God’s glory is on tour in the skies,
God-craft on exhibit across the horizon.
Madame Day holds classes every morning,
Professor Night lectures each evening.
Their words aren’t heard,
their voices aren’t recorded,
But their silence fills the earth:
unspoken truth is spoken everywhere.
Psalm 19: 1-4 The Message
Psalm 19 puts forward a startling truth: the heavens give witness to the power and glory of God. Creation praises the Creator! For those who gaze with the eyes of faith upon the wonders of this world, created by our Lord, something extraordinary happens. We hear stars in the sky, and indeed, all of creation, whisper praise to the Creator, the Lord Almighty!
When I was in college, I took an Astronomy class to fulfill a science requirement. Even though I never would have chosen the class otherwise, I really enjoyed learning about the planets, stars, and universe. We learned about the history of astronomy, and about the different techniques which astronomers use to determine the shape of the heavens. Step outside at night, and its obvious that one does not need an astronomy class to realize how vast our universe is. It is so incredibly large that astronomers measure distance in light-years!
During the course, the professor gave us the opportunity to join him at a empty field behind the campus one evening. He chose that spot because there would be less light pollution there. He had set up three large, powerful telescopes. It was amazing what we could see through them: the rings of Saturn, and the amazing details of the lunar surface.
With the eyes of faith, we believe that all creation, including the stars, are telling us about the Creator. They give witness to His wisdom, power, and glory.
I’m reminded of a song we used to sing at Tall Timber, particularly around the campfire at night, where the stars were so vivid. The name of the song was Psalm 19, and it went like this:
Don’t you wonder why?
The stars are in the sky?
They’re telling you and I of the glory of God!
So let the words of my mouth,
and the meditations of my heart,
do the same thing for Thee,
and a witness be,
to the glory of God!
May we never forget to spend time looking at God’s handiwork, particularly upward towards the heavens. Even without a telescope, we can see inspiring sunrises, the occasional rainbow, beautiful sunsets, and of course, the stars at night.
Jesus said to his critics: “If I were to command the crowds to be silent, even the stones underneath our feet would shout out praise to the Lord!” Both the stones on the ground, and the stars up in heaven, shout out the glory of God.
As we look around our world, may we always have ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts to realize that the glory of God’s creation is everywhere! All creation is willing and able to witness to, and speak of, God the creator! Hallelujah!
Prayer
Creator God,
Thank you for Your beautiful creation, including the stars in the heavens. Like the Psalmist, help us to tune our ears to hear all of creation praising You! Then, may we join that praise! Your created world supplies our needs, but it also inspires our awesome praise. Thank you for Your inspiring glory, seen in every part of creation. We pray this prayer in the name of Your son, and our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
