When God finished making the universe he ‘saw all that he had made, and it was very good’ (Gen. 1:31). One obvious thing this verse reveals to us, God delights in his work of creation. I have spent considerable time dwelling on this thought living here in the Great Pacific Northwest. Marlene and I have genuinely enjoyed day hiking in this beautiful part of the world on our days off. Every time we get out into these natural surroundings I find myself saying, “Wow Lord you did a fantastic work here!” I think that when I've told him that he smiled in agreement, and whispered, “I’m glad you noticed.”
I keep coming on to place after place in Scripture where this same delight of God in his creation is mentioned. Let me just draw a few examples of this out of Psalm 104. This is just one of a quite a number of Psalms that pick up on this theme in wonderful poetic language.
Verse 3 says, “He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind.” Whatever other deep theological truths may be drawn for this passage I have to say that this sounds like fun.
Further down the Psalmist describes how springs of water pour out in the higher elevations of the mountains and they flow down into ravines (vs. 10). Some of the most breath taking sights here in our part of the world are the waterfalls and we have got a lot of them. Each of these cascading waters sings it’s own song of praise to the Lord who formed it.
This same flowing water irrigates the land producing abundant harvests, grass for the cattle, (they think grass is the best stuff in the world), and wine, oil and bread which people really like (we've got wonderful vineyards, and massive wheat fields here in the Northwest) (Vs. 14-15) Not only this, the trees that the Lord planted also get watered and some of them get very tall especially around here. Our house is surrounded by towering Douglas Firs. We love them and want to take care of them, because as creatures made in God’s image it’s our privilege and responsibility to do things like that. By the way, it’s a good idea to thank the Lord for trees and maybe consider planting some more if you find some room for them where you live, because without them we’ve got no air to breath, besides they're beautiful!
There is a lot more in this one Psalm, you find out that when a lion roars it’s his way of asking God for a good steak dinner. You discover the Lord made monstrous sea creatures just so they could frolic around way out there in the waves of the ocean. He made special craggy places in the mountains particularly for wild goats and coneys, which around here we call 'pikas', funny little guys with their high pitched squeals just to let you know you’ve invited yourself into their special territory.
Finally the Poet says, “May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works…” (Vs. 31) All this was created for God’s glory and he rejoices in it. This is ample reason for us to rejoice in the world God made and desire to care for it, don’t you think?
