Psalm 104:24-34, 35b (NRSV)
Read Psalm 104:24-34, 35b on biblegateway.com
Verse 24O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
Verse 25Yonder is the sea, great and wide, creeping things innumerable are there, living things both small and great.
Verse 26There go the ships, and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.
Verse 27These all look to you to give them their food in due season;
Verse 28when you give to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
Verse 29When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
Verse 30When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground.
Verse 31May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works-
Verse 32who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke.
Verse 33I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
Verse 34May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord.
Verse 35Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Praise the Lord!
Devotion
When you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground. My guess is that this reading of Psalm 104 was chosen for Pentecost because of its reference to the Spirit in verses 29-30. The first thing I notice is how the psalmist here recalls all that God has done. But the second thing I notice is that the psalmist praises God not just for what God does for us, but what God does for all creation.
All of this good creation depends on God. God loves the world which of course means that God loves the entire creation. God cares for us and the animals and all the rest. God's got this whole world in God’s hands. God sends the Spirit to renew us and the whole creation; we share life with every creature in this our common home.
Prayer
Merciful God of might, renew this weary world. Especially we pray for all who strive to save the earth from carelessness and destruction. Amen.