What is the most foundational thing I know about God?
That he is Creator.
All else flows from this knowledge. And I know it, because it’s being proclaimed with great fanfare, nonstop, all over this planet and beyond:
The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship.
Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known.
They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard.
Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world.
(from Psalm 19)
The Watchman peak glows under a starry sky in Zion National Park
What should be my reaction to this essential and basic truth? Awe and reverence, my soul welling up with deep satisfying joy, which cannot help but overflow in praise:
Praise him, sun and moon! Praise him, all you twinkling stars!
Praise him, skies above! Praise him, vapors high above the clouds!
Let every created thing give praise to the LORD, for he issued his command, and they came into being.
He set them in place forever and ever. His decree will never be revoked.
Praise the LORD from the earth, you creatures of the ocean depths,
fire and hail, snow and clouds, wind and weather that obey him,
mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars,
wild animals and all livestock, small scurrying animals and birds,
kings of the earth and all people, rulers and judges of the earth,
young men and young women,old men and children.
Let them all praise the name of the LORD.
For his name is very great; his glory towers over the earth and heaven!
(from Psalm 148)
Rocks and trees in Zion Canyon during fall testify to the Creator’s glory
Now sometimes my emotions forget the fundamental truth that God is Creator. I start fretting over my life, looking for more worries to add to an already long list of ‘problems’. Or I become consumed by the issues in the world, especially lately the unkind political battles we wage with one another.
And not only do I forget that God is the Creator in charge of it all, I also forget that I am merely a creature. And when I forget my creatureliness, I’m prone to arrogance, to thinking I have all the answers.
Today I needed the Creator to remind me, and humble me:
Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell me, if you know so much.
Who determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line?
What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone
as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?
(from Job 38)
The glory of wildflowers against a backdrop of rolling hills in California
I’m grateful to return once again to embracing the simplicity of being a creature before an astounding Creator God, whose handiwork inspires me at the deepest soul level and tells me of his power, and his goodness:
You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power.
For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased.
(from Revelation 4)
The majesty of the Milky Way in the skies above Death Valley National Park
