Majestic Creation

 July 6, 2024

Most of us today live in an artificial world of our own making. We live in air-conditioned houses, drive air-conditioned cars to offices and factories and stores. The ground beneath our feet is paved with asphalt and concrete, the light from our cities at night drown out the majority of the stars overhead. 

Our scientific and educational systems have explained everything in naturalistic terms; we can predict the weather patterns and even celestial movements decades in advance. The world has become a vast, impersonal place where we happen to exist.

This morning’s reading included Psalm 104, which looks at the world around us in a totally different, and to us, foreign way. Here’s a sample:

“The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment; 

he stretches out the heavens like a tent 

and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. 

He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind. 

You covered it with the watery depths as with a garment; 

the waters stood above the mountains. 

But at your rebuke the waters fled, 

at the sound of your thunder they took to flight; 

they flowed over the mountains, 

they went down into the valleys, to the place you assigned for them. 

He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; 

the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work.

He makes grass grow for the cattle, 

and plants for people to cultivate— 

bringing forth food from the earth: 

He made the moon to mark the seasons, 

and the sun knows when to go down. 

All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time.”

Psalm 104:2-3, 6-8, 13-14, 19, 27 

The ancient Hebrews saw God in everything. They had to be careful to not step over the line into worshipping Creation, but to worship God who made it and sustains it. Our problem is just the reverse: we are so detached from Creation that we cannot see the majesty of our God. We stare into our TVs and computer screens, marvel at the technology that makes it all possible, all the while we’re blind to the mystery of life and the beauty that surrounds us all.

Take some time tonight or tomorrow to step away from the mechanized and electronic world that threatens to engulf you. Step outside, away from the distractions and allure of all we have made, and be amazed at the glorious majesty of God, revealed in his handiwork all around you.