Discovering Creation / ODB

 

Discovering Creation In his hand are the depths of the earth. Psalm 95:4 READ Psalm 95:1–7 Krubera-Voronja, in the Eurasian country of Georgia, is one of the deepest caves yet explored on planet Earth. A team of explorers have probed the dark and scary depths of its mostly vertical caverns to 2,197 meters—that’s 7,208 feet into the earth! Similar caves, around four hundred of them, exist in other parts of the country and across the globe. More caverns are being discovered all the time and new depth records are being set. The mysteries of creation continue to unfold, changing and adding to our understanding of the universe we live in and causing us to wonder at the matchless creativity of God’s handiwork. The psalmist invites us all to “sing for joy” and “shout aloud” to the Lord because of His greatness (v. 1). God’s work of creation—all that it contains, whether we’ve yet discovered it or not—is cause for us to bow down in worship (v. 6). He doesn’t just know the vast, physical places of His creation; He also knows the intimate depths of our hearts. And not unlike in the caverns of Georgia, we’ll go through dark and perhaps scary seasons in life. Yet we know that God holds even those times in His powerful yet tender care. In the words of the psalmist, we’re His people, the “flock under his care” (v. 7). By Kirsten Holmberg How has God guided you through dark places? In what new place or way is He inviting you to trust Him now? Creator God, help me to trust in Your care for me even in the darkest places!

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT Psalm 95 together with Psalms 47, 93, and 96–99 are known as “enthronement or royal psalms” because they use the image of a king to denote God’s sovereign reign over all creation and over all history. Psalm 95:3 proclaims, “the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods.” This psalm is easily outlined into two parts: a call to worship God as Creator and King (vv. 1–7a) and a warning not to reject God as King (vv. 7b–11). The Israelites viewed their national leaders as shepherds (see Ezekiel 34:1–2; Zechariah 10:3). They also spoke of God as their national leader, calling Him the “Shepherd of Israel” (Psalm 80:1), who “brought his people out like a flock; [leading] them like sheep through the wilderness” (78:52). Here in Psalm 95, His people sing in reverent worship, “He is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care” (v. 7). K. T. Sim