Psalm 104 He planned it and he brings it about, he is faithful in His provision to all creation.
Read Psalm 104, all of it.
I wonder if you recognise this drab little bird? PP Sky lark, often what we see does not give the whole picture, in nature what seems to be something may just be a small aspect or a glimmer of the whole picture. (SONG of the Sky Lark). As a child I would hear the bird and look for it in the sky, to high to see, until it dropped to the earth, one of God's wonders of creation.
As we continue with this the second week of looking at God’s creation in this time of looking at the season of creation, I am reading through psalm 104, one of the key points of the Psalm is that God is faithful to all he has created. The psalmist in the Psalm gives us another picture of God in his interactions with creation than we had in Psalm 65 last week. The Psalm is quite long and I will concentrate on a few parts of it and discuss some of Jesus interactions with creation and compare them to parts of this Psalm.
The first four verses focus on the Lord and the Psalmists depiction of Him, worthy of praise, great, clothed in majesty and splendor. He rides on the wings of the wind, clouds are his chariot, flames his servants. He is great, for those of you who saw the Louie Giglio video a couple of weeks ago, he pointed out that our God is not some nimby pamby little god, the Sun and all of the stars in their fiery glory were spoken into being out of his mouth. Something to think about over the summer while you are trying to avoid sunburn. A wee fact, The Sun produces the equivalent of 384.6 septillion watts (3.846×1026 W)/second. For those of you who like mathematical figures that is the equivalent of about 9.192×1010 megatons of TNT per second. The most powerful bombs made have an explosive power of around 25 megatons; There are 86400 seconds per day and this is just one of around 100 Billion of stars that make up our galaxy, which is one of billions of galaxies in the universe. As we think about those words let there be light it puts God into a different perspective, An all-powerful perspective.
But back to something that is a little more within the realms of my own personal understanding; verse six. The Psalmist refers to the passage of water and how it is placed where it is on earth, there is a reference in the verse and verse seven to both creation and Noah’s flood. At creation hearing God’s rebuke the Psalmist tells us the waters fled. If you read last week's newsletter the cover discusses Jesus’ interaction with the waves on Lake Galilee and how the wind and waves became calm at Jesus rebuke. To do this is to affect all the weather in that area of the middle east as it is all interconnected. Some commentators see this as echo of God’s interaction with creation.
The following verses from verse six to eleven, are all about God’s provision of water.
The Psalmist mentions the boundaries post the Great Flood, that’s Noah’s flood that the waters could no longer cross.
Verse 10, God makes springs pour water into the ravines, the water flows in streams and rivers between the mountains, all part of the great design.
The wild donkeys and all animals including birds are provided with water. The land is satisfied with water; the mountains are watered also.
The mountains are watered from the upper chambers, the land is satisfied. The thinking of the Psalmist is that all of creation receives its due amount of water. The soil, the creatures, the plants, all that flora and fauna get a fill of water, life encouraging and sustaining water. God provides in balance. What is it Jesus says about the spiritual water that he provides? John 4:14 “but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
God has provided and he calls on his people to provide for others. In the book of Revelation chapters 21 and 22 God declares he will give water in the new Jerusalem for example “To all who are thirsty I will give the springs of the water of life without charge.” 21:6.
The Psalmist tells us, the grass grows, the cattle are well feed, the land is cultivated, there are plants cultivated, initially all is provided by God, food for all. In this season of political mayhem, with the upcoming election, it is good to know that there is such a thing as a free lunch when God is providing. He is faithful to all of creation, he has planned it and brings it about. Our part is to sometimes pass on that free lunch, even if it is something that we have had to work for, to give it away. This is a social justice and faith issue. Or to quote The Russian philosopher, theologian and Christian Existentialist Nikolai Berdyaev “The question of bread for myself is a material question, but the question of bread for my neighbor is a spiritual question.” Fairly deep eh!
The Psalmist touches on a good number of things in the second half of the Psalm.
God made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down. Interestingly new moons do mark the seasons, if you are a fisherman or a gardener you may note the influence of the moon on those activities.
In regard to the sun our bodies are continually responding to the light of the sun and our internal circadian rhythms play a huge part in establishing our sleep and waking patterns and also some of our hormone levels day to day to ensure we rest and sleep at the right times. There is a lot going on automatically by design in our bodies we don’t control. As the scripture tells us, “you are fearfully and wonderfully made.”
I get a bit of a kick out of the next four verses as the Psalmist relates how the nocturnal beasties prowl around at night seeking their food from God but during the day it is safe for people to go about their labour, until evening when the meat-eating creatures roam once more, Not too much of an issue here in New Zealand, but in parts of the world, definitely and more so back a few thousand years. As the Psalmist points out addressing God “in wisdom, you made them all.”
The Psalmist carries on and discusses the sea and all the things that live in this vast expanse, the little fish and the large Leviathan, which frolic there. All creatures he says look to God as their provider. Some become pray for other animals, and even in that there is an order of not producing but reducing suffering and controlling disease among animal herds and wider populations. Educator Lyynette Wofford, points out referring to Farley Mowat’s research “...wolves tend to prey on weak, sickly individuals, culling the herds. Even more important, wolves serve to keep herbivore populations in check. In areas where wolves have been exterminated, deer populations spiral out of control, leading to overgrazing, which eventually causes starvation and mass deaths. Large predators keep populations of herbivores at sustainable levels.” (In Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat, if wolves were not the cause of the decline in caribou and deer, then what was? - eNotes.com). This is true for other predatory animals in their native settings. There is an order in creation, a balanced order.
God has given the earth an established order and when that order is disrupted issues arise.
God is faithful to all creation; he planned it and brings it about. God satisfies creation but as the Psalmist points out when our breath, when all things in creation stop breathing, they return to the dust. A not so cherry a thought by part of the process of being created beings.
As Christians we look at creation in a light that was not always evident to others. We know that Jesus rose from the grave and is now at the right hand of the Father in heaven. We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and he has given us his Holy Spirit as the deposit of eternal life.
Jesus is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, Paul tells us this in Colossians 1:15-20: From the world English Bible.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created in the heavens and on the earth, visible things and invisible things, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things are held together. 18 He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence. 19 For all the fullness was pleased to dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by him, whether things on the earth or things in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of his cross.
Or this from the writer of Hebrews, in chapter 1 verses 2 and 3:
...but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
In our relationships with God as we recognise his dominion over his creation, as we recognise the part we play, understanding that he planned it all, that he is faithful to all creation that as individuals and as a community of believers we are to treat what he has given us with respect, to be good stewards of his creation as we put him first as Lord of our lives.
But beyond that point we like the Psalmist we can then declare as we understand and respond in our part as created beings, fearfully and wonderfully made that God is faithful to all of creation. He has planned it and brings it about, we as a result have a role, inviting others to life change and understanding, so that wrong behaviors, sinful behaviors are no more, just as Jesus has provided a way providing purification for our sins, he makes this way possible for all, so that peace and justice are known by all. Let us declare like the Psalmist in the final few verses;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
May my meditation be pleasing to him,
as I rejoice in the LORD.
But may sinners vanish from the earth
and the wicked be no more.
Praise the LORD, my soul.
Praise the LORD.
Let us respond enjoying and caring for creation, sharing the Good News of Jesus. That all may come to know him, that their sins may be no more. That all may live abundant lives also.
