Please turn in your Bibles to Psalm 104, Psalm 104, if you prefer, you have that also in your bulletin, and I would encourage you to keep it available since we will be referencing it a number of times yet this morning. Since we've already read it together, let me draw your attention just to a couple of the more central ideas or verses in this song of celebration. It begins in verse 1, And praise the Lord, O my soul, O Lord my God, you are very great, and proceeds to give reasons for why the Lord is so great. It brings summary to these thoughts in verse 24. How many are your works, O Lord? In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number, living things both large and small. There go the ships to and fro, the Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there. And concludes, or draws towards a conclusion in verse 31. May the glory of the Lord endure forever. And may the Lord rejoice in his works. So is the reading of God's word. Let us pray that he would bless its proclamation to our hearts this morning. Our dear Father in heaven, we do give you thanks for this special day. That we can come meeting together with you. We thank you for the beauty of the world around us. All the works that you have made and sustained. Especially, dear Father. How you have revealed yourself to us in the great work of Jesus Christ, our Lord. We pray, dear Lord, that your word, his word, would come forth this morning with power. with clarity and conviction. That all of us here gathered, indeed, all of those, your people around the world, would grow more and more together in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Towards this end, dear Father, we pray you would bless us. Open our minds and our eyes that we might know more of Christ and your will for our lives. In his name we pray. Amen. 1621 was a long time ago. The little settlement of Plymouth, the pilgrims in those first days of Thanksgiving. Seems like some age long forgotten, doesn't it? Edward Winslow was there, and his diary has survived him. He wrote about those first days of celebration with amazement, saying that by the goodness of God, we have come so far. Almost 400 years later, Americans have likewise come a long ways. And Americans still love to celebrate. Parades, football games, festive parties. And as a congregation of Jesus Christ, we too enjoy these things, don't we? Though, quite unlike the world around us, our celebration does not focus upon life itself. We don't gather here this morning simply to celebrate the pleasures of life, do we? No, our celebration does not focus on life itself, but upon the God who gives it. Like some of the pilgrims before us, we too are amazed by the works and wisdom of God. And that indeed is why Psalm 104 was written. It is a celebration of God for his manifold works of creation and providence while longing for redemption and renewal. It's a big psalm. One pastor writes, For regularity of composition, richness of imagery, sublimity of sentiment, and elegance of perspicuity, of diction, this hymn is perhaps the principal poem in the whole collection of these inspired songs. It's a big song. It's a lot to get around. This symphony in celebration of God. It's a lot to digest. And so this morning, we're going to take it in just a couple of bites. Not three points this morning is in your bulletin, but just two. We'll take a look at his work and his wisdom. We'll take a look this morning at God's work and his wisdom. And hopefully with these categories, you can go home and meditate further upon all of what this psalm has to offer to us. First of all, there is celebration of God for his work. More specifically, his work of creating and then caring for the world. As we go through the psalm, there are many parallels here with Genesis 1. In fact, it may be that this psalm is arranged following the six days of creation, concluding with a seventh day of rest. You notice in verse 2 it begins with light and then the heavens. The land and the sea in verse 5. Vegetation and animal life in verses 10 through 13. And so on it continues until drawing a conclusion in verse 31 where the Lord is not so much resting but rejoicing in all that He has made. Notice how verses 1-2 establish God in the heavens. He's pictured there clothed with splendor and majesty. That great architect, designer, creator, presiding over the details of his plan with the clouds, the wind, water, and flaming fire at his command. Glory of God established in the heavens. Jonathan Edwards once wrote that the reason God created the world was that he had so much joy in the fellowship he shared with the Trinity that his joy moved to express itself still further in the creation of the world. Or the shorter catechism for children says it maybe more simply. What did God make or who made you? The answer is God made all things or God made me. What else did God make? The answer, God made all things. And then it asks the question, why did God make you and all things? The answer is for His glory. Our psalm begins by establishing the glory of God in the heavens. And then it proceeds in verse 5, not with the words of Genesis 1, let there be, but rather our psalm develops God's creative work with the distinctive words that communicate His personal involvement in all that He would make. He set, He made, He covered. Or, you set, you made, you covered. And so on. Some commentators stand back and observe this exchange between he and you and see there an echo of two choirs who would have sung their respective parts in a great celebration of God and his glorious works of creation and providence. In verse 5, the plan takes shape. He set the earth on its foundation so that it would never be shaken. And verse 6, You covered the waters that stood above the mountains. At your rebuke they fled. At the sound of your thunder they took to flight with boundaries that they may not pass. Verse 9. And then the echo. He made the moon to mark the seasons and the sun knows it's time for setting, verse 19. What we find here as God's work of creation unfolds is that He is making order and structure and stability to what would otherwise be chaos and confusion apart from His creative, sovereign, personal touch. Crafting the details of life. Crafting the details of reality. in order to sustain life. Within this stable structure, God has established the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, men and women, we see in verse 15. What would have otherwise been chaotic and confusing and inhabitable, God has moved in time and space to make something beautiful that He's personally involved in. Filling it with life. Verse 24 says, How many are Your works, O Lord? The earth is full of Your creatures. God has not left His creation or the world that He's made to fate. He has not established this great work that we see around us only to operate on its own according to some scientific principles or formulas. God is not absent from creation and He's not without care of our existence or the people and creatures He's made. Rather, we find in Psalm 104 that God is not only celebrated for His work of creation, but also His ongoing work of caring for all that He has made. though verse 2 places God in the heavens, we find He's not limited to the heavens. Verse 13 continues to say that He is near at hand, caring for all that He has made. Caring, personally involved with the sustaining of life. In verse 10, we see how he rebuked the waters and brought them under his command so that they would be streams that run through the valleys in order that the living beings there, the beasts of the field, would have water. The cattle we care for are ultimately fed by the hand of God. We go further and see how he makes grass to grow in the field in verse 14. bringing food forth from the earth. The Lord brings under His control all of the elements of creation in order to water and give food to the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and ultimately to care for the pinnacle of creation, those who bear His own image, men and women, giving to them wine that gladdens their heart, oil to make their face shine, and bread to strengthen the heart. God could have simply brought the most basic things of life, the basic needs of sustenance, but we see here God's personal attention and care, bringing those things that bring us beyond mere existence to joy, to a fullness and a satisfaction that comes with wine and the luxury of oil in that day and bread that brings strength to our hearts so that we don't merely exist as those who bear the image of God. Like Him, we can take joy and satisfaction in all that He has made knowing that it comes from a glorious, all-powerful, caring, Father-like Creator. Verse 27. These all look to you to give them their food in due season. And now notice how this is unfolded in the following verses. When you give it to them, they gather it up. When you open your hand, they are filled with good things. When you hide your face, they are dismayed. When you take away their breath, they die and return to dust. When you send forth your Spirit, they are created and you renew the face of the ground. The glorious Creator has moved in space and time to do a great work of creation and He continues His work among us, caring for us, loving us, sustaining us with the basic things of life that the world around us simply take for granted. but we, congregation of Christ, have the opportunity to stand back in amazement for all that God has made and for the way that He continues to care for us with such abundant goodness and mercy. Psalm 104 celebrates God for His work, and second, it celebrates God for His wisdom. In fact, the wisdom of God is very near the heart of this celebration. We could imagine a great king, powerful, creative, and caring, yet otherwise foolish and unwise. What we see in Psalm 104 is that God is not only powerful, creative, and caring, but in all that He does, He is remarkably wise in the way that He's formed. His work and continues to care for His work. Verse 24 says, O Lord, how manifold are Your works and wisdom You have made them all. In what ways do we see the wisdom of God? In what ways do we see that God is something more than powerful and creative in the world around us? There are four things, maybe many more, but there are four that we could identify rather quickly. The first is the order of creation. How we see in the beginning of the psalm, God bringing order, stability, and structure to what would have otherwise been chaos and confusion. And then we could identify the rhythm of creation. How God, having established all that we know, love, and enjoy, has given certain seasons and days to give a certain rhythm and consistency to the experience of life. In verses 19 through 23, we read, the moon is made to mark the seasons and the sun to rule the day. And we read about how the sun will set so that the beasts will then come in their turn and seek for food. But when the sun rises, There is a cycle in which the beast return and man goes forth for his food, working until evening. There's order to God's creation, there's rhythm to God's creation, and there is diversity to God's creation. He didn't make all of us alike. He didn't make the birds alike. He brought beauty into all that He's made by bringing diversity and contrasts, oceans and streams, mountains and valleys, beasts of the field and birds of the air, wine, oil, and bread for man to enjoy. Along with morning and evening and the changing of seasons. There is diversity in God's creation. There is changes in our experience to what He has made that constantly have us reflecting upon His power, His creativity, His care, and His wisdom. There's diversity and there's harmony to God's creation. Oh Lord, how wonderful are Your works and wisdom. You have made them all. It's like a great symphony where all the parts work together, bringing