When You hide Your face, they are terrified; when You take away their breath, they die and return to dust.
This psalm stands apart from others that recount God's covenant mercies or heaven's hope. Rather, it sets before us the vivid display of His wisdom, power, and goodness in creation and the order of nature, stirring us to praise Him as a Father revealing Himself to us in this fragile and perishable life.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 104:1-35
Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled. So dependent are all living things upon God's smile, that a frown fills them with terror, as though convulsed with anguish. This is so in the natural world, and certainly not less so in the spiritual: saints when the Lord hides his face are in terrible perplexity. Thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.
The heathen worship the sun and moon as gods, yet they are the creatures and servants of the true God alone. The moon marks the seasons and directs the husbandman's labor; the sun keeps punctually to its appointed time. Darkness itself, though black, contributes to nature's beauty and allows the beasts to feed without fear of man.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 104:19-30