“May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
May the LORD rejoice in His works.”
(Psalm 104:31)
Full many a gem of purest ray serene,The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear:Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,And waste its sweetness on the desert air. "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard"by Thomas Gray in 1751.
This great poem was written by Thomas Gray, as he had been moved by the thought that on the bottom of the ocean there were beautiful gems that no human eye would ever see, and that in distant deserts millions of flowers would bloom, blush with vivid colors, give off a sweet fragrance and never be touched or seen or smelled by anybody —but God! The psalmist is moved by the same thing it in Psalm 148:7,
"Praise the Lord you sea monsters and all deeps!"
He doesn't even know what is in all the deeps of the sea! So the praise of the deeps is not merely what they can testify to man. It seems to me that creation praises God by simply being what it was created to be in all its incredible variety. And since most of the creation is beyond the awareness of mankind (in the reaches of space, and in the heights of mountains and at the bottom of the sea) it wasn't created merely to serve purposes that have to do with us. It was created for the enjoyment of God.
When I was a boy, my aunt bought me a subscription to Ranger Rick. In it there would always be insights into the world of nature and beyond. One writer, who loves to read his son’s Ranger Rick Magazine, describes an issue that spotlighted the European water spider that lives at the bottom of a lake, but breathes air. It does a somersault on the surface of the water and catches a bubble of air, and holds it over the breathing holes in the middle of its body while it swims to the bottom of the lake and spins a silk web among the seaweed. Then it goes up and brings down bubble after bubble until a little balloon of air is formed where it can live and eat and mate.[i]
Could it be that God joyfully smiles and says, "…and I have been enjoying that little piece of art for 10,000 years before anybody on earth knew it existed. And if you only knew how many millions of other wonders there are beyond your sight that I behold with gladness everyday!" Psalm 104:25-26 says,
“This great and wide sea, In which are innumerable teeming things,
Living things both small and great. There the ships sail about;
There is that Leviathan Which You have made to play (sport) there.”
(Psalm 104:25-26)
Why did God create great sea monsters? Just to play, to frolic, in the ocean where no man can see but only God. The teeming ocean declares the glory of God, and praises him a hundred miles from any human eye. That's the second statement about why God rejoices in his works.
Look at verse 24:
“How many are your works, O LORD!
In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.”
(Psalm 104:24 NIV)
In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.”
(Psalm 104:24 NIV)
"In wisdom you have made them all!" In other words the Lord delights in the expressions of His wisdom. This universe is simply a masterpiece of wisdom and order. Or, if you just take a part of it like the human body —what an amazing work of knowledge and wisdom. Who can fathom the human brain and the mystery of mind and body!
The world is full of the wisdom of God. Take diatoms for example. In December Ranger Rick had color photographs of microscopic diatoms. There are 10,000 known species of diatoms! In a teaspoon of lake water there may be a million of these tiny invisible plants. And what are they doing while entertaining God with their microscopic beauty? They are making tons and tons of oxygen so that the animals in the water can breathe![ii]
“Everyone takes the limits of his own vision for the limits of the world.”
ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER
Meditate on the following passage:
"24 O LORD, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your possessions- 25 This great and wide sea, In which are innumerable teeming things, Living things both small and great. 26 There the ships sail about; There is that Leviathan Which You have made to play there.
27 These all wait for You, That You may give them their food in due season.
28 What You give them they gather in; You open Your hand, they are filled with good. 29 You hide Your face, they are troubled; You take away their breath,
they die and return to their dust. 30 You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the earth. 31 May the glory of the LORD endure forever; May the LORD rejoice in His works. 32 He looks on the earth, and it trembles;
He touches the hills, and they smoke. 33 I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. 34 May my meditation be sweet to Him; I will be glad in the LORD. 35 May sinners be consumed from the earth, And the wicked be no more. Bless the LORD, O my soul! Praise the LORD!
(Psalm 104:24-35)
Ponder...
What images of wonder and awe does this passage provoke?
As you ponder God’s creation what would you add to this psalm if you were writing it? (You may want to see what else the Psalmist wrote in verses 1-23).
As you ponder God’s creation what would you add to this psalm if you were writing it? (You may want to see what else the Psalmist wrote in verses 1-23).
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