great satisfaction and joy to all who participate in it. Imagine creation. Imagine life without the stability that we know today. Without the rhythm of work and rest. Without the diversity of young and old, black and white, cold and hot, sweet and sour. Or the harmony of how all of these different intricate pieces of God's creation come together into one beautiful, peaceful expression of what? Praise to the God and Maker of all things. O Lord, our Lord, Psalm 8 says, How majestic is your name in all the earth. Echoed here in our text, O Lord, how manifold are your works. The world is filled with your creatures bringing glory to the name and work and wisdom of God. But the wisdom of God, isn't it amazing how the wisdom of God seems foolish to so many. One writer said that in reading the Psalms, we are brought into God's world that so often clashes with the modern messages of marketing and America, that world we so often live. When we enter into the book of the Psalms, and in particular Psalm 104, we are reminded that we are in God's world, that it is His wisdom that sustains all things, and that those who would doubt the wisdom of God pursue folly. But indeed, there are many. His work of creation and care are questioned, resisted, and rejected. Sinners rebel while the wicked corrupt His work and confuse His wisdom. They undermine the stability and structure of His order. They disrupt the rhythm of work and rest and threaten the harmony of creation itself while introducing a new voice that contradicts the Word of God. Psalm 104 responds to this reality in verse 35. Let sinners be consumed from the earth and the wicked be no more. It almost sounds out of place in this song of celebration, doesn't it? Just a quick verse inserted doesn't seem to have an introduction or a conclusion. It's there, but it's wonderfully there because doesn't it speak to our own experience that though God created all things wonderful and good, there remains a problem. And the psalmist calls it what it is. There is sin and wickedness and corruption around us. Though it's briefly mentioned in Psalm 104, the whole Psalter is seasoned with a similar longing for God to come and remove the corruption of sin from all that he has made. And sometimes in our own struggles with sin and suffering, We wonder if he hears. God does hear. He sees the corruption of his work and the suffering of his people and he answers us today as he has for so many generations with the good news of Jesus Christ. In him, God has begun a new work. Through his life, death, and resurrection, the work and wisdom of God is once again seen in all of its perfection without the corruption and confusion of sin. And more than that, in Jesus Christ, the work and wisdom of God is more completely revealed so that we see in Him something more than we could know by simply looking at the world around us, beautiful and wonderful as it is. In Christ, the work and wisdom of God is more fully revealed by showing us how God and the world around us, showing all that He has made, how God deals with sin. For those who believe in Jesus Christ, the Gospel says, according to 2 Corinthians 5, that there is new life for you and the new creation that Christ has secured and currently sustains. For those who reject Jesus, the message is judgment without the hope of God's ongoing compassion and care to sustain you with so much good that the world currently enjoys. Our psalm says, Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and the wicked be no more. The book of Revelation develops this theme in various chapters. We've studied that in our adult Sunday school. Some of you will immediately remember how various chapters describe the judgment of God against sin and in the process dismantling the order and harmony that God has established in creation. A terrible picture of God's wrath against the wicked. But in contrast to that is that beautiful picture of how God is caring all the while for His people. Coming to this beautiful climactic statement in Revelation 21, verse 5, when the one seated on the throne says, Behold, I am making all things new. as we look around us, dear friends, and marvel at the wonder of what God has made while grieving over how this beautiful work has been corrupted, while grieving over how so often we find ourselves struggling to give thanks as we look around at this world and as we experience it day to day, let us be reminded that He isn't finished yet. There is a work of God that is continuing in the lives of all those who believe. The curse of sin will one day be consumed from the earth. One day the wicked will be no more. When Christ Jesus returns with the new heavens and the new earth, Just as our psalm anticipates in verse 21 when it says, May the glory of the Lord endure forever. In light of Christ we can say the glory of the Lord will endure forever. When the Lord once again will rest and rejoice in His works for all eternity with all those who are found to be in Christ. May all of us here this morning believe in him. May we believe and rejoice and celebrate with him for all that he's done. Amen. Our God, creator, sustainer, and redeemer, we give you praise this morning for all that you have done, for your work and your wisdom and how these things are brought to such full expression in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That though this world is corrupted by sin, In Him you have begun a new work, a new earth, a new heaven, a new creation that you call us to join by faith in Him. What good news, dear Father, we have in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We praise you for these things, dear Father. And we confess to you that we are not left unscathed as we consider the corruption and sin of this world. We, too, have hearts that are inclined towards sin. We, too, experience the corruption of all that is around us. We have fallen far short, dear Father, of the image you have called us to