Audio Worship, 1/4/2026, "Creation Doxology" Psalm 104.1-24

Princeton Presbyterian Church (EPC) Sermon # 1714

January 4, 2026

Psalm 104.1-24               Click here for audio worship.

Dr. Ed Pettus

(This is an extended outline, not a verbatim transcript.)

 

“Creation Doxology”

 

Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent. He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters; he makes the clouds his chariot; he rides on the wings of the wind; he makes his messengers winds, his ministers a flaming fire. He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved. You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. At your rebuke they fled; at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them. You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth. You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills; they give drink to every beast of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst. Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they sing among the branches. From your lofty abode you water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work. You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man's heart. the trees of the Lord are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. In them the birds build their nests; the stork has her home in the fir trees. The high mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers. He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting.
You make darkness, and it is night, when all the beasts of the forest creep about. The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God. When the sun rises, they steal away and lie down in their dens. Man goes out to his work and to his labor until the evening. O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.

 

  • Doxology – to Praise God

 

I can think of no better way to start off a new year than with doxology. Doxology is praise of God. The familiar doxology we sing is the very definition of doxology: “Praise God from whom all blessings flow, praise Him all creatures here below, praise Him above ye heavenly host, praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.” The word doxology literally means “to speak praise”.

Today’s reading from Psalm 104 gives testimony of reasons to praise God. Psalm 104 specifically tells us that God creates, “stretching out the heavens like a tent. He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters... He set the earth on its foundations...He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting.” God is the creator. We see God’s handiwork all around us everyday, yet we often take it for granted. We move about in the busyness of our days without reflection on God as Creator. The heavens, the clouds, the earth, everything in creation speaks to the Creator God. It is not that we have to stop and smell the roses every time or even every day, but perhaps more often than we might. Of course, this time of year it is not the roses, but the cold and probable snow that we admire. We may become more enthralled with God if we slow our lives down more often to appreciate God’s creation.

We might take some time in early days of 2026 to think about offering a sacrifice of praise to God. That is such a wonderful phrase, “sacrifice of praise”! It comes from Hebrews 13.15, “Through [Christ] then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.” The sacrifice of praise is tied to Psalm 50 where God desires thanksgiving rather than animal sacrifice.

 

12“If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine. 13Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? 14Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, 15and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

 

22“Mark this, then, you who forget God, lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver! 23The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!”

 

God does not need or want bulls or goats or any animal sacrifice, but calls us to offer doxology, praise, thanksgiving, the sacrifice that truly glorifies God. This we do with voice and heart and action and in giving ourselves over to follow Jesus Christ. 2026 can be the year to spend more time in praise and thanksgiving to God our Creator.

 

  • Doxology for 2026

 

Of course, every year and every day is an opportune time to praise God. Praise involves adoration, thanksgiving, and blessing the Lord. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name” (Psalm 103.1)! This is doxology. “Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples (Psalm 105.1)! This is doxology. “O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures (Psalm 104.24). This is doxology.

We also praise God indirectly when we practice anything in faith. I should rephrase that because we should not be doing anything outside of faith! Paul teaches this in Romans 14.23, “For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” Doxology comes in practicing spiritual disciplines like Scripture study and meditation, acts of service, obedience to commandments, and all that the Bible requires of those who believe. We praise God in talking to God and about God to others. I believe we actually express doxology in every breath because with every breath we are new creations in Christ, expressions of God’s creation power, created for the praise of His glory, according to God’s Word in Isaiah, “everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made” (Isaiah 43.7). It is 2026! Already? Yes, and a great time to praise God and give thanks to God, to offer a sacrifice of doxology!

 

  • Creation Doxology

 

Psalm 104 reveals what we might label as creation doxology, meaning that we sing praise to God specifically in that God has created, that He is the Creator, and for what has been created. The Psalm takes inventory of all of God’s wonders in creation. The doxology comes at the center of the Psalm in verse 24, the end of our reading today, “O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.”

Psalm 104 gives testimony to the good news of God’s constant character toward provision out of His creation and God’s great love past, present, and future for creation. God is the one who causes the grass to grow and plants for us to use, wine to gladden the heart and bread to strengthen the heart. God is the one who fills the earth with creatures and sends forth His Spirit. God provides in abundance in the testimony of the Psalm.

Look at the number of times the Psalmists credits God with all these things. O Lord my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honor…you stretch out the heavens, you set the beams, you make the clouds, you ride on the wings of the wind, you make the winds, you set the earth, you cover it, you rebuke and they flee, you set the boundary, you make the springs, you cause the grass to grow…and the list continues. You do it all, God.

God gives us everything through His creation: food, air, shelter, clothing, friends, family, seasons, commandments, wind, heat, cold, toys, school, and our lists go on. Have you thought much about gravity lately? No, because we take it all for granted. Have you thought much about breathing lately? When someone gets the breathed knocked out of them especially the first time it happens, you can see the look of panic on their faces. For at least a brief moment we do not take breathing for granted.

The goal of our lives is doxology, praising God for all that God has created and provided. “Bless the Lord, O my soul.” God creates everything and provides for us. God calls us to doxology, to praise and thank Him for all that He has done and for all that He has promised. The counter to all the world’s anxiety is praise. The counter to all the world’s rant of scarcity is thanksgiving. The counter to all the world’s bad news is the good news of Jesus Christ to whom we offer our sacrifice of praise.

We gather every Sabbath day to sing doxology, to offer our praise, to give thanksgiving, because deep down we know God our creator and provider. We know that it is God who stretched out the heavens, set the beams, made the clouds, rides the wind, set the earth on its foundation. It is God who makes the springs gush forth so that the animals will have something to drink. It is God to whom we look for food and clothing and shelter and all that we need or desire for life.

We know all too well that there are people in the world who are thirsty, hungry, and many who do not have all they need for life in abundance. We acknowledge that sin has distorted the created order. But the confession must go on, because without it there is no hope. Without these poetic utterances there is no faith. Without these statements of faith, faith will eventually die. Psalm 104 invites us to see God’s created order and provision and to live out of that vision! We are called to live in the abundance of Jesus Christ. The Psalm invites us to God’s kingdom where there is plentiful food and beauty and boundaries and springs of water and life is filled with good news! Psalm 104 bids us to stop and see creation, to see God’s work as God sees it.

We need Psalm 104 (and all the Bible) for the sake of countering the bad news of the world with the good news of God who blesses the soul. Psalm 104 has the capacity to transform us in what Walter Brueggemann characterizes as “the good, safe, abundant world of [God’s] creation” mediated through the Psalm.* Psalms like this one reset our perspective that has been distorted by all the bad news we hear every day. We need the good news, today and tomorrow, every time we hear the bad news of the world. We sing a doxology to God our creator, praising, thanking, revering all that God has made. Sing doxology in the heart. Sing it with voice if you like, but let us sing it in our lives that others may know our God and come to sing with us the doxology of Psalm 104, “O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.” Amen.

 

*(Brueggemann reference from Feasting on the Word, Year B, Volume 4, p. 181.)