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Pikes Peak, Colorado Springs, Colorado
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"Praise the LORD, my soul. LORD my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty. The LORD wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind." Psalm 104:1-3 New International Version
We don't know who wrote Psalm 104, yet his life is much like ours. This fact might not be obvious to us in a casual reading of this psalm, but we observe this reality when we dig deeper into his song.
The writer spends a great deal of time rehearsing what we, the confessing church, know and believe about God. He is the Creator. All life is dependent on God. The birds that swarm the heavens, the fish that inhabit the sea, and the creatures that walk on land owe their life to God.
Yet there is chaos in this life even for the person who perceives the symmetry of creation. The psalmist saw this chaos. "When you hide your face they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die." (v. 29)
Death is the ultimate sign of chaos. We struggle to makes sense of life in the face of death.
However, the writer will not lose hope. "When you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground." (v. 30)
Along with the psalmist we look beyond the chaos of death. We look to the One who "makes the clouds his chariot and rides the wings of the wind." Death has been crushed by Jesus. His resurrection is our resurrection to a new reality. Chaos does not win. God restores his order.
And so today, even in the chaos that confronts us, we sing with the psalmist, "Praise the LORD, my soul, LORD my God, you are very great."
We don't know who wrote Psalm 104, yet his life is much like ours. This fact might not be obvious to us in a casual reading of this psalm, but we observe this reality when we dig deeper into his song.
The writer spends a great deal of time rehearsing what we, the confessing church, know and believe about God. He is the Creator. All life is dependent on God. The birds that swarm the heavens, the fish that inhabit the sea, and the creatures that walk on land owe their life to God.
Yet there is chaos in this life even for the person who perceives the symmetry of creation. The psalmist saw this chaos. "When you hide your face they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die." (v. 29)
Death is the ultimate sign of chaos. We struggle to makes sense of life in the face of death.
However, the writer will not lose hope. "When you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground." (v. 30)
Along with the psalmist we look beyond the chaos of death. We look to the One who "makes the clouds his chariot and rides the wings of the wind." Death has been crushed by Jesus. His resurrection is our resurrection to a new reality. Chaos does not win. God restores his order.
And so today, even in the chaos that confronts us, we sing with the psalmist, "Praise the LORD, my soul, LORD my God, you are very great."
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You can listen to the Praying With the Eyes broadcast at the iB network on Sundays at 8:00 am, 11:30 am, 1:00 pm and 8:00 pm MDT (www.ibnetwork.us). You can also listen to the show on the iB network on Tunin Radio.
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Text and Photographs ©Copyright 2012-2015 Douglas P. Brauner. ARR.
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