SCRIPTURE: Psalm 19/Psalm 20
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. [Psalm 19:1-4] Psalm 19 states that the awesomeness of God is seen in the universe and also in the ‘book’ or revelation of God. Psalm 20 expresses confidence in this God, over all other alternatives. David is 100% certain that nothing or no-one compares to God, and that the best and safest way to live is in submission to God.
People who know God in this way are to witness to this. Our task is to declare the glory of God, to proclaim the work of His hands. But even when we fail in this (which I know I do), or when this testimony is being silenced (which happens often in the world), the message is still getting out. When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: ‘Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’ Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, rebuke your disciples!’ ‘I tell you,’ he replied, ‘if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.’ [Luke 19:37-40]
Apparently, even when we are not getting the message out, it still gets out. Creation itself (the stones) testifies to God’s greatness. The message of the bible testifies to God’s greatness! At the end of time, when God finally wraps things up, no one will be able to say ‘I never knew, I never heard’. The message is everywhere, imprinted in our DNA, written in the solar system, recorded in the ocean depths. This explains why the vast majority of people are religious, they can’t help but sense the greatness of God [see Romans 1:18-20].
This is not an excuse to be silent. Like David, we need to witness to the greatness of God. Are we sharing the message? Jesus sends us out as witnesses to God and to Himself: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. [Acts 1:8] I want to talk more about how great God is. I have a ways to grow in this, but fortunately God has a back up plan: ‘if I keep quiet, the stones will cry out.’
PRAYER:
Lord, may I sense Your greatness and tell others about You. But I do ask for back up – may the heavens and stones help me out today!