captivates visitors. Other notable sites include Bronze Age homes carved into valley walls by troglodytes (cave dwellers) and later used as refuges by early Christians. The 100m-deep Ihlara Canyon houses and numerous rock-face churches. It was breathtaking.
Next, the verse says, “You wrap yourself with a shimmering, glistening light. You wear sunshine like a garment of glory. You stretch out the starry skies like a tapestry.” I like this part of the verse because it reminds us that God is light. No matter what type of darkness you are going through, God’s light can shine through it. The verse says that God wraps himself in shimmering, glistening light and that He wears sunshine like a garment of Glory. Sunshine is pretty bright, wouldn’t you agree? When the sun comes up, it chases away all the dark of the night. God does the same in our lives. When we let the sunlight in, when we agree to have God work in our lives, His light comes in and chases away the darkness.
I love how this verse also says, You stretch out the starry skies like a tapestry. To me, this reminds us that even when we are in the dark of night, there is still some light. God gave us the stars in the sky. This means even when we are going through a dark time, there are still some places of bright light in all that darkness. Just like the stars are a bright light in the dark of night. Have you seen this in your life? You have been in a deep darkness, and yet there were still a few bright lights here and there that kept the darkness from overtaking you. Were there a few stars that shined a light into your darkness?
Lastly, the verse says, "You build your balconies with light beams and ride as King in a chariot you made from clouds. You fly upon the wings of the wind. You make your messengers into winds of the Spirit, and all your ministers become flames of fire.” Honestly, I wasn’t sure what this last part meant. When I looked it up, it says that this part is to demonstrate God’s majestic authority. The verse says He builds His balconies with light beams and rides as King in a chariot made from the clouds. This is something only He can do.
The next line says, “ You make your messengers into winds of the Spirit, and all your ministers become flames of fire.” Again, I was not sure what this meant. However, when I looked it up, I was fascinated to learn that Hebrews 1:7 says, “Of the angels, he says: “He makes his angels wind and his ministers a fiery flame.” This last part of the verse shows us that the Lord has angels, and He can use them to carry out His missions. Whether He needs winds of the Spirit or flames of fire, the angels are there eagerly waiting to carry out His plan. Isn’t that amazing?
You will continue to see as this week goes on how amazing our Lord is! I look forward to spending this week reviewing Psalm 104 with you in more detail and looking at various ways the Lord shows off His glory to us. The Lord is amazing, and sometimes, we get so bogged down with the pressure and troubles of life that we forget to appreciate how awe-inspiring God really is!
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode. Lord, please help us to notice your beauty and majesty in this world. Often, all we can see are the problems of our world. Help us to focus on your creations in the world instead of our mistakes and those around us. Help us to see how incredible you are and help us to gain back the awe we once had as children. If we never had an awe Lord, help us to learn how to live in awe of you. We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. It’s not too late to participate in this month’s mentoring theme, surrendering to the Lord. Also, if you liked this episode, please share it with your friends and write a review. I look forward to seeing you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day!
Today’s Word from the Lord was received in February 2024 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “Be doers and promoters of my word. The more that you promote, the more you will draw others to me, my children. I count on you to be innovative in drawing others to me. You can do it. I am with you.”