“By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas; the one who by his strength established the mountains, being girded with might; who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples, so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs. You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy. You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide their grain, for so you have prepared it. You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth. You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with abundance. The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy, the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy.” (v5-13)
This Psalm is primarily about God’s glory and abundance through creation. David makes several notes about mountains, valleys, rivers, rain, grain, animals, seas, sunrise, sunset, basically any parts of creation that he could observe with his eyes. David then mentions how he sees God in all of those parts of creation – God’s power, His abundance, joy, signs and wonders, provision, etc. Having recently traveled through BC, these pictures of mountains and valleys David describes ring true and I agree God’s splendor is certainly revealed through His creation.
Two of my favorite passages on God’s splendor through creation are:
– “But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.” (Job 12:7-10)
– “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” (Rom 1:19-20)
Now those two passages were not arbitrarily chosen from a random Google search – they both make the statement that by observing creation (as David, Job and Paul were), we can come to know the creator – God. Scripture clearly teaches that God created everything (Gen 1-2) and we can know something of who God is from His creation, especially through humankind who were made in the likeness of God. The universe itself displays the splendor, majesty and power of God, but nothing speaks more about the creator than those created in His image.
Here are a few of the passages describing our calling to God’s likeness:
– “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.” (1 Pet 2:21)
– “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Eph 4:22-24)
– “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Cor 3:18)
Father God, I realize that I am far from the ideal image of You. My prayer is that You would please help us to not conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of our minds. Once You have renewed our minds to be in closer alignment with You, we will be able to better discern Your will – what is good and acceptable and perfect. May we learn to follow in Christ’s footsteps, having His teaching and example of being firmly established in the faith, being rooted and built up in You. We are overflowing with thankfulness for who You are and for the gift of Your creation, which points us back to You. (Rom 12:2, 1 Pet 2:21, Col 2:7 par)
~ Conqueror in Training