The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Psalms 19:1 NRSV
The Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969 was an event that rocked history. As we crowded around our TVs, we watched Neil Armstrong leave the lunar module and step onto the moon for the first time, hearing him say, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was launched, expanding our understanding of the universe. Then, in 2020, NASA placed a rover on Mars, the planet nearest Earth, appropriately named Perseverance (Percy)—a 292.5 million-mile journey.
While David never had the experience of witnessing live-feed transmissions from the heavens, he was no less in awe of God's marvelous works. When we look at the pictures from the Hubble telescope, we see the vast splendor of God’s creation. Today, we understand that our universe is just one of many and that our Creator made them all. In creating us, he also gave us the intellect to achieve these fantastic technological feats. However, like David, we merely need to look out our windows to witness the evidence of God all around us.
The hymn “For the Beauty of the Earth” (UMH 92) speaks of God’s creation. Here are the first and last verses.
For the beauty of the earth,
for the glory of the skies,
for the love which from our birth
over and around us lies;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.
For thyself, best Gift Divine,
to the world so freely given,
for that great, great love of thine,
peace on earth, and joy in heaven:
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.
Loving God, we look at the earth with its lands and waters and into the skies and witness your marvels. Your creation's natural beauty and elegance surround us in the color of the trees and the animals preparing for winter. We give you our grateful praise for all you’ve given us. Yet, we confess, as your custodians, we have sadly routinely desecrated and misused these beautiful gifts. Help us to be more aware of how we treat all your creations, not to harm, but do only good and love you wholly. Amen.
Blessings,
Pastor Tim
