Tag: creation

Psalm Nineteen (Part Three)

In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth (Psalm 19:4c-6 NIV).

In this stanza, David teaches from a more particular example about the heavens. He says, “Consider how the sun is God’s servant to proclaim his glory!” With the poetic language of appearance (how things look to us in a figurative sense—this is not a science lesson), he compares the heavens to a tent that God has pitched for the sun. What a picture! The vast heavens are like a little tent for the little sun (which is really very large) to use. If you want to see a dynamic presentation of this, on YouTube watch “How Great Is Our God?” by Louie Giglio (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azFFc20_Ub4&t=601s).  If this is so, then how great must be the God who pitched the tent for the sun!

The sun is compared to two people: a bridegroom and a champion runner. Everyday day the sun appears with the virile strength of a newly-married man. He is strong and happy. How much more so the Lord of creation! I used to run cross-country in high school. Yes, I find that surprising also. The most I would run a day was five miles and rather slowly. But I liked to watch truly skilled runners seemingly glide through the course. A high school race is far short of a twenty-six-mile marathon. The sun is also like a marathon runner. Look how effortlessly he runs his racecourse everyday. He enjoys the run, though his circuit is from one end of the heavens to the other. How much more vigorous and joyful is the Creator! And think, this bridegroom/runner has been doing this for thousands and thousands of years without rest for one moment. What then is God who made the sun?

David concludes this description of the sun with a telling phrase: “nothing is hidden from its heat.” Yes, all people everywhere understand the might of the sun. Ninety-three million miles away, and it still sufficiently warms our planet to sustain life! If this is so, then how much more powerful is the One who is Lord of all, who could make such a powerful servant? The calm consideration of this ought to drive all people everywhere to their knees before their Creator.

The sun may be like these things to us, but it is in fact just a very small part of the infinite God’s handiwork. What is so incredibly large to us is extremely small to him. It is his servant to proclaim the extent (“one end of the heavens … to the other”) and penetration (“nothing is hidden”) of his ruling power. Now if you cannot escape from the sun, how dare try to you hide yourself from the Holy One?

The sun with royal splendor goes forth to chant thy praise,
and moon beams soft and tender their gentler anthems raise;
o’er every tribe and nation the music strange is poured,
the song of all creation, to thee, creation’s Lord.
(Trinity Hymnal, #113)

 

Grace and peace, David

Psalm Nineteen (Part One)

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands (Psalm 19:1 NIV).

Psalm 19 is a great hymn for public worship composed by David. Its subject is God’s revelation in nature and in the Scriptures. This psalm calls us to consider the excellent nature of God’s disclosure of himself to all people everywhere in nature. Even though it is of such a high quality, it does not exhaust all that the Creator says to those made in his image. God has also given verbal communication to people in his word, the Bible. Only by this higher revelation may we learn about God’s will and his grace. Then having acknowledged God’s revelation, we must evaluate ourselves based on what God has said to us.

True worship is always the worship of God alone. We do not worship the Bible or the creation, but the God who revealed himself in both creation and the Scriptures. So then, this psalm calls us to bow before the God who is able to communicate clearly, consistently, and constantly with mankind. In a world that continually suppresses the knowledge of God, the people of God ought to rejoice that we know the living God, who can speak! We do not walk in darkness, but we have a steady source of light. Be glad, believer in Christ, and sing!

The apostle Paul also discusses the concept of revelation in Romans 1:18-23 and 10:11-21. There we find that general revelation (God’s witness to himself through what has been created) is sufficient to cause all people everywhere to be without excuse, but it is only the Scriptures that can give the knowledge that makes us wise unto salvation (cf. 2 Timothy 3:15).

Here is a brief outline of Psalm Nineteen:

  • General revelation (19:1-6)
  • Special revelation (19:7-11)
  • Response to God’s revelation (19:12-14)

Verse 1

David uses one general example from creation of how God has spoken to mankind. “Look up and around you to the heavens and to the sky. Both tell you the greatness of the living God.” If we would look at ourselves or at all creation on a microscopic level, we would also see God’s majesty. But David tells us to look at the immensity of the heavens and the skies that surround our living space. Look at them and think about the God who is immense enough to make what to our senses seems to stretch out forever.

