Awestruck

[I was on a mission and in a hurry, on my way to a dry fall pool to look for marbled salamanders. And then  on the non-descript grassy path through the woods-- by no means in my mind a destination in and of itself, God arrested my attention and interrupted my agenda. Following is my on-the-spot journal entry.]

There are places in life that demand a slower pace and a deeper appreciation. And these places are far more common than we imagine.

You have brought me to a sacred place to behold your beauty, Lord. And to behold it not on my terms, but Yours. The sudden orange inside the wings of a sunlit comma butterfly can take the breath away.

What is my hurry here? If I must hurry, why even come? It is a time to be alone with One I love. A time to be at peace.

I do love You Lord and I want to love You more. I confess before You the hardness of my heart and the busyness of my life. Let me be still and know that You are God. Be exalted in my life, O Lord. Amen.

"The LORD takes pleasure in all He has made!"

... more thoughts on Psalm 104

Psalm 104 gives great insight into God's delight in His creation, the whole psalm being a celebration of the things He has made. Genesis 1, of course, tells us seven times that "God saw that it was good."  This psalm and other passages, however, make it clear that God's delight with His work didn't end abruptly at the end of Genesis 1-- He continues to take pleasure in the things He has made.

I have to go a step further though and say that I am also firmly convinced that God takes pleasure in sharing the things He has made with others who find delight in them and recognize that they are His work. After all, He created us for fellowship with Him and placed us into this world created so magnificently by His hand.  Think about His walks in the Garden with Adam and Eve before sin entered the scene. What must those strolls have been like?! The cooper's hawk above represents one of many encounters I have had with God's creation that I have felt especially blessed to share in, and that I am fully persuaded He has specifically orchestrated for the purpose of allowing me to share in His delight and bringing me to a point of praising Him in my life.

May the glory of the LORD continue forever!
The LORD takes pleasure in all he has made.

Psalm 104:31

Song of Praise

Almighty God Your Praise is Sung
By sandstone cliffs with ferns o'erhung
By babbling brooks as they pass by
By light and shadow in the sky

By cardinals in magnificent red
By vultures as they soar o'erhead
By fish that dart as I come near
By springtime flowers as they appear

By chipmunk, squirrel and tow'ring tree
By creatures much too small to see
By moss and fungus, earthworm too
All these things belong to You

And should it be as all rejoice
That I alone am without voice?
So to You my life I raise,
Please, Lord, hear this song of praise.

Turkey Run State Park
April 2010

"In wisdom you have made them all"

... more thoughts on Psalm 104


This is the middle phrase of Psalm 104:24. I love the simplicity and depth of this assertion and have come to believe that this is the critical Biblical teaching on creation: that the heavens, the earth, the depths of the seas, and all the creatures contained therein bear witness to God's wisdom and power.

I no longer believe that the validity of my faith or of the Bible as the Word of God hinges on the defense of six twenty-four hour days of creation. Based solely on sound principles of Bible interpretation, I no longer believe that Genesis 1 was intended by God or the human author to be understood as a historical narrative. I have written at length explaining this perspective in "Second Thoughts on Six Days" and I invite you to follow that link to prayerfully consider and comment on what I have shared there. Here I will simply take my stand with the Psalmist in affirming, "In wisdom you have made them all."

O LORD, what a variety of things you have made!
In wisdom you have made them all.
The earth is full of your creatures.

Psalm 104:24