Daily Scripture
Psalm 19:1-6
1 Heaven is declaring God’s glory;
the sky is proclaiming his handiwork.
2 One day gushes the news to the next,
and one night informs another what needs to be known.
3 Of course, there’s no speech, no words—
their voices can’t be heard—
4 but their sound extends throughout the world;
their words reach the ends of the earth.
God has made a tent in heaven for the sun.
5 The sun is like a groom
coming out of his honeymoon suite;
like a warrior, it thrills at running its course.
6 It rises in one end of the sky;
its circuit is complete at the other.
Nothing escapes its heat.
Romans 1:18-20
18 God’s wrath is being revealed from heaven against all the ungodly behavior and the injustice of human beings who silence the truth with injustice. 19 This is because what is known about God should be plain to them because God made it plain to them. 20 Ever since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities—God’s eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, because they are understood through the things God has made. So humans are without excuse.
Reflection Questions
A basic question is if nature’s beauty is more likely to have happened by accident or on purpose. The psalmist and the apostle Paul came down on the side of purpose, God’s purpose. Owen Gingerich, Emeritus Professor of Astronomy at Harvard, agreed: “Rather than believe that the universe is simply meaningless, a macabre joke, I would prefer to accept a universe created with intention and purpose by a loving God…. the elements are just right, the environment is fit for life, and slowly life forms have populated the earth.”*
- The tools of science, back to Copernicus and Galileo and forward to the Hubbell telescope and even more powerful instruments have expanded and altered the way we understand our universe (e.g., we would no longer describe the sun’s activity in the way Psalm 19:6 did). Does our increased knowledge of the universe lessen or deepen your appreciation and reverence for the Creator’s work?
- What natural places or encounters have most strongly given you a sense of God’s wisdom behind the beauty or purpose you observe? We just saw a conjunction of planets in the night sky. Do you ever find that even the silent beauty of the heavens “speaks” to you as it did to the psalmist? How does what you see in creation around you strengthen (or challenge) your faith in a Creator?
Prayer
Lord of creation, thank you for fall colors, the beauty of music, or the awe I feel as a baby’s tiny fingers grasp mine. Touch my heart with wonder at the good in this world you made. Amen.
* Owen Gingerich, God’s Universe. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2006, p. 96-97.
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Creation points to a Creator - Church of the Resurrection
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