Matthew Henry Commentary Psalms 104:19-30

"He appointed the moon for seasons: The sun knoweth his going down. Thou makest darkness, and it is night, Wherein all the beasts of the forest creep forth. The young lions roar after their prey, And seek their food from God. The sun ariseth, they get them away, And lay them down in their dens. Man goeth forth unto his work And to his labor until the evening. O Jehovah, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom hast thou made them all: The earth is full of thy riches. Yonder is the sea, great and wide, Wherein are things creeping innumerable, Both small and great beasts. There go the ships; There is leviathan, whom thou hast formed to play therein. These wait all for thee, That thou mayest give them their food in due season. Thou givest unto them, they gather; Thou openest thy hand, they are satisfied with good. Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled; Thou takest away their breath, they die, And return to their dust. Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created; And thou renewest the face of the ground." — Psalms 104:19-30 (ASV)

We are to praise and magnify God for the constant succession of day and night. And see how those who wait for the twilight and have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness are like wild beasts. Does God listen to the language of mere nature, even in ravenous creatures, and will he not much more interpret favourably the language of grace in his own people, even though it consists of weak and broken groanings which cannot be uttered?

There is the work of every day, which is to be done in its day. Man must apply himself to it every morning and continue in it until evening. It will be time enough to rest when the night comes, in which no man can work. The psalmist wonders at the works of God. The works of art, the more closely they are examined, the rougher they appear; the works of nature appear more fine and exact.

They are all made in wisdom, for they all fulfill the purpose for which they were designed. Every spring is an emblem of the resurrection, when a new world rises, as it were, out of the ruins of the old one. But man alone lives beyond death. When the Lord takes away his breath, his soul enters another state, and his body will be raised, either to glory or to misery.

May the Lord send forth his Spirit, and re-create our souls to holiness.