Introduction

Throughout scripture, the natural world is seen as beckoning us to worship. The majesty of creation inspires awe at the greater glory of its Creator, and we are called to join in on the celebration of this glory. Let the witness of the scriptures wash over you and draw your heart into praise of the Lord.

Continue: The Beginning

The Beginning

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth . . . And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.”

– Gen. 1:1, 31

The song of worship commences with the opening words of Genesis. God created. He is the source and master of all that is. As the creation days ensue, we see God create the light and sky; land and plants; sun, moon, and stars; sea creatures and flying birds and crawling animals; and finally, culminating this parade of diverse beauty, humans. And floating over this story is the repeating refrain, “And God saw that it was good.”

This is the original celebration. As the Trinity had delighted in each other for eternity past, now God exulted in the creation that He had made to glory in Him.

Continue: Job

Job

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
   Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
   Or who stretched the line upon it?
On what were its bases sunk,
   or who laid its cornerstone,
when the morning stars sang together
   and all the sons of God shouted for joy?”

– Job 38:4-7

Job faces the devastating loss of his property, his children, and finally his own health. He cries out to God for this undeserved suffering, and at the end of the story, God speaks to Job. For four long chapters, God asserts His majesty by describing the grandeur of the natural world, the creation of which He is Master. He confronts Job with a series of questions:

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? (38:4)
Who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb? (38:8)
Have you commanded the morning since your days began? (38:12)
Have you entered into the springs of the sea? (38:16)
Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loose the cords of Orion? (38:31)
Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that a flood of waters may cover you? (38:34)

Job cannot answer, for there is only one Master of creation. God then describes the wild animals of which He is creator and lord: lion and raven; mountain goat and wild donkey; ox, ostrich, and horse; hawk and eagle; and finally, the two great monsters, the behemoth and the leviathan. In the end, Job repents and praises God’s greatness:

Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. (42:4)

Like Job, the created world, which we know only in part, should instill in us awe for the Creator who knows it in full and is its Lord.

Continue: The Psalms

The Psalms

“The heavens declare the glory of God,
   and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
   and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words,
   whose voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out through all the earth,
   and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
   which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
   and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
   and its circuit to the end of them,
   and there is nothing hidden from its heat.”

—Psalm 19:1-6

The Psalms call us to worship God in a myriad of ways, and they portray the natural world as both inspiration and source of this worship. In Psalm 19 proclaims, “The heavens declare the glory of God . . . their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.” We do not start the chorus of worship; we merely join with creation in its ongoing song.

As we meditate on creation, we marvel at how great God is and how small we are, joining David in Psalm 8:

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens . . . When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?

In creation, we hear the voice of the Lord, described in Psalm 29:

The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over many waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty . . . The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire. The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness . . . The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare.

And with the writer of Psalm 104, we see God’s action in the world:

You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills; they give drink to every beast of the field . . . You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate . . . He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting.

As we see that truly “the world is charged with the grandeur of God,”1 we cannot help but break into worship. We join in on the chorus of Psalm 104:

O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.

And with Psalm 148, we call out to creation to continue in its song of praise:

Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise him in the heights! . . . Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars! Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens! . . . Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling his word! Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars! Beasts and all livestock, creeping things and flying birds!

Continue: The Prophets

The Prophets

“He who made the Pleiades and Orion,
   and turns deep darkness into the morning
   and darkens the day into night,
who calls for the waters of the sea
   and pours them out on the surface of the earth,
the LORD is his name; who makes destruction flash forth against the strong,
   so that destruction comes upon the fortress.”

—Amos 5:8-9

“For you shall go out in joy
   and be led forth in peace;
 the mountains and the hills before you
   shall break forth into singing,
   and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”

—Isaiah 55:12

The witness of worship continues in the Prophets. At times, the grandeur of the natural world is used as warning. The Maker of sky and sea is mighty, and He will bring judgment on those who disobey His command. In the passage above, Amos points to the stars and the waters, and calls Israel to behold their Maker:

The LORD is his name; who makes destruction flash forth against the strong, so that destruction comes upon the fortress.

Judgment will come if they do not repent of their idolatry and acts of injustice.

In other prophecies, images from the created world are used in promises of hope. Isaiah likens the sure effectiveness of God’s command with the rain and snow:

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose.

Isaiah follows this with an image of restoration, where nature itself breaks into song, like the depiction of the heavens in Psalm 19:

For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Continue: The New Testament

The New Testament

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.”

—Hebrews 1:1-3

In the New Testament, Christ is exalted by being proclaimed the Maker, Master, and Sustainer of creation. In Luke 8, Jesus calms a squall on the Sea of Galilee with a simple command, demonstrating his mastery of the natural world. Both Hebrews and Colossians attest to Jesus’ divinity by naming Him Creator of all things and Sustainer of the universe. Colossians 1:16-17 reads,

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

The author of Hebrews echoes this, declaring that the world was created through Jesus, and now He “upholds the universe by the word of his power.” The same creation that draws us to worship God is now seen to serve and be upheld by God’s incarnate Son.

And one day we will be drawn into worship with the new creation, where we see the “river of the water of life” and the tree with leaves “for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22). Altogether we will cry out:

Hallelujah!
    For the Lord our God
    the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult
    and give him glory.
For the marriage of the Lamb has come.

—Revelation 19:6-7

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