I’ve been outside a lot lately.
A few weeks back I went on a 1-night backpacking trip with my friends. We went to Red River Gorge which is about two and a half hours away from my home. It was short, but getting outside with some buddies, no matter how short a time you have, is always worth it.
Wiser men likely would’ve waited a week or two, avoiding the below-freezing night, but those wise guys would’ve missed out on the beautiful sunrise, and the perfectly clear, cool day of hiking.
We got to see some amazing views in the short trip. We managed to crawl between the narrow opening of Double Arch (not that Double Arch), but failed to reach the top of Courthouse Rock.
I’ve been spending a lot of family time outdoors as well. Any given afternoon you’ll likely find me working in the yard. We had an immense amount of mulch delivered. Roughly 1 full driveway’s worth of it. It took me 7 days of working for a minimum of an hour to spread it all. Anna and I have pulled weeds, planted flowers, and tried to get some grass seed to grow. It’s been great to be outside.
Over the weekend I took my daughter to the zoo (which is always a blast)and then my family went on a “test camp” to see if Nell and Jude could manage tent camping. Everyone survived the night. That alone was a success.
All of this has had me thinking about Psalm 104.
Psalm 104 speaks of God’s glory in creation. A few things stand out in this psalm.
God enjoys creation.
God sustains creation.
Creation proclaims God’s creativity and glory.
We share in the work of creation.
God Enjoys His Own Creation
Just read some of these verses:
Verses 5 - 9
He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved. You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. At your rebuke they fled; at the sound of your thunder they took to flight. The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them. You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth.
Verse 16
The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
Verses 24 - 26
O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great. There go the ships, and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.
As I reflect on my own love for God’s creation and my own enjoyment of it, I have to take a moment and remember that God loves it far more than I ever will. He knows the intricate, delightful details of this world that will remain unknown to me for my entire life. He delights in the works of his hands and all of his works fully depend upon him.
I think of the rock structures that are in Red River Gorge, each one crafted with precision and care. I think of the hydrangea that I planted with my wife in our backyard this week, with it’s pink blooms and deep green leaves. I think of the woodpecker that visits our persimmon tree each afternoon, slowing excavating a nest into the wood. While I deeply enjoy each of these, God delights in them far more.
Not only Does God enjoy his creation - he actively sustains it.
Here are verses 27 - 30:
These all look to you, to give them their food in due season. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. When you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.
These verses tell us of God’s sustaining nature of all creation. The psalm alludes to the creation of mankind when it says “when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust”. Remember in Genesis 2:7, when God details the creation of man?
then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
God is the one who breathes life and the one who removes that breath. How humbling. As I write this, God is sustaining me this very moment. The same is true for anyone who reads this article. God is sustaining your life right now. Every breath comes to us by his good hand.
The New Testament picks up this theme in Colossians. Here is Colossians 1:15-17
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Notice, it says that everything was created by Jesus, that it is Jesus sustains it all, and all of it was created for him.
Each aspect of creation declares God’s infinite creativity and his glory.
That God created all things “for him”, leads me to my next observation. Every aspect of creation declares God’s creativity and glory. This psalm mirrors the creation story, it tells of God’s existence and glory before his creation of the world (v. 1). It speaks of light and darkness (v. 2-4), of sky, waters, and dry land (v.5-9), it speaks of trees, plants, and vegetation (v. 14, 16). It speaks of the sun and moon (v. 19-23). It speaks of sea creatures (v. 25-26) and birds of the air (v. 12). It speaks of animals created to walk on the ground (v. 11, 18, 21). And of course, it speaks of mankind (v. 14, 23, 32-35).
Each aspect of creation declares something unique about God’s infinite creativity and his Glory. Each aspect, from the smallest single cell organism to the largest mountain proclaims God’s glory in it’s very existence. It also invites us to give God glory as we enjoy his creation ourselves. The height of his creation is mankind. God blessed mankind above all other creation by bearing the very image of God (Genesis 1:27).
So I join with the Psalmist in saying (verses 31-35):
May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works, who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke! I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the LORD. Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more! Bless the LORD, O my soul! Praise the LORD!
God invites us to share in his creation.
I’m so thankful for God’s grace in allowing us to see these amazing examples of his own creativity and glory. Even more - I’m thankful that God has created people to share in his creativity.
Working in my back yard is more than just for the curb-appeal. It is a way to give glory to God in my own labor and creation. Here is verse 14 again:
You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth
This reiterates the mandate and blessing given to mankind by God in Genesis 2:28-30:
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.
God made creation for his own enjoyment and glory and he graciously invites mankind into that enjoyment of creation. As we exercise dominion over the earth, we find pleasure in it, it leads us to praise him, and we glorify God as we share in the work that he began and sustains.
So here is my encouragement to you — Go outside. Whether it is simply enjoying a walk through a local park, a hike in the woods, cultivating a small flower garden, spending an afternoon fishing, just get outside who whatever level you are able. See the glory of God in the world he created and let it lead you to worship the Creator.
Recommendations:
This is new. Here are a few things I listened to, read, or watched recently that I thought to share with you.
This or That Podcast - Anchored Hope launched a new podcast recently. It’s a podcast about what we think and why we think it.
Is It Worth It? — An article by
- Samuel's newsletter, Digital Liturgies, is always thoughtful and worth the read.For most of my life, I haven’t been able to stand country music. That’s mostly still true. But Chris Stapleton’s 2020 album Starting Over is different. It sounds like summer and Stapleton is a great song writer.
One of the things in nature that just screams God's glory to me every time is honeybees. They're tiny insects, but when I as a beekeeper open a hive and just watch them exist, it blows my mind. The things they do without having a complex brain for intense thought and planning- they just do what God put in them instinctually to do, their intricate combs, brood patterns, and honey storage, and so many more things. All of it. Truly leaves me awestruck every time, and it all happens because God created every little detail and told them ehat to do.