Finding God's Glory

The heavens declare the glory of God;

    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;

    night after night they reveal knowledge.

They have no speech, they use no words;

    no sound is heard from them.

Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,

    their words to the ends of the world.

                                                      Psalm 19:1-4

Each day you're greeted with a powerful reminder of who God is and just how glorious He is, if you'll only look up to see it. The heavens declare it in their own silent way every single day. On many occasions the sight of a sunrise, a sunset, the twinkle of stars at night, or the beauty of fluffy white clouds set against a backdrop of bright blue has been enough to bring me to worship. It's as if the human heart is programmed to respond in worship to these small glimpses of God's creative power.

But we all know that there are days when God's glory is hard to see. Days when a thick, dark cloud of gray descends on the sky (or on your life) and obscures God's glory from your view. Days when it seems as if Heaven itself has disappeared. What are we to do on these days?

Psalm 19 reminds us that there is another and more perfect revelation of who God is: His Word. "The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul" verse seven says. The psalm goes on to describe God's Word as trustworthy, right, radiant, pure, firm, and more precious than gold. Nothing in all the world compares to God's good Word revealed best in Christ and without error in the Bible.

So, when you feel a dark cloud descending, when your worship has grown cold, and especially when His marvelous creation is hidden from view: read the Word. Memorize it. Meditate on it. Cherish it. It perfectly reflects who He is, and it has the power to lift your gaze from all the troubles of this world and cast it upon your Perfect Father in Heaven. Only then, when you see Him rightly, can you praise Him truly. But will you stop to look?