12-18-2019

Good Morning All, 

       Psalm 104:34; “May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord.”

       As an aid to this devotion, I would encourage you to read all of Psalm 104 when you can.  This is an interesting psalm which teaches us a great truth.  It is a psalm of praise in which praise is given to God for creation.  The whole psalm leads us through creation and in it we see the power and majesty that is God.  It speaks of creation starting in verse 5 and going through verse 26.  We see where God laid the foundation, he caused the mountains to rise up, he waters the trees and so on.  This psalm not only speaks to the actual creation but to God continuing to work his creative force within creation.  We can see that in verses 27-31.  We see what a glorious creation that God has made.

    This is the type of psalm to read or remember when you are experiencing some of God’s exquisite beauty.  This past fall my wife and I took a day in Spearfish Canyon in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  It has some of the most beautiful rock formations, flora around.  It has waterfalls and creek flows which are amazing.  It is the type of psalm that, as you read it, you can close your eyes and relive all those beautiful places on the earth that you have witnessed including the sunrises and moonrises, the sunsets and the moonsets, the stars and comets and all the celestial beauty which can cause us to shrink back from the incredible majesty that we see.  It continues to verse 34, our verse which seems like a logical end.  The logical end would be for me to meditate on God’s wonderful creation and enjoying it.  For not only does God provide for us but he abundantly provides for us and we can rejoice in it.

   Yet, the psalm ends with verse 35. “Let sinners be consumed from the earth and let the wicked be no more!”  This sounds almost like a cold slap in the face but it really the call of the Christian with respect to creation.  Our goal, our hope is not that we leave creation but rather that Christ returns and restores creation.  Our hope is for the perfected creation in which creation is no longer subjected to sin (Romans 8: 18-25).  We hope for, we eagerly wait for the freeing of creation (and that includes us) from the pain and the decay that sin brings.  We eagerly wait for Christ to return so that death, sin and decay and destruction will end.  We look forward to the King of kings completing the restorative work begun on Calvary.

   So, we as Christians do not see this world as something to be used and tossed aside rather, we see it as God’s precious possession in need of some fixing.  Some we can do but, ultimately, we can only wait for Jesus to return.  So, for you and me to see God in the beauty of his creation is normal or even expected.  Just as you see the nature of the artist in the beauty of the painting so we can see the beauty and the wonderment of God in his creation.  You and I, as humans, are placed in the midst to care for and enjoy this as God’s precious gift to us; so, enjoy and take care of God’s creation.

Father, the beauty of your creation speaks of your love.  Lead me to care for your creation and to enjoy it and to revel in the sights and sounds, the taste and the texture of your world.  Come Lord Jesus, complete your work and restore your world.  In the precious name of Jesus, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret