wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts.

Psalm 104:10-17.

10 He makes springs pour water into the ravines;
it flows between the mountains.
11 They give water to all the beasts of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 The birds of the sky nest by the waters;
they sing among the branches.
13 He waters the mountains from his upper chambers;
the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work.
14 He makes grass grow for the cattle,
and plants for people to cultivate—
bringing forth food from the earth:
15 wine that gladdens human hearts,
oil to make their faces shine,
and bread that sustains their hearts.
16 The trees of the Lord are well watered,
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 There the birds make their nests;
the stork has its home in the junipers.

Today’s title is “Hearts Gladdening Faces Shining”


What a beautiful passage! As I read the passage, I feel like I am looking at beautiful nature pictures that make our hearts so peaceful. There is nothing spectacular in these scenes. Every scene is so intimate to us. It’s something that we see every day. But somehow each scene of nature warms our hearts and refreshes our minds and souls. Why is it so? I think we feel at home with these pictures because they show our earth's home. We are well acquainted with all the things that are pictured here. They are great companions of our life. All the natures depicted in the psalm are full of life with an abundant supply of water. Nothing lacks in anything. They are all sufficiently fed and quenched. Each of the creatures has secure homes at appropriate places. Like all other creatures, human hearts are also gladdened. Their faces are shining. “What a blessed life!”, you may whisper. But this is nothing but the ordinary life of all the creatures including us humans here on earth. Earth was as good as heaven when God created heaven and earth in the beginning. Today’s psalm simply shows us the pristine flow of life and grace in nature as God created. But what makes these scenes really happy and blessed in the presence of God in the flow of life. All these flows and cycles of life start from God. Life began to tumble down to all the creatures when God makes springs pour water into ravines. He waters the mountains from His upper chambers. He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate— bringing forth food from the earth. Why can’t we fully enjoy the blessed flow of life? Why isn’t our life as picturesque as this? The answer is obvious. We cut God out of this picture. And we tried to replace God’s place with something else. We even attempted to put ourselves in God’s place. That completely screwed the beautiful picture of pristine blessings and beauty. We got to bring God back to the picture. And we can. The Son of God came to reconcile us to God. Through the Son, we bring back God to the real pictures of our life. It will be full of life and full of joy again. We will see God making springs pour water into the ravines of our life. We will be flowing in the currents of life with every other creature harmoniously again. Did you get a picturesque life like this? Come to Jesus. He will restore the untainted blessings for you.