12/05/2008
Psalms 19:1 - 6 (HCSB)
1 The
heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky proclaims the work of His hands.
2 Day after day they
pour out speech;
night after night they communicate knowledge.
3 There is no
speech; there are no words;
their voice is not heard.
4 Their message has
gone out to all the earth,
and their words to the ends of the inhabited world.
In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun.
5 It is like a groom
coming from the bridal chamber;
it rejoices like an athlete running a course.
6 It rises from one
end of the heavens
and circles to their other end;
nothing is hidden from its heat.
===
I joined the Air Force to “see the world.” When I joined, I had the opportunity to make a “wish list” of places that I would like to serve. I think Hawaii was the only U.S. location I put. Otherwise, I had Germany, Japan, Australia, England, Korea, and a few other exotic locations. I was raised in Texas and although I had been to a few other states, I wanted to travel abroad as much as possible in the Air Force, because I was certain that I would not have the financial resources to do so on my own.
But as luck (or fate) would have it, my first permanent station was Bergstrom AFB just outside of Austin, Texas. This was such an undesirable assignment that even people assigned to Alaska refused to trade. Be that as it may, a few weeks after I arrived at Bergstrom, a fellow I had met briefly at Technical Training arrived. George Kelly was from Patchogue, New York (on Long Island).
One of the things that George used to say was that the sky in Texas was “bigger” than the sky in New York. Although my friends and I probed to understand this more, I think it was even beyond George’s ability to verbalize. But perhaps it had to do with the fact that in central Texas, there are days where there is not a single cloud anywhere. Contrast that with, say, Seattle or perhaps New England states and the idea of a bigger sky seems to make sense.
How long has it been since you sat and watched a golden sunset? When was the last time you looked up at the starry sky and contemplated the blanket of diamonds that stretches to every corner of the heavens? Do you ever sit and look at a cloudless day and realize that what you see is, for all intents and purposes, infinity?
The sky is a marvelous thing. As my friend George used to marvel at the cloudless, indigo sky, so should we be still and gaze upon this awesome glimpse at infinity. Do you realize that when you look towards the sun (never directly at it, I hope), you are seeing an object 93,000,000 miles away? Even more awesome, at night, you are seeing stars that are thousands and even millions of times farther away than our sun.
It is my deepest conviction that God created all of this and that the vastness of space was created for our benefit, first and foremost, so that we could observe and appreciate the handiwork of God; and only secondarily, as a beautiful backdrop for our existence.
There is knowledge in the stars. No, you are right, they do not have a voice, but they speak of God’s magnificence. The information that we gain from them, as we learn of their incomprehensible distance from us, is the enormity of our God—because no matter how big the universe is, our God is bigger. The entire universe; all that we can see with the deepest probing telescopes—and then some—fits easily in the palm of His hand.
Take time to gaze into the sky or ponder the stars on a clear night and soak in the message they sing: “The heavens declare the glory of God.”
Jeff Justus
Cleff Publishing
www.cleffpublishing.com
©2008 Cleff Publishing, all rights reserved.
Terms of Usage: This devotional may be copied or forwarded for personal use without permission, but must include the author, publisher, web link, and copyright notice. Use in another published work must obtain permission first.