King David was a great psalmist. Many of the psalms in the bible are attributed to him. In Psalm 19:1-2 David says,
"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge."
Before King David was king, he was a shepherd. He had the pleasure of lying out under the night sky and observing the constellations, maybe seeing a shooting star here and there. During the day he watched the sun move across the sky. He probably observed those neat moments when the sun and moon both appear to be in the sky at the same time.
In this day, we are so busy that we don't even notice the sun except to be bothered by it's brightness and put on sunglasses. At night, especially in the city, you have to work really hard to see the stars. We still seem to be fairly enamored by the moon and it's phases. Not to mention when it gets really big or takes on some beautiful and unusual color as it reflects the suns' light or is eclipsed.
Childlike love for creation
The greatest way to enjoy the glories of the day and night sky are through the eyes of a child. For myself, those eyes first came in my oldest son Ryan. When Ryan was a toddler and learning to speak, his first word was moon. He loved the moon. He would ask for it and when he saw it, his face would light up as big and bright as the moon itself. But when it went out of sight, he would get sad. His whole countenance would change. To this day he still loves nature and science.
We recently had the pleasure of getting up at 5:30 in the morning and watching a lunar eclipse as a family. The stars were so clear in the night sky. It was awesome and Psalm 19:1-2 kept coming to mind and I quoted it a few times to the boys.
Taking creation for granted
I believe David's appreciation for the life of the sky was as vibrant as that of Ryan's with just one difference. A young child does not realize that they are looking at the very handiwork of God. Do you? As adults we get so busy with day to day life that we very rarely look up and appreciate God's handiwork. We certainly don't think of it as declaring God's glory. Oh from time to time, on a peaceful night and somewhere that there aren't many lights, I can get a good look at the sky. When I do I actually remember, to some degree, the awe and wonder that is God's creation.
Do you take God's creation for granted? I know I do. I don't spend nearly enough time appreciating and expressing gratitude for what God has given me. My boys Ryan and Alex know that nature is God's handiwork but at ages ten and six, I can already see them enjoying it, but not with the same awe and wonder that they did when they were smaller.
Teach your children!
What about your children? That's where we come in. Not only do we need to make a consistent effort at appreciating the splendor of the trees, the birds in the air, and the stars in the sky but we must remind our children. We must help them never to forget that, not only is nature there, but it is crying out
"Look at our Creator! I'snt He Majestic?"
"Glorify Him for He has done great things!"
The pics could go on forever but you get the idea
Once you hear it, teach your children to be active participants. Ask them, "Do you hear it?" "Do you hear what I hear?" The heavens are declaring it. All of nature is declaring the glory and majesty of our Almighty Creator. Now obviously this is something we learn to see with our eyes and perceive with out hearts by God's grace. However, we must teach our children to desire to do the same and pray that the Holy Spirit will open their eyes to it.
Creations Revelation, Our Rejection.
Romans 1:18-21 states, and I paraphrase, that the very condemnation that necessitates a Savior is ours, because what can be known about God is plain in the things that have been made. This is known as general revelation. It says that we are guilty and without excuse because we know our Creator and yet we reject Him.
At the fall, Adam and Eve decided that what God had provided wasn't good enough if they could not take of the one tree that they were instructed to leave alone. God's creation has been crying out to us about himself since the beginning. We have been rejecting God's provision and God's authority ever since.
That is why we are all guilty, condemned, and damned to hell. That is why Jesus had to come to earth, take on flesh, live the life of perfect obedience that we could not live and die the death that we should have died. He took the punishment by becoming sin. He took all of the wrathful response to that sin which should have been ours. He satisfied our debt.
Good news!
The good news is, HE IS RISEN!!! He conquered death. Now the righteousness of His active obedience and victory over sin are available to us so that we can have eternal life. Isn't that amazing? We rejected God! Yet, He sent His Son to live righteously and die to take the punishment for our sins; then raised him from the dead so that we could have access again to the Father for all eternity.
All we have to do is repent and have faith. By God's grace we can have that childlike faith which once again appreciates all that God has done for us and yearns to obey Him. If you have never known this gift of faith that leads to belief, repentance, and eternal life, you can have it. Cry out to God. He hears our cries and He can save you and change your life right now.
May we all come with childlike faith and learn to enjoy the majestic handiwork of our Heavenly Father, from creation to the cross, once again.
In Jesus name,
Amen.
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