Psalms 104:1
in Psalms 104Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Bless Jehovah, O my soul. O Jehovah my God, thou art very great; Thou art clothed with honor and majesty:
KJV
Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.
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This verse in Psalms 104
Commentary
11 notes on this verseBless the Lord, O my soul. This psalm begins and ends like the Hundred and Third, and it could not do better: when the model is perfect it deserves to exist in duplicate. True praise begins at home. It is idle to stir up others to praise if we are ungratefully silent ourselves. We should call upon our inmost hearts to awake and bestir themselves, for we are apt to be sluggish, and if we are so when called upon to bless God, we shall have great cause to be ashamed.
This site's exposition
You are very great
on Psalms 104:1-4
God wears light as a garment. He stretches the heavens like a tent, and the light is named here before the sun and the moon, as at Genesis 1:3 and 1:14. Hebrews 1:7 takes verse 4 up for the angels: He makes His angels winds, His servants flames of fire.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
..."Bless the Lord, O my soul." Let the soul of us all, made one in Christ, say this. "O Lord my God, Thou art magnified exceedingly!" Where art Thou magnified? "Confession and beauty Thou hast put on." Confess ye, that ye may be beautified, that He may put you on.
There are some things, too, which have such a place in the body, that they obviously serve no useful purpose, but are solely for beauty, as e.g. the teats on a man's breast, or the beard on his face; for that this is for ornament, and not for protection, is proved by the bare faces of women, who ought rather, as the weaker sex, to enjoy such a defence. If, therefore, of all those members which are exposed to our view, there is certainly not one in which beauty is sacrificed to utility, while there are some which serve no purpose but only beauty, I think it can readily be concluded that in the creation of the human body comeliness was more regarded than necessity. In truth, necessity is a transitory thing; and the time is coming when we shall enjoy one another's beauty without any lust,-a condition which will specially redound to the praise of the Creator, who, as it is said in the psalm, has "put on praise and comeliness."
You have put on confession and beauty. "Confession" is understood in two ways. Either it refers to the glory of God: that is, you have put on glory, just as in the Gospel the Savior himself says, "I confess to you, Father," that is, I glorify you. Or it means that we confess our sins to the Lord: for in the very act of confessing our sins to God, we glorify him. And you have put on beauty. Notice the order: first someone confesses, and thus he receives loveliness and beauty, and afterward light. For this is what follows: Clothed with light as with a garment. Now this is said in a special way of the Lord, that all things belonging to him are in the light, just as in Ezekiel the Cherubim are written to be "full of eyes." For example: I look at the sky and the earth, and I understand the creator. I see the trees in their season putting forth leaves, sending out blossoms, bearing fruit, and I understand the creator. I see the ant, and every tiny creature, and I understand the creator. Therefore the whole creation of God has eyes, and is full of understanding.
This psalm contains the created world itself praising and blessing the Lord its creator through the prophet; just as he also says in the eighteenth psalm: "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims the works of his hands." Bless the Lord, O my soul. The prophet rouses himself to bless God. But to bless the Lord means this: whoever praises the Lord blesses himself. O Lord my God, you are exceedingly magnified.
The Reformation1 voice
When it is said that the heavens are a curtain, it is not meant that under them God hides himself, but that by them his majesty and glory are displayed; being, as it were, his royal pavilion.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Bless the Lord, O my soul,.... As for the blessings of grace and mercy expressed in the preceding psalm, so on account of the works of creation and providence, enumerated in this; in which Christ has an equal concern, as in the former.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Bless the Lord, O my soul. This psalm begins and ends like the Hundred and Third, and it could not do better: when the model is perfect it deserves to exist in duplicate. True praise begins at home. It is idle to stir up others to praise if we are ungratefully silent ourselves. We should call upon our inmost hearts to awake and bestir themselves, for we are apt to be sluggish, and if we are so when called upon to bless God, we shall have great cause to be ashamed. When we magnify the Lord, let us do it heartily: our best is far beneath his worthiness, let us not dishonour him by rendering to him half hearted worship. O Lord my God, thou art very great. This ascription has in it a remarkable blending of the boldness of faith, and the awe of holy fear: for the psalmist calls the infinite Jehovah "my God, "and at the same time, prostrate in amazement at the divine greatness, he cries out in utter astonishment, "Thou art very great." God was great on Sinai, yet the opening words of his law were, "I am the Lord thy God; " his greatness is no reason why faith should not put in her claim, and call him all her own. The declaration of Jehovah's greatness here given would have been very much in place at the end of the psalm, for it is a natural inference and deduction from a survey of the universe: its position at the very commencement of the poem is an indication that the whole psalm was well considered and digested in the mind before it was actually put into words; only on this supposition can we account for the emotion preceding the contemplation. Observe also, that the wonder expressed does not refer to the creation and its greatness, but to Jehovah himself. It is not "the universe is very great!" but "Thou art very great." Many stay at the creature, and so become idolatrous in spirit; to pass onward to the Creator himself is true wisdom.
