You have made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting. You make darkness, and it is night, when all the animals of the forest come creeping out. The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God. When the sun rises, they withdraw and lie down in their dens. People go out to their work and to their labour until the evening. (Psalm 104: 19-23)

There are two contradictory traditions in scripture regarding work. In one - perhaps better known - labor is a punishment for eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge.

In the other tradition work is a gift. Just as the sun is meant to rise and the lion to roar, men and women are meant to work. The masculine noun is po'al, translated above as work. The feminine noun is 'abodah, translated above as labour.

The Hebrew can also be translated as to create and to serve. A recent study of happiness found that two of the most important preconditions of happiness are the opportunity to create and the experience of voluntarily serving others.

Work can be a punishment. In certain contexts the same words can mean to be as slaves. In too many cases work is not creative and it does not serve others. When work is only drudgery and merely self-serving it is a source of oppression.

This psalm begins with a vision of God working. Our work is to be a reflection of God's work. In creating and serving we are able to contribute to the fulfillment of God's intention for each of us and the whole of the universe.

Above is The Universe at a Glance by Painted Universe, Inc.