The Garden of God

"Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving ... who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth ruin for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains." (Psalm 147:7-8

The heavens and the earth were intended to be a semi-transparent veil through which moral intelligences might see the glory of God (Psalm 19:1-6); Romans 1:19-20), but for sin-blinded men this veil has become opaque. They see the creation but do not see through it to the Creator; or what glimpses they do have are dim and out of focus. It is possible to spend a lifetime admiring God's handiwork without acknowledging the presence of the God whose handiwork it is.

With what joy the Christian turns from even the purest nature poets to the prophets and psalmists of the Scriptures. These saw God first. Their love of natural objects was deep and intense, but they loved them not for their own sakes but for the sake of Him who created them. They walked through the world as through the garden of God. Everything reminded them of Him. They saw His power in the stormy wind and tempest; they heard His voice in the thunder; the mountains told them of His strength and the rocks reminded them that He was their hiding place. The sun by day and the moon and stars by night ... recited the story of their divine birth.

Lord, may I be reminded of Your role as Creator by every created thing I encounter. Amen

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The Wonders of Creation

"Behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth. " (Isaiah 40:26)

If you will really give yourself to study, you will discover that the Old Testament is a marvelous rhapsody on the natural creation. Start with Moses, and when you get beyond the Levitical order you will find him soaring in his acute consciousness of the presence of God in all creation.

Go on to the book of Job and in the closing sections you will be amazed at the sublimity of the language describing the world around us.

Then go on to the Psalms and you will find David literally dancing with ecstatic delight as he gazes out upon the wonders of God's world.

Begin reading in Isaiah and you will find the loftiest imagery. It is neither fanciful nor flighty but a presentation of the wonders of creation as the prophet observed them.

Those men, who were some of the holiest and godliest men of that ancient time, revealed in their writings that they were intensely in love with every natural beauty around them. But always they saw nature as the handiwork of an all-powerful, all-wise, glorious Creator.

Lord, I desire to glory in Your creation, not for nature's sake but because it is the work of a majestic Creator. I bow in wonder before Your mighty hand. Amen

~A. W. Tozer~