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Psalm 104:5
He laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be moved forever.
3He lays the beams of his rooms in the waters. He makes the clouds his chariot. He walks on the wings of the wind.
4He makes his messengers winds, and his servants flames of fire.
5He laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be moved forever.
6You covered it with the deep as with a cloak. The waters stood above the mountains.
7At your rebuke they fled. At the voice of your thunder they hurried away.
Notice
The earth’s foundations lend this song a sense of firmness and scale: the ground beneath human life is itself the work of God.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What changes in your view of familiar ground when you picture God laying its foundations?
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Where else Scripture says this
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Ecclesiastes 1:4One generation goes, and another generation comes; but the earth remains forever.Both describe the earth’s permanence, with Ecclesiastes setting its endurance against the passing of one generation after another.
Job 38:4“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding.Both name God as the one who laid the earth’s foundations; Job adds a question about human understanding.
Romans 1:20For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power …Both connect the created world with God’s power, which Romans says can be perceived through what he has made.
Job 26:7He stretches out the north over empty space, and hangs the earth on nothing.Both describe God’s power over the earth, using different pictures: foundations in the psalm and suspension over nothing in Job.
Psalm 24:2For he has founded it on the seas, and established it on the floods.Both use the language of founding the earth to describe God’s work, with Psalm 24 naming seas and floods.
Psalm 33:9For he spoke, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood firm.Both attribute creation’s firmness to God’s action; Psalm 33 describes his speech and command.
Job 38:6What were its foundations fastened on? Or who laid its cornerstone,Both use building language for the earth, with Job’s questions extending the picture to fastenings and a cornerstone.
Psalm 96:10Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns.” The world is also established. It can’t be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity.Both describe an established world that cannot be moved, with Psalm 96 connecting that firmness to the LORD’s reign.
1 Samuel 2:8He raises up the poor out of the dust. He lifts up the needy from the dunghill to make them sit with princes and inherit the throne of glory. For the pillars …Both picture the world as a structure God has established, using foundations in the psalm and pillars in Samuel.
Revelation 20:11I saw a great white throne and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the sky fled away. There was found no place for them.Both concern the earth before God: the psalm describes its firmness, while Revelation describes its flight from his presence.
Psalm 119:90Your faithfulness is to all generations. You have established the earth, and it remains.Both credit God with establishing the earth so that it remains; Psalm 119 connects this endurance with his faithfulness.
2 Peter 3:10But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with …The earth is subject to God in both passages, though Peter describes its burning rather than its enduring firmness.
Where this verse fits
Praise and worship. an ordinary day. fear for the future.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The ground beneath your feet can become a reason to praise God. In this poem, the earth’s enduring firmness belongs to the work of its Creator.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).