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Psalm 104 reads as follows from the NIV version of the Bible: 1 Praise the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty. 2 He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent 3 and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind. 4 He makes winds his messengers, [a] flames of fire his servants. 5 He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved. 6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. 7 But at your rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of your thunder they took to flight; 8 they flowed over the mountains, they went down into the valleys, to the place you assigned for them. 9 You set a boundary they cannot cross; never again will they cover the earth. 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 air nest by the waters; they sing among the branches. 13 He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; the earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work. 14 He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate— bringing forth food from the earth: 15 wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread that sustains his heart. 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 pine trees. 18 The high mountains belong to the wild goats; the crags are a refuge for the coneys. [b] 19 The moon marks off the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down. 20 You bring darkness, it becomes night, and all the beasts of the forest prowl. 21 The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God. 22 The sun rises, and they steal away; they return and lie down in their dens. 23 Then man goes out to his work, to his labor until evening. 24 How many are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. 25 There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number— living things both large and small. 26 There the ships go to and fro, and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there. 27 These all look to you to give them their food at the proper time. 28 When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things. 29 When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. 30 When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth. 31 May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works- 32 he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke. 33 I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. 34 May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the LORD. 35 But may sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked be no more. Praise the LORD, O my soul. Praise the LORD. [c] The key verse in this as per the touch of the Lord is verse 32 which says, “ he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke. Every verse both going forward and backwards from this particular verse weighs in on the idea of the touch of the Lord being present to what is happening . We often think of the touch of the Lord as something from the Gospels where Jesus touched the garments of the women or the eyes of the blind. But an understanding of this psalm gives that view of the touch of the Lord but also a broader and wider view. Every single verse in this psalm involves action that revolves around the touch of the Lord. Even creation itself is from the touch of the Lord as we see in verse 30 where it says,” When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.” This is an amazing and astounding verse, any hope for being truly renewed, restored, and feeling right again comes right from the touch of the Spirit of the Lord. Long lost hopes can be revived and found again, a renaissance of the new. Every other verse feeds in to the idea of the touch of the Lord. We find provisions for labor, for food, for the creatures of nature, for man joyfulness and health. Part of this comes about with the leading of the Light of the Lord within his touch which comes from light as per verse 2 which says he wraps himself in light as per a garment. In Nehemiah Chapter 9 verse it says,” With a column of cloud you led them by day, and by night with a column of fire, to light the way of their journey, the way in which they must travel.” This touch is something that men and women are allowed to see and contemplate all of their lives. Verses 33 and 34 say, 33 I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. 34 May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the LORD. Whatever your problem or concern, ask for the Lord's touch on it and his light will lead from there. With the touch of the Lord,you are not going to fall off a cliff. He will take care of you and the touch will extend as deeply as widely and as long as is necessary to sustain your way. You can also pray in the manner of intercession that others be touched, included people, lands, continents, situations, plans and so on and the touch of the Lord is all encompassing up what is being prayed for. Even the rising of the sun is out of the Lord's touch. In Isaiah, Chapter 23 verse 11 it says, "His hand stretches out over the sea, it shakes kingdoms." The practical application of this psalm is that we can seek, contemplate, and ask for the visible, tangible, real, touch of the Lord in any area and anything. The touch can extend not only to matters of health as the more traditional way of thinking is, but to matters of finance, of work, of any plans, of any wishes. We can ask the Lord to touch even our contemplations and understandings of what we are contending with. We can ask the Lord to touch our imaginations, our unknown paths, our out of view needs. We need to broaden our understanding of just what the touch of the Lord is. A clear sign in the sky to you is the touch of the Lord to you personally. A clear answer to a specific prayer is the touch of the Lord for you. Even for the once lost, the invitation is there, the signals can be found again, and the touch of the Lord can bring us to our true home both now and forever.
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