My wife, a friend we consider our son, and I spent the last week in Alaska. We went there in hopes of seeing the Northern Lights, and we were not disappointed. The picture above (and on my website at www.chucklawless.com if you are viewing this post on your phone) is from our first night on the ground. All we could do is stare in wonder at the sight—a sight we saw the next two nights as well.
As I looked into the skies, I could not help but think of the psalmist who wrote Psalm 19. I imagine him looking into the Middle Eastern sky, thinking aloud, and finally writing these words: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the expanse proclaims the work of his hands” (Psa 19:1). All he could do was look and wonder.
In fact, he could do that every day and night as nature worked its rhythm, sending the message of a Creator without speaking a word:
Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge.
There is no speech; there are no words; their voice is not heard.
Their message has gone out to the whole earth, and their words to the ends of the world.
(Psa 19:2-4a)
Most fascinating to the psalmist, though, was the sun moving across the sky daily, like an athlete running his race and a groom headed for his wedding. So magnificent are the brilliance and the heat of the sun that no one misses its message: “It rises from one end of the heavens and circles to their other end; nothing is hidden from its heat” (Psa 19:6).
The psalmist then moves from God’s general revelation through nature (vv. 1-6) to speak of God’s special revelation through His Word (vv. 7-11). That Word is perfect, trustworthy, right, radiant, pure, reliable, altogether righteous. It renews lives, gives wisdom, makes the heart glad and the eyes light up. It endures forever. The Word is, in fact, more desirable than gold and sweeter than honey.
Here’s what captures my attention today, though: for much of the world (for 4 billion+ people, actually), this psalm must end with verse 6. They can look into the sky and realize there must be a creator behind it all—but they cannot know that Creator has made Himself known to us because they have little or no access to the Word. They cannot know the rest of the gospel story because no one has taken the message to them (Rom 10:14-15).
The best they can do is stare at the heavens in wonder until someone takes the Word to them.
They cannot know the Creator—in fact, the Word tells us they see God’s power in creation but reject Him (Rom 1:20-23)—until someone announces the good news that the One who created the heavens is also the One who came to us as a baby in Bethlehem.
It’s a glorious message waiting to be told. And, how beautiful are the feet of those who tell it! (Rom 10:15). Indeed, this word today challenges me to consider what role I need to play in getting this word to the nations.
How about you?
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If you are interested in listening to a Psalm 19 chapel message I spoke at Southeastern Seminary, you can find it at this link.
