BIG!
All Your works shall give thanks to You, O LORD, and Your godly ones shall bless You. Psalm 145:10 NASB
All – How big is the universe? If you want to have some appreciation for the size of our environment, take a look at this. Then reflect on your significance in the vast expanse of the cosmos. You will very quickly come to the realization that it’s not about you!
With that in mind, reread David’s shout of devotion. “All Your works,” he exclaims. Not just the ones that I see on my street, in my village. But all of them. Not just the planet and the sun and the moon and the stars that I can see. No, all of them. All of the 14 billion light year known universe . . . and more! All the works God has done. All the history, all the formation, all the creation, everything praises Him.
“We are not alone in our acts of praise. Wherever there is life, there is silent worship. The world is always on the verge of becoming one in adoration. It is man who is the cantor of the universe, and in whose life the secret of cosmic prayer is disclosed.”[1]
Step back from your pedestrian view of the purposes of God. Step back from your self-centered preoccupation with your plans, your expectations, your demands. Ask yourself what God is doing everywhere – everywhere in the 14 billion light year wide universe. Everywhere among the billions and billions of galaxies with billions and billions of stars. Did you think He just put it there for your pleasure?
And then ask yourself, “If this is only what He made of the physical universe, what about all His works in heaven?” What about the eternal plan for restoration? Don’t all of those works also praise Him? Consider the fact that you currently inhabit a “sublime wilderness” which will someday be completely restored to the seamlessness of heaven and earth (“Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”). Consider the vastness of His presence and purpose. And then ask yourself why you fret about life here and now. Are you crazy? Are you so egotistical that you actually believe you are at the center of His design? Is your view of worship nothing more than thanking Him for doing things for you?
“We do not confess our belief in God; we adore Him. We do not proclaim our belief in revelation; we utter our gratitude for it. We do not formulate the election of Israel; we sing it. Thus our liturgy is no mere memorial to the past; it is an act of participating in Israel’s bearing witness to the unity, uniqueness, love and judgment of God. It is an act of joy.”[2]
Topical Index: all, kol, worship, cosmos, Psalm 145:10
I actually do think He made it all for us. 2 Corinthians 4:15 “For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.” Hugh Ross is an astrophysicist whose ministry is based on the anthropic principle http://www.reasons.org/articles/anthropic-principle-a-precise-plan-for-humanity Of course, we are not to live like it is all about us. Our purpose is to make it all about God. Our relationship with God is to be a mutual love. Here is something else that amazes: after He restores all of creation, he burns it up! 2 Peter 3:10 “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” Why? Because the Yud (Jesus- the strong right arm of God) made this creation, but the Hey( the yud joined to dalet(broken man)) creates the next as an act of love. So what we see in this creation is God making a house (the universe) and making a people to live in it. The reality is that this creation is all about creating His people and together we will create the Olam Haba. What is first will be last, and what is last shall be first. God proclaims the end from the beginning. At the end of the bible, the end of the ages, the culmination of human history, Jesus says ” I Am the bright and morning star”. He’s saying it’s not the end, but the beginning. He proclaims the beginning from the end. These are the thoughts that overwhelm me on a daily basis.
BIG. HUGE. ENORMOUS. IMMENSE. HUMUNGUS. COLOSSAL.
GIGANTIC. MAMMOTH. MONUMENTAL. TOWERING. STUPENDOUS.
ASTONISHING. INCREDIBLE. UNIMAGINABLE.
AND . . . MIGHTY!
“All flesh shall know
That I, the Lord, am your Savior,
And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.” Is 49:26
What a mighty God we serve!
“The Lord has been mindful of us;
He will bless us;
He will bless the house of Israel;
He will bless the house of Aaron.
He will bless those who fear the Lord,
Both small and great.” Ps 115: 12-13
HALLELU YAH!!!
My thoughts-
if we do not worship and adore ABBA YHWH, even the stones will worship Him!
And WE are the Living Stones He has created for Himself!
And, YHWH created us from the dust of the earth!
How awesome for ABBA YHWH to have appointed us as His heirs/inheritance!
And given us such authority over part of His creation-the earth.
Yet, sadly we have messed it up through and through.
Now, all creation is groaning and travailing for the revealing of His Sons, that it may be delivered of the bondage of corruption.
Romans 8: 19-22
Verse 18 is beautiful-For the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the esteem that is to be revealed in us.
Shalom!