“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” Psalm 19:1-4
The billboard in Time’s Square in New York City is the largest and most technically advanced HD billboard in the world. It spans a full city block and has more than 25,000 square feet of digital canvas. Featuring the highest contrast LED display in the world, it has wide vertical viewing angles making sure you can see the display whether you are in the darkness of night or in broad daylight. There is another billboard, however, that puts the one in Time’s Square to shame. Creation is God’s billboard announcing 24/7, “I am here!” You can hear God day and night. You can see God in the dark and in the light. When you look up you are not just seeing physical, natural beauty; you are seeing spiritual, supernatural glory.
There are two aspects of the skies above that clue us in immediately to the existence of God. First is the immensity of what is up there and out there. The word for “skies” in verse 1 literally means, “The expanse of the heavens.” Traveling at the speed of light, you would have to travel 4 ½ years just to get to the nearest star. If you traveled 10 billion years at that speed, you still wouldn’t have reached the end of the known universe…and that universe is expanding every day. It is not just the immensity of the universe that reveals God to us; it is also the complexity of it. The word for “pour forth” in verse 2 literally means, “To gush out.” The skies are furiously gushing out the glory of God like a waterfall. Day follows night and night follows day. There is an order, symmetry, and a harmony to the universe that can only be from the work of a divine hand.
There are at least 25 different characteristics of the universe that are now recognized as precisely fixed. If they were to be different by even slight amounts, there would be no possibility for life to exist on this planet. Scientists now know that if either the sun or the moon were 100 miles closer or further away from earth, life on our planet would not be possible.
Abraham Lincoln once said, “I can understand how someone might look down at the earth and say there is no God, but how can you look up into the heavens and say there is no God?” God’s handiwork is on display. The immensity and complexity of the universe is gushing out His glory to the ends of the earth. If any of us cannot see God’s glory in the skies it is not God’s problem, it is ours.
Dear Lord, thank you for your creation and for giving me the ability to soak it all in. I pray that you would remind me each to day pause and look around so that I might marvel in all your glory that is reflected around me. Help me not to skip over your amazing creation because I'm too distracted by things that don't eternally matter. In Jesus' name, amen.
