“Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.”
The opening declaration 'Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, you are very great; you are clothed with honor and majesty' launches a creation hymn that will celebrate the divine artistry visible in the natural world. The address 'O LORD my God' emphasizes the personal relationship, while 'you are very great' establishes the cosmic scale and transcendence. The imagery of God 'clothed with honor and majesty' (labusha hod vaha'dar) uses the metaphor of royal garments to suggest that the divine character is visibly manifest in creation. The verbs 'bless' and 'be' establish the psalm's dual focus: on the speaker's internal act of praise and on the objective reality of God's greatness. This opening declares that the contemplation of creation is itself an act of worship, that nature is the visible manifestation of divine character. The phrase 'very great' will be developed through specific examples of natural phenomena throughout the psalm.
Church Fathers on Psalms 104:1
1. ...“Bless the Lord, O my soul.” Let the soul of us all, made one in Christ, say this. “O Lord my God, You are magnified exceedingly!” Psalm 103:1. Where are You magnified? “Confession and beauty You have put on.” Confess ye, that you may be beautified, that He may put you on. “Clothed with light as a garment” Psalm 103:2. Clothed with His Church, because she is made “light” in Him, who before was darkness in herself, as the apostle says: “You were sometime darkness, but…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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