Read Psalm 104 at Bible Gateway.
I can see that this psalm makes a chiastic structure, but its elements are complex. I have the basic outline of it, however:
1a) Psa 104:1a, Bless the Lord, O my soul! {n}
1b) Psa 104:1b-9, The greatness of God in His works:
1b, O Lord my God, You are very great: You are clothed with honor and majesty;
2, Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment, Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain;
3a, He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters; {n}
3b, Who makes the clouds His chariot, Who walks on the wings of the wind;
4, Who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire;
5, You who laid the foundations of the earth, So that it should not be moved forever;
6, You covered it with the deep as with a garment; The waters stood above the mountains;
7, At Your rebuke they fled; At the voice of Your thunder they hastened away;
8, They went up over the mountains; They went down into the valleys, To the place which You founded for them;
9, You have set a boundary that they may not pass over, That they may not return to cover the earth;
1c) Psa 104:10-23, The Lord provides for the needs of His creation:
10, He sends the springs into the valleys; They flow among the hills;
11, They give drink to every beast of the field; The wild donkeys quench their thirst;
12, By them the birds of the heavens have their home; They sing among the branches;
13a, He waters the hills from His upper chambers;
central axis) Psa 104:13b, The earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your works;
14a, He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for the service of man; {n}
14b, That he may bring forth food from the earth;
15a, And wine that makes glad the heart of man, making his face brighter than oil; {n}
15b, And bread which strengthens man’s heart;
16, The trees of the Lord are full of sap, The cedars of Lebanon which He planted;
17, Where the birds make their nests; The stork has her home in the fir trees;
18, The high hills are for the wild goats; The cliffs are a refuge for the rock badgers;
19, He appointed the moon for seasons; The sun knows its going down;
20, You make darkness, and it is night, In which all the beasts of the forest creep about;
21, The young lions roar after their prey, And seek their food from God;
22, When the sun rises, they gather together And lie down in their dens;
23, Man goes out to his work And to his labor until the evening;
central axis) Psa 104:24, O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all. {n} The earth is full of Your possessions—;
2c) Psa 104:25-30, The Lord provides for the needs of His creation:
25a, This great and wide sea; {n}
25b, In which are innumerable teeming things, Living things both small and great;
26, There the ships sail about; There is that Leviathan Which You have made to play there;
central axis) Psa 104:27-28, These all wait for You, That You may give them their food in due season. What You give them they gather in; You open Your hand, they are filled with good;
29a, You hide Your face, they are troubled; {n}
29b, You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust;
30, You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the earth;
2b) Psa 104:31-35a, The glory of the Lord in His works:
31, May the glory of the Lord endure forever; May the Lord rejoice in His works;
32, He looks on the earth, and it trembles; He touches the hills, 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, May my meditation be sweet to Him; I will be glad in the Lord;
35a, May sinners be consumed from the earth, And the wicked be no more. {n}
2a) Psa 104:35b, Bless the Lord, O my soul! {n} Praise the Lord! {p}
Anne says
I think it’s so interesting that verses 29-30 say life ends when He takes away breath, and it begins when He gives His Spirit. I usually think of life as ending when a heart stops beating.
christine says
You are so right Anne, I hadn’t seen that before either. Our life is truly upheld by Him and not necessarily by merely the workings of this natural existence. 🙂