With all our modern technology, it’s easy for us human beings to imagine that we have everything under control. After all, we’ve banished the heat with our air conditioners, we’ve straightened the mighty Mississippi River, and we’ve made the desert bloom through our use of fertilizers and irrigation. We can even fly airplanes into the heart of hurricanes to measure their windspeed!

But then the heatwaves or ice storms overtax our power grids or the tornados shred their transmission lines. The droughts lower our reservoirs and aquifers to dangerous levels or the floods cause our seaside houses to slide into the ocean. The hurricanes send the rivers and oceans over the tops of our levees. And all we can do is clean up the damage after each new disaster.

So maybe we should take Psalm 104 a bit more seriously. After all, verse 10 reminds us that it is God Who sends forth the springs in the valleys. And verse 13 makes it clear that only God can water the mountains from the heavens, in just the right amounts, so that the fields and pastures can support our crops and herds (verse 14).

Yes, our technical prowess is amazing, but at the end of the day, we stand in line with the rest of God’s creation, waiting for Him to open His hand and give us our food when we need it (verse 27). For remember, God is the One Who created the world and everything in it. He is the One Who created energy, controlling it as completely as you control a shirt when you put it on. He is the One Who created space and time, stretching out the universe and measuring it the same way that you put up a tent (verse 2). God doesn’t have to wonder when the rains will come and how heavy they will be, for He rides the clouds like a chariot (verse 3).

But the good news is that this God of awesome power also chose to become a human being. And He loved sinners like us enough to give up His life so that we might be forgiven. And because He walked out of His tomb on the third day, we can be sure that He will give us not only eternal life with Him forever, but abundant life right now, life that includes everything that we need to bring us closer to Himself.

So let’s stop pretending that we are in control. Instead, let’s worship God alone, thanking Him for His blessings, and singing His praise for the glory of His creation.

Psalm 104 (NASB)

Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, Thou art very great; Thou art clothed with splendor and majesty,
2 Covering Thyself with light as with a cloak, Stretching out heaven like a tent curtain.
3 He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters; He makes the clouds His chariot; He walks upon the wings of the wind;
4 He makes the winds His messengers, Flaming fire His ministers.
5 He established the earth upon its foundations, So that it will not totter forever and ever.
6 Thou didst cover it with the deep as with a garment; The waters were standing above the mountains.
7 At Thy rebuke they fled; At the sound of Thy thunder they hurried away.
8 The mountains rose; the valleys sank down To the place which Thou didst establish for them.
9 Thou didst set a boundary that they may not pass over; That they may not return to cover the earth.
10 He sends forth springs in the valleys; They flow between the mountains;
11 They give drink to every beast of the field; The wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; They lift up their voices among the branches.
13 He waters the mountains from His upper chambers; The earth is satisfied with the fruit of His works.
14 He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for the labor of man, So that he may bring forth food from the earth,
15 And wine which makes man’s heart glad, So that he may make his face glisten with oil, And food which sustains man’s heart.
16 The trees of the LORD drink their fill, The cedars of Lebanon which He planted,
17 Where the birds build their nests, And the stork, whose home is the fir trees.
18 The high mountains are for the wild goats; The cliffs are a refuge for the rock badgers.
19 He made the moon for the seasons; The sun knows the place of its setting.
20 Thou dost appoint darkness and it becomes night, In which all the beasts of the forest prowl about.
21 The young lions roar after their prey, And seek their food from God.
22 When the sun rises they withdraw, And lie down in their dens.
23 Man goes forth to his work And to his labor until evening.
24 O LORD, how many are Thy works! In wisdom Thou hast made them all; The earth is full of Thy possessions.
25 There is the sea, great and broad, In which are swarms without number, Animals both small and great.
26 There the ships move along, And Leviathan, which Thou hast formed to sport in it.
27 They all wait for Thee, To give them their food in due season.
28 Thou dost give to them, they gather it up; Thou dost open Thy hand, they are satisfied with good.
29 Thou dost hide Thy face, they are dismayed; Thou dost take away their spirit, they expire, And return to their dust.
30 Thou dost send forth Thy Spirit, they are created; And Thou dost renew the face of the ground.
31 Let the glory of the LORD endure forever; Let the LORD be glad in His works;
32 He looks at the earth, and it trembles; He 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 my being.
34 Let my meditation be pleasing to Him; As for me, I shall be glad 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!