Psalms 104:31 - Meaning and Application

The psalmist ends this meditation with praise to God, which is the main purpose of the psalm.

He praises God as the great God, perfect in every way: “The glory of the Lord shall endure forever” (Psalm 104:31). His glory lasts to the end of time in creation and providence, and it lasts forever in the joy and worship of saints and angels. Human glory fades, but God’s glory never ends. Creatures change, but the Creator never changes.

He also praises God as a gracious God: “The Lord shall rejoice in his works” (Psalm 104:31). God keeps the same joy in what he has made that he had when he saw everything he made and declared it very good. He rested on the seventh day, and he still takes pleasure in the work of his wisdom and goodness. We often do things we later regret and wish we could undo, but God always rejoices in his works, because they are all wise. We sometimes regret our own generosity, but God never does, and he rejoices in the work of his grace. His gifts and calling are without repentance, meaning he does not take back what he gives.

He is also praised as the God of almighty power, as the next verse says, “He looks on the earth, and it trembles” (Psalm 104:32). The earth cannot bear his displeasure, and it shakes like Sinai at the Lord’s presence. “He touches the hills, and they smoke.” Burning mountains, like Aetna, show the power of God’s wrath when it falls on proud, unbroken sinners. If an angry look and a touch can do this much, what will his heavy hand and outstretched arm do? Who can know the power of his anger? Who would dare challenge it? God rejoices in his works because they all obey him, and in the same way he takes pleasure in those who fear him and tremble at his word.

The psalmist then says that he himself will keep praising God: “I will sing to the Lord, I will praise my God while I have my being” (Psalm 104:33). He will praise him as the Lord, the Creator, and as his own God, the God who has made a covenant with him. He will do this, not just now, but as long as he lives and has being. Since our life and very existence come from God, we must keep praising him while we live. And when we no longer have life on earth, we hope for a better life and a better existence in a better world, where we will do this work in a better way and in better company.

This meditation also brings joy to the psalmist himself: “My meditation of him shall be sweet” (Psalm 104:34). His thoughts about God will be fixed and close, and they will move his heart and shape his life. Then they will be sweet. Thoughts of God are most pleasant when they are most powerful. Divine meditation is a very sweet duty for everyone who has been made holy. “I will be glad in the Lord,” he says. It will be a joy to praise him. He will gladly take every chance to show God’s glory, and he will rejoice in the Lord always and in him alone. All his joys will center in God, and in God they will be complete.

At the end comes terror for the wicked: “Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more” (Psalm 104:35). Those who oppose the God of power and fight against him will surely be destroyed. No one can succeed who hardens himself against the Almighty. Those who rebel against the clear evidence of God’s existence, and refuse to serve the One whom all creation serves, deserve to be destroyed. They make the earth groan under the weight of their sins, even though God fills it with his riches, and it is right that the earth should drive them out.

Those who truly want to praise God cannot help feeling holy anger against those who blaspheme and dishonor him. They also feel holy satisfaction when they think of God’s judgment and the honor he will win over them. Even this should become part of their praise: while sinners are consumed from the earth, the believer should bless the Lord that he is not cast away with evil workers, but set apart by special grace. When the wicked are gone, the righteous hope to praise God forever. So the call is, “Praise the Lord,” and let everyone nearby join in. “Hallelujah” means “Praise the Lord,” and here it appears in connection with the destruction of the wicked. It appears in the same kind of setting at the end of Scripture, when the New Testament Babylon is destroyed (Revelation 19:1, Revelation 19:3, Revelation 19:4, Revelation 19:6).