Our bedtime devotionals this past year have been “Indescribable” and “How Great is our God” by Louis Giglio. They are subtitled as “100 devotions about God & Science.” Our kids enjoy the fun facts about creation while we also hear a word that relates this learning to Christian faith. (Disclaimer, sometimes Pastor Dad has to translate the devotion on the fly because the author occasionally makes the devotion too much about what we allegedly have to do for God, instead of the good news of what God does for us)
Psalm 19 will give us much to consider this Sunday about God’s two great books: the “book of nature” and the “book of scripture.” What do the heavens reveal about God? What do the scriptures communicate by words from God?
Verses 1-6, “the heavens declare the glory of God.” There is speech, but without words or an audible voice. God’s glory is demonstrated by the sun bursting across the morning sky with joy like a new bridegroom. The book of nature teaches us that God is great and indescribable. What this means for you depends on the weather!
Verses 7-10, “the instruction of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.” Here the indescribable God speaks words that “revive the soul,” “make wise the simple,” “rejoice the heart,” “enlighten the eyes,” and are “more to be desired than gold…sweeter also than honey.” What this means for you depends not on the “weather” but on “whether” God has tracked you down through His ministry of Word and Sacrament.
Verses 11-14, the psalmist prays, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” The book of nature can drive us both to wonder and to horror. The book of scripture delivers both the horrible truth of our sin and the wondrous joy of God’s grace for us in Christ!
Shalom,
Pr. Tom