We have all heard the famous “In the beginning …” story of creation.
Here is another way someone once described the earth and all of its splendors—including the animals—being created by God.
Psalm 104
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord my God, you are magnificent.
You are robed in splendor and majesty.
He covers himself with light as if it were a garment.
He stretches out the skies like a tent curtain
and lays the beams of the upper rooms of his palace on the rain clouds.
He makes the clouds his chariot
and travels on the wings of the wind.
He makes the winds his messengers
and the flaming fire his attendant.
He established the earth on its foundations;
it will never be moved.
The watery deep covered it like a garment;
the waters reached above the mountains.
Your shout made the waters retreat;
at the sound of your thunderous voice they hurried off—
as the mountains rose up
and the valleys went down—
to the place you appointed for them.
You set up a boundary for them that they could not cross,
so that they would not cover the earth again.
He turns springs into streams;
they flow between the mountains.
They provide water for all the animals in the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
The birds of the sky live beside them;
they chirp among the bushes.
He waters the mountains from the upper rooms of his palace;
the earth is full of the fruit you cause to grow.
He provides grass for the cattle
and crops for people to cultivate,
so they can produce food from the ground
as well as wine that makes people glad,
and olive oil to make their faces shine
as well as bread that sustains them.
The trees of the Lord receive all the rain they need,
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted,
where the birds make nests
near the evergreens in which the herons live.
The wild goats live in the high mountains;
the rock badgers find safety in the cliffs.
He made the moon to mark the months,
and the sun sets according to a regular schedule.
You make it dark and night comes,
during which all the beasts of the forest prowl around.
The lions roar for prey,
seeking their food from God.
When the sun rises, they withdraw
and sleep in their dens.
People then go out to do their work,
and they labor until evening.
How many living things you have made, O Lord!
You have exhibited great skill in making all of them;
the earth is full of the living things you have made.
Over here is the deep, wide sea,
which teems with innumerable swimming creatures,
living things both small and large.
The ships travel there,
and over here swims the whale you made to play in it.
All your creatures wait for you
to provide them with food on a regular basis.
You give food to them and they receive it;
you open your hand and they are filled with food.
When you ignore them, they panic.
When you take away their life’s breath,
they die and return to dust.
When you send your life-giving breath, they are created,
and you replenish the surface of the ground.
May the splendor of the Lord endure.
May the Lord find pleasure in the living things he has made.
He looks down on the earth and it shakes;
he touches the mountains and they start to smolder.
I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I exist.
May my thoughts be pleasing to him.
I will rejoice in the Lord.
May sinners disappear from the earth,
and the wicked vanish.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
Praise the Lord.
