Nehemiah 9:6
Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.
The Levites spoke the words as a confession of God's greatness at the fast proclaimed by Nehemiah. This stood after the reading of the law in Ezra's day, when there was a deep work of repentance and return to the Lord. The people confessed sins and sought pardon, and their leaders confessed their own sins and their people's sins as though they themselves were offenders. The verse opens a recounting of God's goodness to Israel and their ingratitude, repeating His works in behalf of His people and pointing out their sins in turning from Him. Those sins had separated them from God, so that He permitted them to come under the control of heathen nations, thus showing a people for whom He had done so much that He would not serve with their sins. The people acknowledge the justice of His dealings and pledge to obey His law.
The verse declares that God alone is Lord, maker of heaven, the heaven of heavens with all their host, the earth and all things in it, and the seas and all that is in them. As regards this world His work of creation is completed, but He continually preserves and upholds all that He created, so created things do not continue by power inherent in themselves. Nature has no vital power of its own and does not act by inherent energy under fixed laws apart from God. Nature is the servant of her Creator, and God continually uses His laws as His instruments without annulling them.
That preservation includes life itself, every breath and every pulsation of the heart. It includes the earth's fruitfulness and motion and yearly fruitfulness, the orderly courses and march of the planets kept in position, the flourishing of vegetation, animals, the elements, and daily provision for every living creature from the smallest insect to man. All remain dependent on God's active care and power and serve as direct evidence of His all-pervading care and providential preservation. The verse declares that the host of heaven worships God, showing that worship of nature is a farce invented by men who do not know God to keep out of sight the knowledge of the true God.
The deep repentance surrounding the verse serves as an example of the response John expected from his own mission. The truth that God created the world and everything in it, with God and His creative work, is to be kept before the mind in the last days. Minds turned to righteousness that hold this truth will be full of faith and hope and courage. The Bible, preserved by a miracle of God to be the lessonbook, guides into right theories and guards from the vague untruthful human theories prevalent in the world.