Every Created Thing

Praise the LORD from the heavens! Praise him from the skies! Praise him, all his angels! . . . Praise him, skies above! Praise him, vapors high above the clouds! Let every created thing give praise to the LORD, for he issued his command, and they came into being.

Psalm 148:1-2, 4-5

As I watched from the balcony of our cabin on the MM Westerdam one summer morning, the snowcapped mountains of Alaska were so high that they reached the clouds in the crystal-blue sky. In contrast to the strong winds and waves that had sent the ship rolling and passengers searching for antinausea pills the night before, the coastal waters were calm. Brilliant sunlight broke through the layers of clouds as my heart lifted in worship: “Praise the LORD from the heavens. . . . Praise the LORD from the earth!”

That afternoon we saw the Hubbard Glacier, the largest tidewater glacier in North America, a mass of ice over seventy-five miles long and up to fourteen hundred feet thick. I stood in awe of the 350-foot ice wall that rises around the glacier—the same height as a thirty-five-story building!

Do you ever ponder about the one who made such wonders of nature? Scripture says they did not come about by chance. Psalm 148 reveals the loving Creator behind it all—birds and flowers, mountains and vast oceans, creatures of the ocean depths, twinkling stars, sun and moon, vapors high above the clouds. Our earth didn’t result from a random process. It was spoken into existence by almighty God. And today’s verses call us to lift our voices and hearts in praise to the Lord for his marvelous, incredible creation.

Lord, through you all things were made in heaven and on earth, and you sustain all life by the word of your power. I worship you, infinite Creator. Let me never take for granted your glory, which towers over both earth and heaven!

[God says,] “I created beauty to declare the existence of My holy Being. A magnificent rose, a hauntingly glorious sunset, oceanic splendor—all these things were meant to proclaim My presence in the world. . . . This is a gift, and it carries responsibility with it. Declare My glorious Being to the world. The whole earth is full of My radiant beauty—My Glory!”

Sarah Young, contemporary American author and missionary