See His Glory
“The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship.
Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world.”
Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase, The Message, states the last two sentences of the above passage as, “Their words aren’t heard, their voices aren’t recorded, but their silence fills the earth: unspoken truth is spoken everywhere” (emphasis mine). The creation screams of God’s goodness, power, and majesty. Genesis 1:31 says, “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” Even in its fallen, corrupt state (Rom 8:20-22), the earth reveals God’s creative genius (and in many ways, his love).
There are big, grandiose things that reveal his glory, like a multi-hued sunset breaking through a partially clouded horizon, or Victoria Falls in south-central Africa, or the Badlands of western South Dakota, not to mention the countless stars we see in the heavens on a clear night in the country. Last week, after a day of almost continuous rain (a bit odd for early March), the evening concluded with a thunderstorm, with many lightning strikes so close that you could hear the almost simultaneous sizzle-snap-BOOOOM! God rhetorically asked Job, “Who created a channel for the torrents of rain? Who laid out the path for the lightning?” (Job 38:25 NLT).
There are smaller things, too, such as butterfly wings, angler fish, penguins, and snow. Yes, snow. A flake of snow observed under a microscope reveals God’s incredible attention to detail and limitless creativity. Did you ever stop to thank God for snow? Do you realize that if he had not lovingly crafted snow for those of us in the northern regions, we would be pelted by chunks of ice during any winter precipitation? (Perhaps occasional heavy sleet is intended to remind us of that.) What about the Venus Flytrap, a green plant that “eats” insects by clamping shut with an almost muscle-like reflex so quick that even flies don’t have time to get away?
Consider the miracle of the human body, with all its systems so finely tuned to work together. And the human eye is an engineering masterpiece, an incredible gift which allows us to observe the rest of creation. Going one step further – consider the building blocks of all living matter, DNA. And beyond that, the atoms and molecules that make up all matter. These things all point to an infinitely intelligent and all-powerful designer/craftsman.
And yet some people refuse to acknowledge the obvious. Romans 1:19-20 says, “They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.” He has laid it out there for all to see.
Some people worship the god of “science,” claiming that it somehow refutes the existence of God. But I believe that true science does not diminish nor disprove God; it reveals him – his power, his glory, his creative majesty. Science that is pure – that is not based on a secular humanist agenda – helps us to discover God. Pure science discovers truth about the world around us that God has created; illegitimate science is biased and seeks only to manipulate, to hide and to control.
But that’s what it really boils down to – pride, and ultimately the desire to control rather than acknowledge that there is only one who controls. And he spoke everything that we observe into existence. The Lord, speaking through Jeremiah the prophet said, “Listen, you foolish and senseless people, with eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear. Have you no respect for me?” (Jer 5:21-22a)
Oh, what a gift it is, to be able to see, taste, hear, touch, and smell all that God has created for us to enjoy! He delights in his children discovering and celebrating all the wondrous things he has uniquely and miraculously created. He is pleased when we take the things we learn from his creation and use them to make new things. Like children, we make a castle with blocks, recognizing that he made the blocks. And he made them from nothing!
Take the time to stop and notice the things that he has made for you, for your pleasure and enjoyment. Stop to thank him for the seasons, for the trees, for fresh water, for the hills, valleys, rivers, and the sunset. Praise him all creatures here below!
How Great Thou Art
O Lord my God,
When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars,
I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
When through the woods,
and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down,
from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook,
and feel the gentle breeze.
Chorus:
Then sings my soul,
My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art,
How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul,
My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art,
How great Thou art!
