Gift #650: Rocky Mountain Creation

The last night I was in Denver, I read this psalm as a way to reflect back on all the wonders of creation the Rocky Mountains hold. This is my favorite psalm in the Bible because it speaks of God’s intimate relationship with every aspect of His creation. I’ve printed it out here for you today, interspersed with photos from the trip. I hope it is as much a blessing to you as it is to me.

Praise the Lord, my soul.   Lord my God, you are very great;
    you are clothed with splendor and majesty.

²The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment;
    he stretches out the heavens like a tent
³    and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.

He makes the clouds his chariot
    and rides on the wings of the wind.
⁴He makes winds his messengers,
    flames of fire his servants.

He set the earth on its foundations;
    it can never be moved.
⁶You covered it with the watery depths as with a garment;
    the waters stood above the mountains.
⁷But at your rebuke the waters fled,
    at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;
⁸they flowed over the mountains,
    they went down into the valleys,
    to the place you assigned for them.
⁹You set a boundary they cannot cross;
    never again will they cover the earth.

He makes springs pour water into the ravines;
    it flows between the mountains.
¹¹They give water to all the beasts of the field;
    the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
¹²The birds of the sky nest by the waters;
    they sing among the branches.
¹³He waters the mountains from his upper chambers;
    the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work.

¹⁴He makes grass grow for the cattle,
    and plants for people to cultivate—

He bringing forth food from the earth:
¹⁵wine that gladdens human hearts,
    oil to make their faces shine,
    and bread that sustains their hearts.
¹⁶The trees of the Lord are well watered,
    the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.

¹⁷There the birds make their nests;
    the stork has its home in the junipers.
¹⁸The high mountains belong to the wild goats;
    the crags are a refuge for the hyrax.

¹⁹He made the moon to mark the seasons,
    and the sun knows when to go down.

²⁰You bring darkness, it becomes night,
    and all the beasts of the forest prowl.
²¹The lions roar for their prey
    and seek their food from God.
²²The sun rises, and they steal away;
    they return and lie down in their dens.
²³Then people go out to their work,
    to their labor until evening.

²⁴How many are your works, Lord!
    In wisdom you made them all;
    the earth is full of your creatures.

All creatures look to you
    to give them their food at the proper time.
²⁸When you give it to them,
    they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
    they are satisfied with good things.

²⁹When you hide your face,
    they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
    they die and return to the dust.
³⁰When you send your Spirit,
    they are created,
    and you renew the face of the ground.

³¹May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
    may the Lord rejoice in his works—
³²he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,
    who touches the mountains, and they smoke.

³³I will sing to the Lord all my life;
    I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

Psalm 104