I don’t do it as often as I should, but one of the things I enjoy doing is walking, usually in parks or along trails. Not only is it good exercise if done consistently, but it is also a great way to empty the mind of mental clutter. One of the greatest benefit for me is the opportunity to meditate, to pray, and to feel the embrace of my Heavenly Father in the surroundings. Then there are the times when I am simply enjoying the walk, and nature, and it is during those times that it become evident that the glory of God is everywhere to be seen.
I think the Psalmist David shared those experiences as he sat outdoors tending sheep. I believe that as he probably laid on his back, looking up into the skies, the words that became a part of Psalm 19 took form in his mind – “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language; their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world” (vv.1-4a, KJV). It is as Matthew Henry states, God “not only glorifies Himself, but gratifies us, by this constant revolution; for as the light of the morning befriends the business of the day, so the shadows of the evening befriend the repose of the night; every day and every night speak the goodness of God, and, when they have finished their testimony, leave it to the next day, to the next night, to stay the same.”
Day after day, night after night, a constant revolution. The Message paraphrase reads, “Madame Day holds classes every morning, Professor Night lectures each evening”, no words are spoken, no voices are recorded, “but their silence fills the earth: unspoken truth is spoken everywhere.” It is no wonder that when Carl Boberg, while on a two mile walk through a thunderstorm from a church meeting, considered the power of God on display in the universe, he later penned the words:
O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder
Thy power throughout the universe displayed
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great thou art!
We couldn’t miss the glory of God if we tried. Day and night it is always on display no matter where in the world we are. God has made Himself known and we who have found Him can testify that the “revelation of GOD is whole and pulls our lives together. The signposts of GOD are clear and point out the right road” (v.7a, The Message). For those still waiting to find Him, there really is no excuse. How great He is indeed!
