The Lord Of The Earth

THE LORD OF THE EARTH (PSALMS 24)

A fifth grade teacher in a Christian school asked her class to look at TV commercials and see if they could use them in some way to communicate ideas about God. Here are some of the results from the kids:

God is like BAYER ASPIRIN ... He works miracles.

God is like COKE ... He’s the real thing.

God is like HALLMARK CARDS ... He cares enough to send His very best.

God is like TIDE ... He gets the stains out that others leave behind.

God is like GENERAL ELECTRIC ... He brings good things to life.

God is like SCOTCH TAPE ... You can’t see him, but you know He’s there.

God is like DELTA ... He’s ready when you are.

God is like ALLSTATE ... You’re in good hands with Him.

God is like VO-5 HAIR SPRAY ... He holds through all kinds of weather.

http://bitsandpieces.blogstream.com/v1/pid/42398_What-is-God-Like.html

There is so much to talk about planet earth, from tornados in the west to typhoons in Asia, from earthquakes to epidemics, from fires to famine. Our planet is resourceful, rich and rough. The study of earth or earth science includes geology (the study of rocks and the earth’s history), oceanography (the study of the oceans), meteorology (the study of the atmosphere and weather) and environmental geology (the study of humans on the earth’s systems. (Wikipedia).

Psalm 24 is much more than the study of the earth – her surface, shape and sights, but her Creator, cause and caregiver. Christians care for the earth as much others. Christian groups such as the Quakers emphasize finding God’s presence in nature and living in such a way that is mindful of their impact on the earth.

What is our identity as a creature in creation? How are we stewards, stakeholders and shapers of the world we inhabit? What role do we have in the conservation and care of the earth?

Meet the Creator

1 The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; 2 for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.

Harold Scott sold cheap shoes. He had a small lorry, and he bought the shoes from the factory and took them from one house to another and tried to sell them to people. He sold a lot of his shoes in small villages, because there were not many shops there, and people did not want to go to the town and buy their shoes there.

One day Harold drove along the street of a village and stopped in front of one of the houses. There was a small boy beside the door. Harold opened the window of his lorry and called to the boy, "Hello. Is your mother at home?" The boy looked at him. Then he answered, "Yes, she is."

"That's good," Harold said, and he smiled. He got out of his lorry, took some shoes from the back and went to the door of the house. He knocked at the door and then he waited, but the door did not open. After a minute, Harold knocked at the door again and waited for two minutes, but again the door did not open.

Then Harold looked at the small boy and said in an angry voice, "Your mother is not at home." "She is," the small boy answered.

"Then why hasn't she opened the door?" Harold asked.

"Because this isn't my house," the small boy answered

The earth did not exist by itself. Behind the earth is a story and a source, but a stranger to many. Verse 1, while read “The earth is the Lord’s,” begins with “To God the earth” in Hebrew. It is an attribution, ascription and acknowledgement of God, like who is the Maker. The earth and the world include earth and universe, the habitat and the inhabitants (all who live/dwell in it), the property and the people.

I asked Perplexity: “How is earth and world different?”

Perplexity: “Earth refers specifically to the physical planet we live on—the rock, soil, mountains, oceans, and the “big rock floating in space.” It can also mean just the ground or soil beneath our feet. World, on the other hand, usually means more than the planet itself. It often refers to human society, culture, systems, and all life on Earth—the social, economic, and political aspects of life. It can also mean “the universe” or different realms in some contexts. So, Earth = the planet; World = the planet plus everything living, doing, and happening on it.”

A song says it well: “We are the world, we are the children” not “We are the earth.”

V 1 Earth World

Planet People

Habitat Inhabitants

Abode Abundance

The clause “the earth is the Lord’s” means that the Lord is the Author of Life, the Architect of Life, and the Anchor in Life. Our breath, our being and our beginning or birth is in Him. This might upset the environmentalists, tree-huggers and hippies; the English translation begins with the focus on the earth, but the Hebrew starts with “To Yahweh…the earth.” There is no precedent for the use of this first word “to Yahweh” in all the Psalms and the Bible, except here. It means the Lord is the origin of life, the owner of life and the order in life.