bear. We have not loved you as you've called us to love. We have not loved or served one another as you have called us to sacrifice as Christ. And dear Father, being reminded of these things reminds us of our own guilt. And we confess that to you this morning. Oh, dear Lord, that we would not be prideful, but that we would continually be humbly dependent upon you. Forgive us, dear Father, for so often allowing our hearts and our affections to rest upon the good things you give. To celebrate simply for the joys of life while forgetting you, the giver. and sustainer of it. For the sake of Jesus, we pray that you would forgive us and grant us strength to live out the new life and new creation we have in him. Dear Father, we do indeed thank you for giving us an open door to enter into the throne room of heaven, for calling us here again this morning, and for reminding us that there is, because of Christ, a throne of grace so that we can find help in time of need. We thank you, dear Father, for how your abundant goodness to us has been spiritual, encouraging us in our faith, and has been physical, encouraging us in our work and service and the various vocations you've called us to. You have blessed us again so richly over the past year, our Father. You have given us a church that is faithful and strong. You have blessed us with pastors and elders and deacons to care for our souls and our bodies and to point us in the paths of righteousness. You have blessed us with jobs that have been fruitful, given us purpose and meaning for each new day. Dear Father, you have given us homes within which to enjoy family, husband and wife and children. Dear Lord, you have given us food to eat, sustaining us in our bodies, granting us what we need, dear Father, not merely for existence, but you've even gone beyond, giving us wine and oil and bread to bring gladness to our hearts and joy in the service that you've called us to. Oh, dear Lord, the blessings are so many. You've given us new life to our families with the birth of children. You've brought our children to know you more, educating them in schools and through the home about the world that you have made, the order and structure and stability of the sciences of the human body of things even as basic as reading, writing and arithmetic, all of which speak to your great work and wisdom. Dear Father, we celebrate you for these good gifts. We give you thanks for how abundantly merciful you've been to us even as we were spared, at least so far this year, our community was spared from the devastation of fires that last year raged through our city. We thank you as well for how you have brought such remarkable healing to our sicknesses and diseases. Lord, we have cried out to you so many times that you would come and be with those who are sick and afflicted, those who are in hospitals and needing of care and needing of what seems like a miracle, dear Father, to survive. And so many times this year you have worked through your own means to bring about healing and strength, recovery of life, And once again, restoring the joy of our salvation. Dear Father, we thank you for these things, and we also come to you with supplications and concerns. We thank you that Psalm 104 does not present a picture that is rosy, without recognition of the reality we face day after day. we thank you that you hear us and are concerned to hear what we stand in need of. And so we bring them to you. We ask, dear Father, that those who continue among us to be sick and howling, that you would give them health. For those recovering, that you would give them a full recovery and bring them back to the experience of full vocation and service within our communities. We pray as well, dear Father, for marriages that are struggling. We pray that your grace would be abundant, that each husband and wife would love the other with sacrificial care and service. We bring to you the care of our children, that they would not only be educated in the truths of your word, but they would personally embrace with the whole of their hearts and their minds what you speak to them from the scriptures. Your Father transformed their minds, transformed our minds that we would not be conformed to the patterns of this world. We bring to you as well, dear Father, the burdened hearts of so many who've lost loved ones and come to this day of thanksgiving with a bittersweet taste on their tongues as those so dear are no longer here. Dear Lord, be with them. Encourage them. Remind us all that our lost ones in Christ are indeed enjoying that taste of the new creation to come and we will be with them soon. We pray for needs beyond our church, dear Lord, that you would also be with the whole of Christ's body across this world as so many experience persecution and suffering beyond what we can even imagine. May you sustain them, dear Father, as you've been so gracious to sustain us. May their faith be strong and may their physical suffering cease, dear Father. Towards that end, we ask that the work of our missionaries would be successful, that they would be strong and courageous and faithful in bringing forth the word, that your children would hear and believe and be encouraged, and that those of the watching world might be reminded that there is a God who rules over all. Especially, dear Father, may our civil servants be reminded that they serve under a higher authority, And may their work be done with humility in honor of you and for the good of those that they are called to serve. Dear Father, as we look forward, we pray that you would continue to sustain your people. That you would continue to extend the work of your church so that the glory of your name would indeed cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. And that your work and your wisdom would be seen by all and that you would be given the glory you deserve. We pray these things, dear Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.