O Lord my God, thou art very great - The works of God, which are the subject of this Psalm, particularly show the grandeur and majesty of God. The strongest proofs of the being of God, for common understandings, are derived from the works of creation, their magnitude, variety, number, economy, and use. And a proper consideration of those works presents a greater number of the attributes of the Divine nature than we can learn from any other source. Revelation alone is superior.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Bless the Lord, O my soul - See Psa 103:1. O Lord my God, thou art very great - This is a reason why the psalmist calls on his soul to bless God; namely, for the fact that he is so exalted; so vast in his perfections; so powerful, so wise, so great. Thou art clothed with honor and majesty - That is, with the emblems of honor and majesty, as a king is arrayed in royal robes. Creation is the garment with which God has invested himself. Compare the notes at Psa 93:1.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בָּרֲכִ֥י | barakhi | bless | H1288 → | 330 times |
| נַפְשִׁ֗י | nafshi | O self my | H5315 → | 754 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְה֫וָ֥ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱ֭לֹהַי | ʾelohai | God my | H430 → | 2601 times |
| גָּדַ֣לְתָּ | gadalta | you are great | H1431 → | 117 times |
| מְּאֹ֑ד | meod | exceedingly | H3966 → | 300 times |
| ה֭וֹד | hod | splendor | H1935 → | 24 times |
| וְהָדָ֣ר | vehadar | and majesty | H1926 → | 30 times |
| לָבָֽשְׁתָּ׃ | lavasheta | you are clothed | H3847 → | 110 times |
בָּרֲכִ֥יbless
barakhiH1288 →330 times
נַפְשִׁ֗יO self my
nafshiH5315 →754 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְה֫וָ֥הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
יְהוָ֣הO Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱ֭לֹהַיGod my
ʾelohaiH430 →2601 times
גָּדַ֣לְתָּyou are great
gadaltaH1431 →117 times
מְּאֹ֑דexceedingly
meodH3966 →300 times
ה֭וֹדsplendor
hodH1935 →24 times
וְהָדָ֣רand majesty
vehadarH1926 →30 times
לָבָֽשְׁתָּ׃you are clothed
lavashetaH3847 →110 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 145:3Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; His greatness is unsearchable.
it leads to
- Psalms 147:5
Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit.
- Romans 11:33
O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!
- Job 5:9
the One who does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number.
- Isaiah 40:28
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary; His understanding is beyond searching…
- Psalms 147:5
Through
Psalms 93:1The LORD reigns! He is robed in majesty; the LORD has clothed and armed Himself with strength. The world indeed is firmly established; it cannot be moved.
it leads to
- Psalms 96:10
Declare among the nations: “The LORD reigns!” The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved; He will judge the peoples with equity.
- 1 Chronicles 29:12
Both riches and honor come from You, and You are the ruler over all. In Your hands are power and might to exalt and give strength to all.
- Psalms 99:1
The LORD reigns; let the nations tremble! He is enthroned above the cherubim; let the earth quake!
- Revelation 19:6
And I heard a sound like the roar of a great multitude, like the rushing of many waters, and like a mighty rumbling of thunder, crying out: “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the…
- Psalms 96:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 104; Augustine of Hippo, City of God 22.24; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 5; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Jerome, Homily 30, on Psalm 103; John Calvin, Commentaries and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).