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mountains and all hills, fruitful trees and all cedars, beasts, cattle, creeping things and
flying fowl, to swell the anthem of praise that ascends to God our Maker.
A sense of awe, and of personal insignificance is never far removed from the worship
associated with the wonders of "Nature". This is very evident in the closing chapters of
the book of Job.
"Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast
understanding" (Job 38: 4).
With these words the Lord begins to answer Job, and for four lengthy chapters,
Creation in its height and depth, its wonder and its variety, the stars that form the distant
Pleiades, the crystals that form the tiny snowflake, the ordinances of day and night, the
wonders of storm and rain, the animal creation with its marvelous instinct, all these are
brought before Job by his Maker, and at the conclusion he has to say, "I have heard of
Thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth Thee. Wherefore I abhor myself,
and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42: 5, 6).
There are some who affect an indifference to the wonder and beauty of "Nature",
feeling perhaps that they belong to a sphere that lies outside that of redeeming love. For
a Christian to rise no higher than the wonders of "Nature" in his praise of the Lord is
certainly to be deplored, but for a Christian not to be moved by the evidences of the hand
of the Lord in creation means that God is deprived of some of the glory due to His name.
Let the believer but begin to examine any part of the great creation around him, and he
will soon be compelled to bow before the Lord his Maker. A busy hive of bees, the
development of the chick in the egg, the wonders of crystallization, the marvels of
chemical affinity, the use of light in vision, the phenomena of colour, of spectrum
analysis, of therapy, of chemistry--all these things provide and endless cause for praise
and worship.
"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork"
(Psa. 19: 1).
"The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein
. . . . . He hath made His wonderful works to be remembered . . . . . He sent redemption
unto His people: He hath commanded His covenant for ever: holy and reverend is His
name" (Psa. 111: 2, 4, 9).
Here there is a most evident connection between Creation and Redemption: "He hath
given meat unto them that fear Him; He will ever be mindful of His covenant"
(Psa. 111: 5). His covenant may include much more than the "meat that perisheth", but it
includes no less, for without the basic things of life all other and higher things would be
impossible. The twenty-four elders before the rainbow-circled throne may sing their new
song of redemption, but this is followed by another song, of which part might well have
been sung by the morning stars at Creation's dawn:
"And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and
such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and
glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever
and ever" (Rev. 5: 9-14).