Articles
What The Stars Say About God
This week we were blessed to be able to take our two boys for their first trip to the Adler Planetarium. They are fascinated by all things about space, planets, and rockets so this was very exciting for them. As we wandered through the exhibits and watched educational videos I was struck by an important realization. Though many astronomers may not believe in God or creation they search the stars for the answer to the same question we do; “Where did we come from and what is our purpose here?” As the Psalmist looked up and considered the heavens he wondered this same thing. In this week’s article I would like to consider what the Psalms can teach us about these questions.
God uses the heavens to teach us about Himself. “O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens!” (Psalm 8:1). David recognized the power, the beauty, and the intelligence behind the heavens. He knew that God was declaring something about Himself in what He made and how glorious He made it. It truly takes a fool to completely deny the existence of divine intelligence. The more we learn the more we realize the perfection and harmony of the universe.
God uses the heavens to tell us about ourselves. “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him?” (Psalm 8:3-4). David realized that we are tiny when compared to the universe. He also realized that despite this God chose to place us into an important place in creation. This means that we are both humbled and exalted as we consider the power of God. I need both of these lessons constantly!
God uses the stars to tell us to listen to His words. Psalm 19 famously begins with “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands” and ends with the writer discussing his love for the Word of God. The same God who breathed out the universe with His words breathed out His Word into inspired prophets who wrote it down for us (Psalm 33:6). If God can say “Let there be light” and it suddenly exists out of nothingness then why are we often hesitant to listen to and heed His words? When He commands something, who are we to question it? In Romans Paul says that through creation the existence of God and the might of his power have been clearly displayed, yet people have consistently ignored it in favor of their own deluded ways (Rom. 1:18-22). When discussing the objection of his audience that some people might have an excuse for evil because they hadn’t heard the Gospel the proof that Paul gives is straight from Psalm 19…look to the heavens, of course everyone has heard (Rom. 10:18).
One last thought, we may worry about the same thing as the Romans. What if there is someone in a dark place that has never heard the Gospel? How ill they ever learn about Jesus, the stars and planets aren’t enough to teach the entire Gospel of course. Paul makes an interesting point about this. He says that God has created Christians to be lights in a dark world to teach others, the language of Philippians 2:15 is literally “luminaries in the cosmos.” WE are to be the ones who shine in the darkness and point others to our glorious creator. How are you doing with this? Is your star light shining? If not, why not.
