"Reflection On Psalm 104"

      Psalm 104 is an eloquent and beautiful poem expressing the intimate relationship between God and His creation. Unlike our modern scientific worldview which reduces nature to its constituent parts and views it as a mechanistic phenomenon to be used and exploited by human beings, the author of Psalm 104 experienced the creation as sacred, divine, and holy. All of creation, in the poet's vision, is the handiwork of God. The poet tells us that the winds are the messengers of God and the heated brilliant flames of fire are his servants. The arrival and passing of the seasons and the dance of moon and sun follow the rhythm of the Creator. The breath of God brings people into existence; without his breath we pass from this life and return to the dust of our origin. The creation of the universe follows the eternal cadence started and maintained by the Holy One. The poet writes: "How many are the things You have made, O Lord; You have made them all with wisdom; the earth is full of your creations." There is no separation between nature and God in Psalm 104; all is bound up with the All of reality.

      The relationship between human beings, nature, and God described by the poet in Psalm 104 speaks of a delicate equilibrium. The poet realizes that the goods which human beings possess, that is, the wine they drink which brings merriment to the heart and the oil they use to beautify themselves and the bread human beings eat to sustain themselves are freely given gifts of the Creator. Humans labor, but human labor is neither separated nor detached from the workings of God. The natural world, likewise, is designed by God, sustained by God. The cedars of Lebanon are the trees of the Lord, planted by him, and cared for by him. They drink God's pristine water from the streams of the Lord. The rugged mountains are not only symbols of his awesome power but they are the home of wild goats while the stokes make their abode in the junipers. There is nothing superfluous in creation; creation is interrelated an interconnected. Human beings take part in this cosmic pageantry. They are a part of the ebb and flow of life and death, the process of living and dying which transcends the life of one solitary person.

      The poet of Psalm 104 describes the numinous presence of God in nature. In one stunning image the poet's soul proclaims: "You are clothed in majesty and glory, wrapped in a robe of light, You spread the heavens like a tent-cloth." Here the psalmist expresses the human person's encounter with God, an encounter of resplendent awe and wonder, admiration and praise. The poet encounters God in the creation and cannot help but be moved by his experience with the Creator. He seeks for words to express his deepest feelings, emotions, and intuitions. Something or someone has resonated with the psalmist on the deepest level of human existence. So moved is the psalmist that he boldly consecrates his life to God, declaring that he will sing and chant praises to God for the duration of his existence, hoping his prayer will be pleasing to God.

      Whenever I read Psalm 104, I truly understand the phrase that there is nothing new under the sun. I may be projecting back on the psalmist but I have responded to creation in much the same way as he did. I have wandered on the beaches of California and in the hills of Santa Barbara and Berkeley and have always been overwhelmed with what I have experienced. My long hikes and rides in nature have brought to life an intuitive sense of the scared apparent to all peoples of all cultures. When I leave the cloistered bubble of my technologically impervious world, I attune myself to nature's rhythms, and I become aware that there is much more to life than is considered reality in a scientific worldview. For when I am in nature, I am aware of a transcendent presence, of a mystery, of a vivifying allusion that reality is much larger and much deeper than my prejudiced Western understanding of nature is capable of comprehending or admitting. I am aware of God, without the usual shame or bias. I sense an intrinsic sacredness to life and to creation as I wander in the solitude of nature's cathedral (it is as if in creating the world God created a cathedral where he could be honored and worshipped, loved and praised).

      My experiences in nature also bring to light the gratuitous nature of my existence. All of life and everything that comes from life is a gift. My existence, my time on this earth, my time to live and love, was not the result of my choice but the result of something much larger than myself. Why was I given a chance to wander in God's green earth and breath God's good air for a few brief moments in time? I did absolutely nothing to merit my life, but here I am. I certainly didn't choose my life, as if choice is the only important aspect of human existence. When I reflect on the gratuity of human existence, I realize that it is so silly for human beings to consider themselves the autonomous masters of their destiny! As if there is not more to life than the petty whims of a volatile and fragile ego!

      I often take my life for granted but this is foolish because my life is a mysterious gift, a gift from my parents, from my grandparents, from the human race, and from God. It is a blessing to live. It is a blessing to see the sun every morning. It is a blessing to kiss my wife and to play with my nephew and nieces. Life is a gift, a gift we spurn because we are trapped in the selfish and egotistical illusions spun by a society intent on separating us from our humanity in order to turn a profit. The psalmist's words indict such attitudes and perspectives.

      Nature and human life, in the poet's vision, is an allusion to God. That which we see and that which we experience points to He who is greater and beyond us. To become cognizant of God's reality according the poet of Psalm 104 is simple; we need to integrate ourselves into the natural cycles of life. We need to see and experience reality qua reality. When we do this, our eyes will open and we will encounter God in the humility and simplicity of our lives and be moved to song and prayer because the only natural response to such an experience is song and prayer!