Skip to main content

The Heavens, the Sky...

             Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep. You, Lord, preserve both people and animals. (Psalm 36:5-6) 

There are basically three ways that one could choose to understand this passage. Either the Lord’s love extends only in the heavens and does not reach the earth, or it extends from the earth only to heavens, or it extends from the earth through the heavens, filling both. Given the rest of the passage, the last understanding is the most likely meaning.

So what does God’s love being everywhere that we can possibly go mean? It means we may ignore it rather like we ignore the air that we breath. We only really notice air when it changes by carrying a scent, changing temperature or humidity, moving, or when we experience its lack and return (by holding one’s breath, for example.)

And as an aside, that might be a good spiritual discipline to practice. Hold your breath for long enough to be slightly uncomfortable – to the point where you recognize a need to breath or, lie on your back and breathe deeply, focusing on the air, perhaps in time to this psalm:

(Breathe in slowly) Your love

(Breathe out slowly) Lord

(Breathe in slowly) Reaches to

(Breathe out slowly) The heavens… etc.

Just as the Lord’s love reaches everywhere, so the Lord’s faithfulness. They aren’t things He does, but things He is. They provide immediate life -one can last only minutes without air, and only a split second without God’s love or faithfulness. God’s righteousness and justice are not pictured for us in the same way.

God’s righteousness is compared to a mountain. Scientifically speaking, mountains do change, but generally that change is very slow. Poetically speaking, mountains do not change. They are there forever, unyielding. One can see them a long way off, which means they can seem quite distant. They are a challenge to climb, but by digging into one, it’s possible to find treasure. Because of their terrain, they protect those on one side from enemies on the other. Streams often flow down from the peaks, providing water.

Likewise, the sea may seem far off, and its depths are mysterious, but its tides are predictable but not within our control. We may use them, but not command them. And from the sea brings judgments against which no one can stand in tsunamis and storms. At the same time, it is from the oceans that much of our air is produced. Algae provides more oxygen to the earth than the rain forests do. At the same time, the air absorbs moisture from the sea and deposits it on land, making life possible in the mountains as well as by the ocean.

Do yourself a favor sometime soon. Read a little science. Find a book about geology, meteorology, plate tectonics, the atmosphere, oceanography, or biology. Read it (or even part of it) with these verses in mind, and let science deepen your appreciation of God.

 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Especially to those who belong to the family of believers."

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. (Gal 6:10)   “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.   By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)           Joshua grinned when he saw Rex standing by the door, studying something on the ground. "Hey, man! Are we ready to do this thing?"          Rex looked up. "Josh, I can't do it. We're still best buds, but I can't stand your fiancée."           I've met "Rex" many times. I've been Rex. Joshua (Jesus) loves the Church. He's not a fool. He knows the Church is far from perfect, but she is His chosen bride. The Rexes of this world, who think themselves His friend, turn away from her. "You don't need the Church to...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ssssssubmmissssssionnn

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ . (Ephesians 5:21)             "Ssssssubmmisssssssionnn." Can't you just hear the serpent hissing this most horrible of words? If you listen to the serpent or the world, submission means groveling, allowing yourself to be abused, denying yourself your own humanity. Nothing could be worse than submission, could it?             Submission has never been a problem for me, as long as things are going the way I want them to. The rest of the time? Well, let's just say that while I don't know how to fight physically, I don't know how to not fight mentally. One of the fights I've been having with myself for years is about submission.             My first breakthrough took place on a trip to a bookstore. As I walked into the store, my thoughts were very clear. 1) I was goi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Shark Fins, Triple Dog Dares, Heroes, Villains and Sidekicks

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)            There's a scene in Jaws in which someone sees a shark fin and starts a panic. As   all the swimmers scramble to shore, boats surround the fin, which falls over to reveal two kids. With several guns pointed at them, one of the kids points at the other. The message is clear: it was his idea. In Christmas Story, there's a scene in which one kid "triple dog dares" another to do something stupid. Since it's a triple dog dare, well, what choice does the boy have? There doesn't seem to be any end to the trouble that peer pressure can cause. ...
Post a Comment
Read more