Jonathan Munson, Executive Director, RFTH

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the works of His hands.”  Psalm 19:1

Have you ever seen a sunset that was so beautiful it took your breath away?

Have you ever stared up at the night sky, filled with millions of stars, and felt incredibly small?

Have you ever looked out the window of an airplane and seen hundreds of marshmallow-like clouds floating in a sea of endless blue and thought, “This is incredible!”?

What about the sky above causes us to respond in awe and wonder?

David points us to the answer in Psalm 19:1.

The heavens are the way they are for a specific reason: to “declare the glory of God.” 

When we look at the sky, we’re not just looking at a sunset, some stars, or a few puffy clouds. We’re actually seeing a glimpse of God’s glory. It’s like the heavens are a giant canvas, and the Lord is the artist. Every galaxy, every colorful sunrise, every twinkling star “proclaims the work of His hands.”  

The word “declare” is significant; it tells us that the heavens, and all of creation for that matter, are not silent. They’re speaking to us all the time. “Day after day they pour forth speech,” testifying to God’s glorious existence (Psalm 19:2).  

Consider some of the ways that the heavens declare the glory of God:

• Size
The observable universe is 93 billion light-years in diameter. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is approximately 100,000 light-years across, containing between 100 and 400 billion stars. The sheer magnitude of the heavens bears witness to the power and grandeur of their Creator. 

• Beauty
If He wanted to, the Lord could’ve made the heavens lifeless and gray, as beautiful as a windowless, concrete room. Instead, the heavens are brimming with an array of lights and colors, reflecting the exquisiteness of their Creator. Just check out these recent images from the James Webb telescope.

• Order
Our Lord is a God of order, not chaos. He governs the universe through various natural laws. For example, every day, the sun rises and the sun sets. The gravitational pull of the moon causes the tides to rise and fall. Yet, we take it all for granted. Imagine the chaos that would ensue if the Lord took His hands off the wheel, so to speak?   

• Complex Engineering
The Lord made the heavens with unparalleled precision. Take Earth’s position in the solar system, for instance. If our planet was just 2% closer to the sun, it would be too hot for water to exist.  This didn’t happen because of some random cosmological accident. No, with great specificity, the Lord set the world in the perfect place for life to thrive. 

In all these ways (and more) the Lord constantly speaks to us through His creation. Yet, most people are either too busy to pay attention or choose to ignore His voice entirely.

How about you? Do you ignore His voice?

There was a day when the heavens didn’t just speak of the glory of God; they shouted. A day when, for three hours, the skies grew dark in the middle of the afternoon (Matthew 27:45). Darkness was the Father’s way of showing His anguish and announcing His righteous judgment. There, on an old, rugged cross, God’s glory was on display.  Jesus, the Son of God, suffered and died for the sins of mankind.  

But of course, the story does not end there. 

Three days later, as a brilliant sunrise lit up the sky, the heavens proclaimed the Artist’s magnum opus – an empty tomb. 

Friends, I know this world is filled with suffering and difficulty.

But it is also filled with God’s beauty and glory.

We just have to pause long enough to notice…  

With great intentionality today, may we accept David’s invitation to gaze upward and behold the glory of God. 

DIG DEEPER
Read “What Does It Mean that the Heavens Declare the Glory of God?” at GotQuestions.org