Notice that God designed the heavens and the skies to communicate. They declare and proclaim. This is not communication by words but by pictures. From our earliest days, our senses are confronted with these living color pictures that say to us, “Stop, look, think. Who made us and who made you?” As the Hebrew text makes plain, this communication always occurs. It intrudes upon us, whether we will have it or not. God speaks through it in a way that it is always in our face.

The person of faith has nothing to fear from true science, for its only materials for thought and investigation have been formed by an all-wise Creator. The “opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge” (1 Timothy 6:20) are a problem, but never true science.

What do the heavens and the skies speak of? They tell us about the glory of God and the work of his hands. “The God who made us is majestic and deserving of honor. Be impressed by the weight of his magnificence.” In our time, few things seem to impress us. Our attitude is “So what? Let me get back to having a good time.” The creation calls out, “No, no, no! Leave your preoccupation with yourself and meditate on the glory of God.” So then in this psalm David invites us to add our praise of the God who speaks to that of creation crying out his glory.

To think about the glory of God means that we must consider his ability to act, to create, to do. Creation says that the hand of God is its maker (Psalm 8:6; 95:5; cf. 1 Chronicles 29:12; Isaiah 59:1). Here we have God speaking through what he has made to tell us that he is able to make all things. And this ought to furnish ample material for praise in public worship. Is it worthwhile to worship? Oh yes, for we serve the One True God who is mighty!

Grace and peace, David

Meeting God

IMG_0977Genesis 1:1-31

June traditionally has been the great month for weddings, which means it is also the time for anniversaries. This means it is a season when we see family members that we haven’t seen for a while. At these gatherings we also meet people that we’ve never met. I suppose everyone has had the experience of sitting at a table at a party where you didn’t know have the people. This means that we have the opportunity to expand our circle of friends, even if it is only for the afternoon or evening.

Usually, people share some general information about themselves: their names, where they live, their occupation, how they know those being honored, etc. However, when the exchanging of information is done and those who are adept at conversation have others participating, we know that we know little about the other people, except for a list of facts. We have not shared life with them, and so we don’t know who they really are.

In religious circles, people assume that they can know God by learning a list of facts about it. This happens in many ways: in Sunday school or catechism classes, in Vacation Bible School, or if one’s parents were especially devoted to God, by their parents’ kind instruction. When they mature, it is easy to continue the trend by reading books that give more lists of facts about God with philosophical discussion about those facts; namely, theology books.

The true and living God did not write a theology book when he spoke to introduce himself to us. Instead, he told his story. By telling his story, he explains his plans to us and invites us to share life with him. Sharing life with God is the experience of his glory, love, joy, and peace. We glorify him, and he promises a share in his glory forever. As we come to know his story, he uses its message, its good news, to bring us to new birth by the power of his Spirit.

Today, let us listen to the living God introduce himself. In this introduction we do learn facts about him, like in all introductions, but he does this to set the context in which we might really know him, and not merely a list of facts about him. How does he start his story?

  • God introduces himself as the Creator. We can meet him, because he created us and the world in which we live. God does more than tell us the fact; he tells us the story of how he brought us and everything else into existence. He gradually builds excitement as he talks about the creation of light, earth, and sky, to making a place suitable for human life, and on to the creation of mankind, intimating that we are an important part of the story he is telling.
  • God talks about how he created. I suppose that God might have created everything by simply thinking or by direct acts of power. But as he introduces himself, he tells us that he created by his word. Nine times he uses a phrase like “and God said” in this opening chapter of his story. God reveals that his word is powerful. He can speak and bring worlds into existence. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit can speak together about how they will make mankind, both male and female.
  • God makes known his power in his story. Our world comes into being as the act of his will. We are made in his likeness to rule over the world by his sovereign will. God gives us significance by his will. And he gives us the power to procreate and to subdue the earth by that same will. He is the God who can give authority and power to others, while ruling over all by his word.
  • God points out his goodness. He tells us seven times that he makes what is good, including mankind. God gave us a good world and told us to care for it. He wants us to know that he is the source of what is good. We can receive it from him.

God does all this in a form of a story. Listen to his majestic revelation of who he is and how he wants us to know that he desires what is good for mankind. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us (Acts 17:27 NIV).

Grace and peace, David