...all praise to the Creator...

We see in the psalms a deliberate call for creation to celebrate the mountains and hills, the streams and valleys, the animals and birds that live on what grows and flows on God’s care and provision:

“12 By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation;

they sing among the branches.

13 From Your lofty abode You water the mountains;

the earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your work” (Ps.104.12–13).

When we humans are at last allowed on the scene, in God’s creation, we make our appearance, as in Genesis 1, when the stage has been fully set by God, our gracious Creator and sustainer of all creation:

“14  You cause the grass to grow for the cattle,

and plants for people to use,

to bring forth food from the earth,

15 and wine to gladden the human heart,

oil to make the face shine,

and bread to strengthen the human heart” (Psalm 104.14–15).

Then comes the moment, at the heart of the psalm, when God has created the world in such a way that the great lights of the “ sky — the sun and the moon — bring order to the life of animals and humans alike. Observing this, the psalmist celebrates the amazing variety and multiplicity of God’s creation, and the fact that it is done “in wisdom,” wisely:

“19 You have made the moon to mark the seasons;

the sun knows its time for setting.

  20 You make darkness, and it is night,

when all the animals of the forest come creeping out.

  21 The young lions roar for their prey,

seeking their food from God.

  22 When the sun rises, they withdraw

and lie down in their dens.

  23 People go out to their work

and to their labor until the evening.

  24 O YHWH, how manifold are your works!

In wisdom you have made them all;

the earth is full of your creatures” (Psalm 104.19–24).

So God has created man and woman at the beginning of His creation, along with all other things in creation. “In the beginning” then, God created the universe and human life. Paul picks up on this in his letter to the Colossians.

“The Messiah,” Paul says, “is the place where you’ll find all the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2.2–3); and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead — He, through whom all things were made:

“15 He is the Image of God, the Invisible One,

The Firstborn of all creation.

16 For in Him all things were created,

17 In the heavens and here on the earth.

Things we can see and things we cannot—

Thrones and lordships and rulers and powers—

All things were created both through Him and for Him.

18 And He is ahead, prior to all else,

And in Him all things hold together;

And He Himself is supreme, the head

Over the body, the church.

19 He is the start of it all,

Firstborn from realms of the dead;

So in all things He might be the Chief.

20 For in Him all the Fullness was glad to dwell

And through Him to reconcile all to Himself,

Making peace through the blood of his cross,

Through Him—yes, things on the earth,

And also the things in the heavens” (Colossians 1.15–20).

So, the one true God who made the world and all its creatures is to be identified as the one we now know as Jesus the Messiah. This is the place to which Jesus Himself came. It is where He hung in agony on the cross. It is the place He made His own in a new way when He rose again and breathed His Spirit on His followers. It is the place where He has promised to meet with us and to make Himself known through us.

So, take time today and continue to pray the psalms. Enjoy!

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.