Reflections from Psalm 19 (part 1)

Psalm 19:1-6 CSB – 1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the expanse proclaims the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge. 3 There is no speech; there are no words; their voice is not heard. 4 Their message has gone out to the whole earth, and their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun. 5 It is like a bridegroom coming from his home; it rejoices like an athlete running a course. 6 It rises from one end of the heavens and circles to their other end; nothing is hidden from its heat.

August, 2017. This passage was everywhere. There is no doubt that a solar eclipse is a dramatic, impressive event, and we are right to praise God for his majesty over creation. But the psalmist is not referring to a dramatic event; he is referencing something as “day to day” as the rising and the setting of the sun, and as constant as seeing the stars in the sky every evening.

When was the last time you “wondered” at the fact that you don’t have to wake up each morning and wonder whether or not the sun rose? Or if you would look up in the sky on a clear night and see the big dipper, but it had moved to another place in the sky?

The heavens do shout out without words that God is glorious. He is constant. He is consistent. He is faithful. His sovereignty extends to all creation. There are not pockets of the planet where He cannot reach.

Thinking about the “day to day-ness” of creation brought me to this inspired truth from the pen of James, the half-brother of Jesus:

James 1:16-18 CSB – 16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 By his own choice, he gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. (emphasis mine)

Don’t be deceived into believing that you are beyond God’s care and beyond his reach. Don’t be deceived into thinking that anything you have is because of your own effort or merit in your own strength. Don’t be deceived into believing that God’s Word is true sometimes, but not always; that God’s truth changes with culture; that the truth of God’s Word does not apply to “my” life.

The heavens declare God’s glory — his majesty, his all-encompassing right to be worshiped. Let the rising and setting of the sun and the constancy of the stars in the sky prompt you to trust in a God who never changes. Wonder and be awed that Jesus Christ’s payment for your salvation will never be “not quite enough”

1 Peter 2:24 CSB – 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree; so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

God’s Word is true. Just as surely as the sun rises and sets. Just as constantly as the stars are in the sky. Trying to make God different from who He is results in deception.