（诗104）我一生要向造物主唱诗 (Psalm 104) I will sing to the Creator all my life

(ChatGPT was applied for translation from Chinese. 中文在后面)

Every year on the Sabbath of reading the Bible portion “In the beginning” (Genesis 1:1–6:8), the Jews begin to read Psalm 104 (and then for nearly half a year, on every Sabbath they read this Psalm 104). https://jardindebreslev.com/en/blogs/news/bereshit-el-comienzo?srsltid=AfmBOoo-SghAcSzK1LxSYswryrCv4haGdgfaCnYYidMhAHjHDsYVhnoe

This psalm praises the Creator for His creation. The Creator created in six days; Some of His “work” each day can be found in some place of Psalm 104. For example:

Day one separating darkness and light,

(20 “You make darkness, and it is night…” 2 “You cover yourself with light as with a garment…”)
Day two separating the heaven and the water on the earth,

(2 “…stretching out the heavens like a curtain.” 6 “You covered the earth with the deep as with a garment…”)
Day three gathering the waters of the earth, dividing sea and land,

(7–9 “At your rebuke the waters fled; at the sound of your thunder they took flight. (The mountains rose, the valleys sank down [or, went up by the mountains, went down by the valleys]) 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.”)
Day four setting up the luminaries that mark the seasons,

(19 “He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting.”)
Day five creating the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea,

(12 “Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they sing among the branches.” 25 “There is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great.”)
Day six creating the animals of the land and man.

(20 “You make darkness, and it is night, when all the beasts of the forest creep about.” 22 “When the sun rises, they steal away and lie down in their dens.” 23 “Man goes out to his work and to his labor until the evening.”)

For these, in verse 24 the psalmist exclaims: “O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.”

In the psalm it also praises the Creator who feeds and sustains the many kinds of life He created:

14 “He causes the grass to grow for the livestock, and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth.”

The psalm also blesses the Creator who both takes away life, and also gives life, and renews the world:

27–30 “These all look to you, to give them their food in due season. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. When you hide your face, they are dismayed; 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.”

We notice that the description of the psalmist of the richness of creation is not according to the order of the six days of Genesis. The psalmist writes according to the perception of his own soul toward the outer world. There is a kind of Jewish legend https://genz.bible/Psalms/104, that after the first man Adam was created, the Creator breathed a soul into Adam. After Adam had perception, he saw the world already prepared by the Creator for him, and from his heart gave praise, and later it formed into Psalm 104.

Genesis 2:7 records, “The LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living soul, named Adam.”

Psalm 104 begins saying, verse 1, “Bless the LORD, O my soul…” Here “soul” is nefesh, in English soul (spirit, life), same as the “soul” used in Genesis 2:7’s “living soul”.

Psalm ends saying again: verse 35 “…Bless the LORD, O my soul! Praise the LORD!”

These two places “O my soul” form an interval, and the praises of the psalmist for the many rich creations of the Creator are within the interval formed by these two “O my soul.”

If we do not have a soul or perception, then we cannot appreciate the wonderful works of the Creator. The Creator made a wonderful world, also made us, gave us a “soul” or “spirit” (nefesh), also feeds and sustains us, lets us live, lets us observe and appreciate His marvelous creation. For these, we should praise Him. So the psalmist says:

33 “I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being.”

Not only do we ourselves need to praise Him, we also must tell others the marvels of Him that we see, let more people know Him and praise Him. Therefore the psalm ends with a plural imperative: verse 35 “…Praise the LORD!”

（诗104）我一生要向造物主唱诗

每年在阅读“起初”（创世记1:1-6:8）这个读经进度的安息日，犹太人开始读诗篇104篇（然后将近半年的每个安息日都读这个诗篇104）。https://jardindebreslev.com/en/blogs/news/bereshit-el-comienzo?srsltid=AfmBOoo-SghAcSzK1LxSYswryrCv4haGdgfaCnYYidMhAHjHDsYVhnoe

这个诗篇赞美造物主的创造。造物主六日创世，祂每天的“作品”都有些可以从诗篇104 的某处找到。比如说

第一日分开的黑暗与光，

(20 “你造黑暗为夜 …” 2 “披上亮光，如披外袍 …”)
第二日分开的天空和地面的水，

(2 “… 铺张穹苍，如铺幔子。” 6“你用深水遮盖地面，犹如衣裳”)
第三天把地面水聚集起来分出海与陆地，

（7-9“你的斥责一发，水便奔逃。你的雷声一发，水便奔流。（诸山升上，诸谷沉下（或作随山上翻，随谷下流）），归你为它所安定之地。你定了界限，使水不能过去，不再转回遮盖地面。”）
第四天设立标识日月节期的发光体，

（19“你安置月亮为定节令。日头自知沉落。”）
第五天造的天空的鸟和海里的鱼，

（12“天上的飞鸟在水旁住宿，在树枝上啼叫。” 25“那里有海，又大又广。其中有无数的动物。大小活物都有。”）
第六天造的陆地上的走兽与人。

（20“你造黑暗为夜，林中的百兽就都爬出来。”22“日头一出，兽便躲避，卧在洞里。” 23“人出去做工，劳碌直到晚上。”）

为这些第24节诗人感叹说 “耶和华阿，你所造的何其多，都是你用智慧造成的。遍地满了你的丰富。”

诗篇里还赞美造物主喂养维持祂所造的各种生命：

14“他使草生长，给六畜吃。使菜蔬发长，供给人用。使人从地里能得食物。”

诗篇还称颂造物主既收取生命，又赐予生命，并更新世界：

27-30“这都仰望你按时给它食物。你给它们，它们便拾起来；你张手，它们饱得美食。你掩面，它们便惊惶。你收回它们的气，它们就死亡，归于尘土。你发出你的灵，它们便受造。你使地面更换为新。”

我们注意到描写诗人主创造的丰富并不是按着创世记六日的顺序的。诗人是以他自己灵魂对外部世界的感知来写的，有一种犹太传说https://genz.bible/Psalms/104，

认为第一个人亚当被造以后，造物主吹气让亚当有了灵魂，亚当有了感知以后，看到造物主为他安排的造好了的世界，由衷发出赞美，后来形成了诗篇104。

创世记2:7记载，“耶和华神用地上的尘土造人，将生气吹在他鼻孔里，他就成了有灵的活人，名叫亚当。”

诗篇104的开篇说，1 “我的心哪，你要称颂耶和华。…”这里的心，是nefesh，英文是soul（灵魂，性命）, 在创世记2:7中就是被翻译成“的有灵的活人” 的“灵”。

诗篇结束又说：35 “…我的心哪，要称颂耶和华。你们要赞美耶和华。 ”

这两处“我的心哪”，形成了一个区间，而对造物主多种丰富创造的赞叹，就在这两处“我的心哪”形成的区间之内。

我们如果没有灵魂或感知，就没法欣赏到造物主奇妙的作为。造物主造了奇妙的世界，有造了我们，赐给我们“心”或“灵”（nefesh），又喂养维持我们，让我们可以存活，可以观察欣赏祂造物的奇妙，为这些，我们要赞美祂，所以诗人说，

33“我要一生向耶和华唱诗。我还活的时候，要向我神歌颂。”

我们不但自己要赞美祂，还要把我们看到的祂的奇妙告诉别人，让更多的人认识祂，赞美祂，所以诗篇结束用的是复数的命令式：35“…你们要赞美耶和华。 ”