Chapter One Hundred Four

The said psalm has no title in the Hebrew Bible, but in the LXX and Vulgate it is designated by the liturgical term “Hallelujah,” which did not come into use before the time of the last kings of Judah. This psalm sets forth the history of God’s guidance of the Hebrew people, concluding with an account of the Exodus from Egypt. The following, the 105th psalm, beginning with that last event, continues the account of further history by describing the wanderings of the Hebrews through the wilderness, the conquest of Palestine, their settlement in it, and their subsequent fate until the moment when the Hebrews were scattered among the nations, from which scattering the writer calls upon God to deliver his people. Thus the 105th psalm is in its content a continuation of the 104th; and if one adds to this that the language and style of both psalms are the same, then one must recognize as the author a single person. The time of the psalm’s origin is sufficiently clearly indicated by passages in the content of the 105th psalm where, for example, the writer calls upon the Lord to “visit... and save the Hebrew people” (Ps 105:4) and “to gather them from among the nations” among which he was scattered (Ps 105:47). Such scattering occurred once—the time of Babylonian captivity. Since the Hebrew people are depicted here as captive but hoping for the mercy of the Lord (Ps 105:44-45), the psalm was probably written when hope for the return of the Hebrews was renewed among the people; perhaps this occurred with the onset of Medo-Persian rule. The testimony of the Book of Chronicles (1 Chr 16:8-36), which quotes the first 15 verses of Psalm 104 with some variants, as sung by David at the bringing of the Ark of the Covenant, as we have already said (see introduction to Psalm 95), cannot be understood as precise historical testimony and therefore does not refute the origin of this psalm at the time indicated.

Who was the writer of the psalm cannot be said precisely.

Praise the Lord among the peoples and always seek his face (1–4). Remember, children of Jacob, about those signs and wonders which he poured out upon the seed of Abraham (5–7). He keeps and guards the covenant given to Abraham and all Israel when he appointed the land of Canaan as their inheritance (8–11). When, because of their small number, the patriarchs lived a nomadic life, the Lord did not allow anyone to wrong them (12–16). During the famine that came, when Joseph, delivered into Egypt, was set over all the possession of Pharaoh, Jacob migrated to the land of Ham (17–23). God multiplied his people, but the Egyptians began to oppress them, and the Lord sent Moses, who with terrifying wonders frightened the oppressors, and they let the Hebrews go (24–38). In their further wandering the Lord repeatedly performed miraculous deeds for them and brought them into the land of the nations, so that they might “keep his statutes and observe his laws” (39–45).

Psalm 104:3. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. “To glory in” God’s name—is the same as to praise the wonderful manifestations of his almightiness in the world and in the history of the Hebrew people, that is, to sing of him as the great and only true God. “Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.” The awareness that the Hebrew God is the almighty, true God should fill with joy the heart of everyone who strives to draw near to him, for in this drawing near lies the pledge of all blessings.

Psalm 104:4. Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. Strive to become worthy of his divine protection, so as to deserve the manifestation of his almighty power over you; unfailingly follow his commandments and serve before him.

Psalm 104:5. Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles and the judgments of his mouth, Remember “the judgments of his mouth”—remember and always be guided by the determinations pronounced by God, that is, his commandments. The further content of the psalm is devoted to depicting God’s faithfulness to the promise given to the Hebrew people through their patriarchs concerning the Lord’s constant protection over them and the appointment of Palestine as their inheritance.

Psalm 104:15. “Do not touch my anointed ones, and do no harm to my prophets. The happy fate of Abraham, forced to wander among the lands of numerous and hostile peoples, is the work of God’s providence over him, preserving his promise: “Do not touch my anointed ones.” The anointed are called not just the patriarch Abraham, and not only prophets, but the entire people chosen by God, as one set apart by the Lord to serve him and to proclaim his name among the nations.

Psalm 104:23. Then Israel came into Egypt, and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. “The land of Ham”—Egypt, because Mizraim, the second son of Ham, is considered the founder of Egypt.

Psalm 104:28. He sent darkness and made it dark; they did not rebel against his words. Psalm 104:29. He turned their water into blood, and killed their fish. Psalm 104:30. Their land produced frogs in abundance, even in the chambers of their kings. Psalm 104:31. He spoke, and there came swarms of flies and gnats throughout their borders. Psalm 104:32. He sent hail instead of rain, and fiery lightning on their land. Psalm 104:33. He struck down their vines and fig trees, and broke the trees of their country. Psalm 104:34. He spoke, and the locusts came, grasshoppers without number; Psalm 104:35. They ate up every plant in their land, and ate the crops of their soil. Psalm 104:36. And he struck down the firstborn of their land, the first fruits of all their strength. An enumeration of the plagues of Egypt.

Psalm 104:44. and gave them the lands of the nations, so they inherited the labor of peoples, Psalm 104:45. so that they might keep his statutes and observe his laws. Hallelujah! The Lord delivered into the hands of the Hebrews the rich and fertile land of Palestine, for the purpose that they would remain faithful to his covenant and prove themselves worthy of his anointed ones. Their faithfulness or faithlessness in keeping their appointed role determined further events—whether their prospering in Palestine or their exile from it.