The heavens declare the glory of God

Psalm 19: 1 – 4

The heavens declare the glory of God;

    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

2 Day after day they pour forth speech;

    night after night they reveal knowledge.

3 They have no speech, they use no words;

    no sound is heard from them.

4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,

    their words to the ends of the world.

I was meditating on these verses and wondering how the heavens, the stars, galaxies pour forth speech but verse 4 gives a clue; despite there being no speech or sound their voice goes out into all the earth.  But how?

In our light polluted heavens, we can easily lose connection with the sky that David, the psalmist saw. I only once saw anything like that in the Namib Desert in Namibia. I long to see it again. It was stunning. 

There were no human lights, and the sky was ablaze with stars, planets and all sorts of things that I have no name for. It was almost overwhelming. Words completely fail me. It was so bright, so incredible, so majestic, so marvellous you literally felt you could reach up and pluck a star from the heavens. There was not even a tiny space that was not flaming with light. 

Looking at a night sky like that, you can completely understand what David is writing about. Only an awesome Creator God can fashion that sky. If that is what the Creator created, what does that say about the Creator? The heavens do indeed declare the glory of God. 

Though the heavens have no language, no speech, no sound, their voices shout aloud of the magnificence of the Creator. The heavens reveal knowledge that Man is struggling to get to grips with.  Thousands of years after King David penned this psalm, with all our technology, space travel, high resolution telescopes we are only just beginning to realise the vastness of the universe. The Hubble telescope estimates there are 2 trillion galaxies, but astronomers are by no means convinced that they have discovered all there is.

Pillars of Creation - a cloud of gas and dust

I love those photographs that a deep space probe has sent back to Earth – extraordinary sights – unimaginable vistas. Clouds of gas and dust sculpted into astonishing shapes.  

My mind is in a spin – I cannot begin to compute anything of that magnitude. Even thinking about the 6,000 or so stars that can be seen from Earth requires a brain stretch on the edge of my ability. 

David is correct - Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. The sheer magnificence of the night sky shouts out to anyone, anywhere on the Earth below – there is a God, an awesome Creator God and everyone, everywhere on planet Earth can see and hear the song of the stars. 

All glory to God.

 

Trample insecurity

Insecurity with its mate inadequacy can quickly stunt the growth of our identity as God’s children and stifle the gifting that God has placed in us. Insecurity and inadequacy find their place when we make comparisons with others and then we forget that our confidence is not in our own abilities but in God.

We all know we will disappoint ourselves when we fail or do not come up to the mark we have set for ourselves. But we will never disappoint God. Disappointment comes when things do not work out as expected. God knows how it’s all going to work out before it happens, so he is not going to be disappointed. Instead, he sees every failure and perceived disappointment as an opportunity for growth and to have another shot at whatever it may be, until we succeed. What we must not do is give up, especially before we’ve even tried or worst still, never try again. 

We were visiting the Yorkshire Dales, one of the most beautiful hill areas of England known for walks, hikes and even a little mountaineering. We were hoping to take a walk to a local beauty spot but were almost put off by the many, many hikers kitted out in boots, rucksacks and all-weather clothing. Our normal wear, with sandals and trainers, seemed hopelessly inadequate and made us feel the same. With trepidation, we overcame our fears and set off for what was really an afternoon stroll, quickly realising everyone else was also wearing normal clothing with sandals or trainers.  Our fully kitted out hikers had probably not been on our walk at all but had spent the day high up in the fells where their clothing was essential. Our sense of inadequacy had almost robbed us of our beautiful walk.

When we first started playing golf, I too was almost overwhelmed with insecurity when I saw golfers wearing smart brand-named clothing with Ping or Calloway clubs looking very much the part. However, watching them tee off at the first hole and my insecurities vanished as I watched them hit a shot that scuttled along the ground and entered the long grass. All the gear does not a golfer make.

However, this can also all too easily happen in church when we compare ourselves, usually unfavourably with others. We think I could never pray like that lady or prophesy like that man or lead worship like – well you fill in the gap. God doesn’t want you to pray like anyone else – he wants you to talk to him in the way that only you can. If he gives you a word or picture to share, he wants you to share it in your own inimitable style. 

When we let insecurity and inadequacy come into our hearts and minds, we steal not just from ourselves but others who want to hear what we have to pray or share. We’re letting God down too – not that he is bothered by that – but he wants the best for us, and the best is to quash the voices that tell us we are no good compared to others. We are unique, wonderfully and fearfully made with so many gifts to share and so many prayers to be prayed and good works to be undertaken.

Trample inadequacy and insecurity underfoot and be who God has made you to be – a one-off -fully equipped for all God has called you to be and do.