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27 [a]All of them look to you
    to give them their food at the appropriate time.[b]
28 [c]When you provide it for them,
    they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
    they are filled with good things.
29 When you turn away your face,[d]
    they are dismayed;
when you take away their breath,
    they die and return to the dust.

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 104:27 On the sixth day, God enabled everything he had made to fructify (see Gen 1:24-31). All living things on earth and in the sea, whether wild or domesticated, birds, sea creatures, and human beings have some idea of the living Presence by whom they exist (see Pss 145:15f; 147:9). They have their being in God (see Acts 17:24f), and the Lord gives and sustains life by his Spirit. Indeed, God has supreme power over the universe, creating, preserving, and governing all. The lives of all creatures are in his hands.
  2. Psalm 104:27 All nature depends on its Creator for provisions, and he has arranged for everyone to have enough food.
  3. Psalm 104:28 Creatures are governed by the Lord; they are gladdened by his provisions, terrified by his absence, and encounter death by the withdrawal of his breath.
  4. Psalm 104:29 Turn . . . face: see note on Ps 13:2. Return to dust: see note on Ps 90:3.