GOD’S MANIFOLD WORKS

“O Lord, how MANIFOLD are Your WORKS! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your possessions” – Psalm 104:24

We cannot fully fathom the Wisdom behind GOD’S MANIFOLD WORKS: “O Lord, how MANIFOLD are Your WORKS! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your possessions” (Psa.104:24). This psalm celebrates God’s greatness, majesty, and sovereign dominion; it calls on us to give praise to God for His manifold works, His dominion over, and bounty to, all creatures. According to Charles Spurgeon: “The Psalm gives an interpretation to the many voices of nature, and sings sweetly both of creation and providence. The poem contains a complete cosmos: sea and land, cloud and sunlight, plant and animal, light and darkness, life and death, are all proved to be expressive of the presence of the Lord.”

The themes covered in Psalm 104 include: the splendour of God’s Majesty in the celestial world (vv.1-4); the creation of the sea and the dry land (vv.5-9); God’s provision for the sustenance of all creatures according to their nature (vv.10-18, 27-28); the ordered course of the sun and moon (vv.19-24); the furniture of the sea (vv.25-26); and God’s sovereign power over all creatures (vv.29-32). The Psalmist concluded with a pleasant and firm resolution to persist in praising God (vv.33-35).

Having considered God’s manifold works in, David paused and wondered at the number of them; though he had not gone through them all, and there were even things innumerable: “This great and wide sea, in which are innumerable teeming things, living things both small and great” (v.25). He admired the sum of them, how great it was – not only in quantity but also in quality – in totality, an amazing display of God’s Greatness and Power, and particularly of His Wisdom.

The Lord made all things by His Wisdom: “To Him who by wisdom made the heavens…” (Psa.136:5a); “The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens (Pro.3:19). Everything in creation is wisely designed and detailed; there is a most glorious display of Divine Wisdom in the minutest thing God’s hands have made; everything beautiful in its season. A skilful artificer, when he has finished his work and looks it over again, often finds some fault or another in it: but when the Lord finished His works of creation, and looked over them, He saw that all was good, indeed, very good (Gen.1:31). Christ – Infinite Wisdom Himself – could find no blemish in His Work (Jh.1:3b).

God is the Maker, Proprietor and Possessor of all things: “The earth is full of Your possessions” (v.24b). He can and does dispose any of His possessions as seems good in His sight; and whatever of the riches and good things of the earth human beings may have, we are only stewards. The Lord is the rightful Owner and Possessor of all beings and things (Gen.14:19). “The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein” (Psa.24:1). As enthralling as they are however, the material world does not capture all of God’s manifold works; they are founded on spiritual operations. All of God’s creatures depend on His Spirit for sustenance: “You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; and You renew the face of the earth” (vv.29b-30).

Our meditation text brings to mind the lovely hymn: “All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small; all things wise and wonderful, ‘twas God that made them all”! The works of God are manifold in their incomprehensible variety: from the blossoming flowers with glowing colours, to the winged birds that sing; the purple-topped mountains, meandering rivers, and the sunset that brightens up the sky. “He gave us eyes to see them and lips that we might tell. How great is the Almighty who has made all things well”! May we be inspired and revived afresh by the Holy Spirit, to celebrate the manifold works of the Creator and Possessor of the Universe and “Author of the New Creation”!