Sunday Sermonette: Natural History

 Psalm 104 is historically important, because it is among the biblical passages the church used to convict Galileo of heresy. He wrote to the Grand Duchess Christina "Astronomers seem to declare what is contrary to Scripture, for they hold the heavens to be spherical, while the Scripture calls it "stretched out like a tent." (v. 2) He argued that such passages should not be taken literally as scientific findings might discredit them. In fact, verse 5 was specifically cited at his trial. 

We know now that God is not the explanation for any of the natural phenomena described here, whether accurately or not. Religious fundamentalists cannot accept the discoveries of science, which since Galileo include Darwin, Einstein, and Bohr. We can still view nature with a sense of awe and wonder, but we also know a hell of a lot more about it than people did in 600 BC. 

104 Bless the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord my God, thou art very great!
Thou art clothed with honor and majesty,
²     who coverest thyself with light as with a garment,
who hast stretched out the heavens like a tent,
³     who hast laid the beams of thy chambers on the waters,
who makest the clouds thy chariot,
    who ridest on the wings of the wind,
⁴ who makest the winds thy messengers,
    fire and flame thy ministers.

⁵ Thou didst set the earth on its foundations,
    so that it should never be shaken.
⁶ Thou didst cover it with the deep as with a garment;
    the waters stood above the mountains.
⁷ At thy rebuke they fled;
    at the sound of thy thunder they took to flight.
⁸ The mountains rose, the valleys sank down
    to the place which thou didst appoint for them.
⁹ Thou didst set a bound which they should not pass,
    so that they might not again cover the earth.

¹⁰ Thou makest springs gush forth in the valleys;
    they flow between the hills,
¹¹ they give drink to every beast of the field;
    the wild asses quench their thirst.
¹² By them the birds of the air have their habitation;
    they sing among the branches.
¹³ From thy lofty abode thou waterest the mountains;
    the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy work.

¹⁴ Thou dost cause the grass to grow for the cattle,
    and plants for man to cultivate,^[a]
that he may bring forth food from the earth,
¹⁵     and wine to gladden the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine,
    and bread to strengthen man’s heart.
¹⁶ The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly,
    the cedars of Lebanon which he planted.
¹⁷ In them the birds build their nests;
    the stork has her home in the fir trees.
¹⁸ The high mountains are for the wild goats;
    the rocks are a refuge for the badgers.
¹⁹ Thou hast made the moon to mark the seasons;
    the sun knows its time for setting.
²⁰ Thou makest darkness, and it is night,
    when all the beasts of the forest creep forth.
²¹ The young lions roar for their prey,
    seeking their food from God.
²² When the sun rises, they get them away
    and lie down in their dens.
²³ Man goes forth to his work
    and to his labor until the evening.

²⁴ O Lord, how manifold are thy works!
    In wisdom hast thou made them all;
    the earth is full of thy creatures.
²⁵ Yonder is the sea, great and wide,
    which teems with things innumerable,
    living things both small and great.
²⁶ There go the ships,
    and Leviathan which thou didst form to sport in it.

²⁷ These all look to thee,
    to give them their food in due season.
²⁸ When thou givest to them, they gather it up;
    when thou openest thy hand, they are filled with good things.
²⁹ When thou hidest thy face, they are dismayed;
    when thou takest away their breath, they die
    and return to their dust.
³⁰ When thou sendest forth thy Spirit,^[b] they are created;
    and thou renewest the face of the ground.

³¹ May the glory of the Lord endure for ever,
    may the Lord rejoice in his works,
³² who looks on the earth and it trembles,
    who touches the mountains and they smoke!
³³ I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
    I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
³⁴ May my meditation be pleasing to him,
    for I rejoice in the Lord.
³⁵ Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
    and let the wicked be no more!
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
Praise the Lord!

Footnotes

1. Psalm 104:14 Or fodder for the animals that serve man
2. Psalm 104:30 Or breath