Praise the Lord, My Soul

Praise the Lord my Soul 

I love taking photographs of landscapes. One day I went out with a group of friends from church, who were taking photographs of a lake in the neighborhood. We watched a glorious sunrise. After that we went to different spots and were taking photos of cloud formations. I was praying that God would show me something amazing. I took many photos of the clouds and went home. When I loaded them on my computer, I slowly realized that the clouds were somehow speaking to me from this formation. Please do look at the attached photo with a verse from Psalm 104.

When I came across the first few verses of Psalm 104, again I felt the Spirit speak to me about the vision of the clouds I saw that beautiful morning. It was an amazing vision of a heavenly being robed in honor and majesty. Of how God makes the clouds his chariot, rides on the wings of the wind and flames of fire are his servants. I gaze at this photograph framed in my living room as a visual reminder of my faith in God our Father, Jesus our Savior and the Holy Spirit our Guide.

Psalm of Praise to God who made the whole World

1.   My whole being , praises the Lord
       Lord my God, you are very great;

2.     You wear light like a robe.
         You stretch out the skies like a tent.

3.      You build your room above the clouds,
          You make the clouds your chariot,
            And you ride on the wings of the wind.

“I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭104:33‬ ‭

Psalms are chanted by Jews and Christians, as a congregation and individually. They are sung as the need arises to praise, worship, and give thanks to God. They are also sung or said in times of crisis and need, as a form of supplication, as a source of comfort and even as a way to express regret for trespasses. Psalm 104 is a Psalm that expresses praise and thanks to the God who is our creator, preserver and provider. The Psalm is a beautiful meditation on God’s glorious creation and the glory that bursts forth from all the earth and endures forever.

The author of this Psalm is unknown.  Writing psalms and songs of praise is an art. Many songwriters find it easy to modify the words of a popular song so that people can learn to appreciate them better. Lyrics of many popular songs have been modeled on the lyrics of songs sung at barrooms and by popular music bands. This Psalm 104 written hundreds of years later for the Bible has a vague resemblance to the Egyptian hymn to Aten - a hymn sung in monotheistic worship to the Sun God 1350 BC. The famous Hymn, “Oh Worship the King” was written based on Psalm 104 by a brilliant Scottish man, Robert Grant. His hymn was influenced by the writings of William Kethe’s paraphrase of Psalm 104 in the Anglo-Geneva’s Psalter (1561). A most recent recent recreation is by Chris Tomlin who wrote a song of praise on this hymn too.

 

Psalms have been a very essential part of the spiritual formation of Christians from the time of the Apostles. Paul and Silas praised God in the prison at midnight when their feet were fastened in chains, and sang Psalms so loudly that the prisoners heard them (Acts 16:23-26). The apostles exhorted the Christians at Ephesus and Colossae to teach and caution one another with Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (Ephesians 5:19).

Jesus said I am the Light of the world, whoever follows me will not walk in darkness. (John 8:12) The characteristics that the psalmist ascribes to God in the first couple of verses are honor, glory, majesty, and light. Jack Hayford served as the faculty of L.I.F.E. Bible College, and went on to become dean of students and its president. He also served as pastor at 'Church of the Way', starting in 1969; this church grew to over 7,000 members. He wrote the contemporary worship and praise song Majesty based on Psalm 104.

The psalmist goes on to say that God uses the wind and flaming fire (lightning) as His messengers and servants. The most powerful forces of nature that cause great disasters are under God’s powers. When the disciples were with Jesus one day, they were caught in the midst of a furious storm. The waves broke over the boat and they were nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" He got up, scolded the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!" (Mark 4:35-41)

The Psalmist says that it was God who set the earth on its foundations (Psalm 104:5-9). The laws and principles of the Life Sciences we learn and understand today are based on the foundations that God set when he created this world. Do you see the hand of the creator setting the rhythms to life on earth? Do we live in a world of chaos or are there boundaries which are there? Have these boundaries been broken by us?

The psalmist says that God provides for the wild animals and birds from springs in the valley and the streams in the deserts. Will not God provide for humans? Every need of a person is met, with food from the earth, bread and wine to strengthen and gladden the heart, and oil to make the face shine. Does not a human being enjoy far more of the earthly and spiritual blessings than any wild animal or bird? God is our refuge and strength is a beautiful hymn that shares the same music as "America the Beautiful".

The Psalm concludes by saying, “May my meditation be pleasing to the Lord, for I rejoice in the LORD.” Let us rejoice in the Lord with Psalms and singing in God who is our refuge and strength.

Lord when we consider our way in this world
Often its dark, winding and full of potholes
Time and again what we see ahead is the cross and the grave
Let your light shine into our souls Oh Lord
May we see you clothed in splendor and majesty
Endlessly sing of your faithfulness and love
We worship you as our glorious King
We surrender our hope and wishes at thy feet
May your flames of fire show the way for our lives today
Amen