2023_01_09 Insight Post- Kim Feld

  -   January 9, 2023

This week’s reading- Psalm 19, 2 Corinthians 4, Job 38, Hebrews 1

Happy New Year! I hope your year is off to a great start. I can’t think of a better way to begin the year than by focusing on the majesty of God. The chapters we read last week and this week, have filled me with awe at how incredible our God truly is. Both weeks have focused on the creation, showing God’s intentionality in all He made. But this week’s reading gives us a glimpse of the enormity of God and His power over all.

I will kick off our week by sharing a few thoughts about Psalm 19. The words are beautifully poetic, describing how all creation declares God’s glory. Let’s look at the first few verses:

¹The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
² Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
³ They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
⁴ Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
⁵     It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
⁶ It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth (Psalm 19:1-6, NIV).

Over the past few weeks, I’ve seen several people post pictures of sunrises and sunsets on social media. They have been spectacular and give credence to the words of this Psalm. Words are unnecessary in the presence of this stunning beauty. God’s creation is purposeful but also for our pleasure and delight.

In the next section, the psalmist talks about the goodness of God’s commands and laws. He writes about them in such a way as to show that they are intended for our benefit, not our confinement. He says they refresh us, make us wise, and bring joy. It’s as if David, the author of this Psalm, is telling us that a God who could create with such precision and detail is someone we can follow wholeheartedly.

This Psalm reminds me of Paul’s words in Philippians 4:

⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things (Philippians 4:8, NIV).

David is writing of the excellence and praiseworthiness of God as seen in His creation. He refers to these thoughts as “words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart” (Psalm 19:14, NIV). He’s thinking, focusing, and reflecting on them, and through that meditation, he sees himself in relation to an awesome God. Meditating on God’s glory leads him to repentance, asking to be forgiven for “hidden faults” and “willful (or deliberate) sins.”

When we see God in the glory of creation and take the time to meditate on His goodness, we cannot help but notice how far short of His perfection we fall. But the good news is that this repentance is not to shame us; it’s to draw us close. God gave us the beauty of creation to enjoy just because He could. Think about it. Our technicolor world could be black and white, but we have a God who knows how to give good gifts. Borrowing from Chris Tomlin, our God truly is indescribable.