Thou makest darkness, and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth.

PSALMS 104:20KJV
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Psalms 104:20 (KJV)

What does Psalms 104:20 mean?

Psalms 104:20 describes how God brings about darkness, turning day into night, which is when the animals of the forest become active and move about. The verse highlights the natural order and rhythms of creation, showing God’s control over time and the behavior of creatures.

The psalm is spoken by the psalmist, addressing God and reflecting on the wonders of creation. In this verse, the focus is on the transition from day to night and how it affects the animal world. The verse is part of a larger passage praising God for the way He has designed and sustains the natural world.

The Hebrew behind Psalms 104:20

  • "makest" (שִׁית, shith): This word means "to set" or "to make," emphasizing that God is the one who actively brings about darkness, not just passively allowing it.
  • "darkness" (חֹשֶׁךְ, choshekh): This word refers to darkness in a literal sense, highlighting the physical change from daylight to night.
  • "beasts" (חַיָּה, chayyah): This term usually means "living creature" or "animal," and here it points specifically to the wild animals that become active at night.
  • "creep" (רָמַשׂ, ramas): This verb means "to move about" or "to creep," suggesting the quiet, sometimes hidden movement of animals in the darkness.

Why Psalms 104:20 matters

  • Psalms 104:20 helps clarify that night is not just an absence of light but something God actively brings about as part of His design.
  • The verse draws attention to the rhythms of nature and how all creatures, even those that seem hidden or mysterious, are included in God’s care and order.
  • This verse connects to the larger theme of Psalms 104, which is a celebration of God’s wisdom and power in creating and sustaining the world, showing that every part of creation has its time and place.

Where else these words appear

“creep” Hebrew H7430 · used in 17 verses

  • Genesis 1:21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
  • Genesis 7:14 They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.
  • Leviticus 11:44 For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

“forest” Hebrew H3293 · used in 58 verses

  • Deuteronomy 19:5 As when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbour to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the helve, and lighteth upon his neighbour, that he die; he shall flee unto one of those cities, and live:
  • Psalms 83:14 As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire;
  • Isaiah 56:9 All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest.

“darkness” Hebrew H2822 · used in 77 verses

  • Genesis 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
  • Job 19:8 He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths.
  • Ecclesiastes 5:17 All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.

“makest” Hebrew H7896 · used in 80 verses

  • Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
  • Job 10:20 Are not my days few? cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little,
  • Psalms 88:6 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps.