John Calvin Commentary Psalms 104:24

"O Jehovah, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom hast thou made them all: The earth is full of thy riches." — Psalms 104:24 (ASV)

O Jehovah! how magnificent are thy works! The prophet does not make a full enumeration of the works of God, which would be an endless task, but only touches upon certain particulars, so that everyone may be led from considering them to reflect more attentively on that wisdom by which God governs the whole world and every particular part of it.

Accordingly, breaking off his description, he exclaims with admiration, How greatly to be praised are thy works! For we only then ascribe due honor to God when, seized with astonishment, we acknowledge that our tongues and all our senses fail us in doing justice to such a great subject.

If a small portion of the works of God amazes us, how inadequate are our feeble minds to comprehend their whole extent! In the first place, it is said, that God has made all things in wisdom, and then it is added, that the earth is full of his riches. The mention of wisdom only is not intended to exclude the divine power. Instead, the meaning is that there is nothing in the world confused; so far from this, the vast variety of things mixed together in it are arranged with the greatest wisdom, making it impossible for anything to be added, removed, or improved.

This commendation is set in opposition to the unhallowed imaginations that often creep upon us when we are unable to discover the designs of God in His works, as if He were indeed subject to folly like ourselves, and thus forced to bear the censure of those who are blind when considering His works.

The prophet also, by the same praise, reproves the madness of those who dream that the world has been brought into its present form by chance, just as Epicurus raved about the elements being composed of atoms. Since it is a profoundly irrational idea to suppose that a structure so elegant and of such surpassing embellishment was assembled by the random coming together of atoms, the prophet here urges us to pay more careful attention to the wisdom of God, and to that wonderful skill which shines forth in the whole government of the world.

The word riches encompasses the goodness and beneficence of God, for He has not so richly replenished the earth on His own account, but on ours, so that nothing which contributes to our advantage may be lacking. We should know that the earth does not possess such fruitfulness and riches by itself, but solely by the blessing of God, who makes it the means of bestowing His bounty upon us.