is “renew a right spirit within me” (51:10). The verb חדשׁ (khadash) could be translated “make anew” or “create something new.”102 The same verbs are parallel in 104:30. The verb קנה (qanah), which normally means “to buy” or “to acquire” can rarely mean “to create,”103 as it does in 139:13.104 An additional verse counted in the totals but not noted in the table is 90:2, which uses the verbs ילד (yalad) and חיל (khiyl ): “Before the mountains were brought forth [literally, “were born”], or ever thou hadst formed [literally, “brought forth by labor pains”] the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” Additionally, there are five verbs not included in the table but used in contexts of creation and in parallel with verbs in the table: (1) נטע (nata‘), “planted the ear” (94:9); (2) נטה (natah), “stretchest out the heavens” (104:2); (3) רקע (raqa‘), “stretched out the earth” (136:6); (4) סכך (sakak), “wove me in my mother’s womb” (139:13); (5) עמד (hiphil of ‘amad), “stablished them for ever” (148:6). These provide us with pictures of the ease of God’s creative work: like planting a shoot, spreading a piece of cloth, hammering a piece of metal, weaving cloth, or hanging a door.
Table 4.1 Terminology in Psalms for Creation
| Hebrew | English | # | References | Totals: Ps./all OT |
| ברא | create | 6 | 51:10; 89:12, 47; 102:18; 104:30; 148:5 | 6/54 |
| עשׂה | make | 17 | 33:6; 86:9; 95:5, 6; 96:5; 100:3; 104:19, 24; 115:15; 119:73; 121:2; 124:8; 134:3; 136:5, 7; 146:6; 149:2 | 110/2640 |
| כון | establish | 11 | 8:3; 24:2; 65:6, 9; 74:16; 89:37; 93:1; 96:10; 119:73, 90; 147:8 | 53/218 |
| יסד | found | 6 | 24:2; 78:69; 89:11; 102:25; 104:5, 8 | 10/44 |
| יצר | form | 5 | 33:15; 74:17; 94:9; 95:5; 104:26 | 7/45 |
| חדשׁ | renew | 2 | 51:10; 104:30 | 3/10 |
| קנה | create | 1 | 139:13 | 3/85 |
| מַעֲשֶׂה | work | 8 | 8:3, 6; 19:1; 28:5; 33:4; 103:22; 111:2; 143:5 | 39/235 |
| פֹּעַל | work | 2 | 111:3; 143:5 | 11/37 |
| פְּעֻלָּה | work | 1 | 28:5 | 3/14 |
Table 4.1 also lists three additional terms. The cognate noun to the verb עשׂה (‘asah) is מַעֲשֶׂה (ma‘eseh; “work”), a word that occurs over 235 times in the Old Testament, 39 times in Psalms. In at least eight passages the reference is to God’s creative deeds.105 In 28:5 מַעֲשֶׂה is parallel to the noun פְּעֻלָּה (pe‘ullah) and in 143:5 to the noun פֹּעַל (pow‘al ). The latter refers to creation also in 111:3.106
Propositions
The many verses in Table 4.1 provide us with at least seven propositions, some of them rather obvious but nevertheless important. (1) God’s work of creation is still active and ongoing. In various of the passages it is difficult to discern between what God did in the original creation and what He is still doing in His work of preservation.107 The psalmist describes the ongoing growth of plant life as creation: “Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth” (104:30). Procreation becomes labeled as creation: “For you created my inmost being” (139:13, NIV).108 The close connection between creation and preservation appears also in 102:18b and 149:2a.
(2) The means of creation is God’s spoken word. “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth” (33:6). I believe that God the Father gave commands like “Let there be light” (Gen. 1:3), and God the Son implemented the orders: “for he commanded, and they were created” (148:5b). In the next verse the psalmist also calls the command a “decree” (חָק, khoq).
(3) Creation clearly displays God’s attributes of wisdom and power. The psalmists explicitly state that what God made He did by wisdom and understanding (104:24; 136:5). David affirms to God that “You created [כון, kuwn] the mountains by your power” (65:6, NET). John Calvin noted that “When a man, from beholding and contemplating the heavens, has been brought to acknowledge God, he will learn also to reflect upon and to admire his wisdom and power as displayed on the face of the earth, not only in general, but even in the minutest plants.”109 God’s creation power is in contrast to “the idols of the heathen” (135:15): “to him who alone doeth great wonders” (136:4). “For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the heavens” (96:5). Does not this verse express the same concept found in Jeremiah 10:11–12? “The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth …. He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion” (my emphasis).
(4) As the Creator, God acts as a beneficent Father. Just as a loving father gives good gifts to his children (Matt. 7:11), so God in His creative work has blessed His human and animal creation. The creation verse 65:9 proclaims, “Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water: thou preparest [כון, kuwn] them corn, when thou hast so provided [כון, kuwn] for it.” This term for “establishing” by creation or preservation occurs again in 68:9 in reference to God’s sending His rain to restore parched land (see ESV). The psalmist uses the term again as he praises God, “who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains. He giveth to the beast his food …” (147:8b–9a). It is most significant that when 33:5 says that “the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord,” it is in the context of creation (vv. 6–7).110
(5) The work of creation is a key subject in the practice of glorifying God. Psalm 104, often called the great creation psalm, begins and ends with an exhortation to praise Yahweh (see Geneva and NET). In the 32 psalms that mention God’s creative work (Table 4.1), we find words of praise in 24 of them (Table 25:1). If the expression “his mighty acts” (גְבוּרֹתָ֑יו, gevuwrowthayw) in 150:2 refers to creative acts, then each of the closing hallelujah psalms glorify God for creation (146:6; 147:8; 148:5; 149:2). The righteous praise God for His work of creation (33:1–6), but the Lord will judge the wicked “because they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands” (28:5a). If they do not acknowledge that He is the Creator, then certainly there is no praise for Him on their lips!
(6) The work of creation involves an order which is continuing.
