Mountain Valley With River and Wildflowersby MuzFamily
19:3Psalms 19:3
There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
There is no human speech or language needed for creation to testify, yet its voice is heard everywhere among every people and nation through all the earth to the end of the world. The heavens and firmament declare glory and handiwork, day speaks to day and night shows knowledge, and their line and words reach everywhere with the sun rejoicing in its circuit with nothing hidden from its heat. That same voice speaks through ten thousand forms perceived by the senses, from sun, moon and stars, mountains, seas, rivers, clouds, rain, sunshine, wind and thunder to fields, trees, flowers, birds, cattle, fruits and precious stones. What it reveals is One infinite in power and great in goodness, mercy and love who created and upholds all things, showing His glory, wisdom, tender fatherly care and wonderful adaptation of all things to human need and happiness, yet nature is His work and agency and not to be worshiped in His place. Though sin has marred creation and left traces of evil so that fallen nature does not perfectly reveal His moral character, much beauty and usefulness remain to show He still loves, and the book of nature agrees with the written word in teaching His character and laws, calling all to contemplate His works, learn obedience that brings life and happiness, and never fail in reverent thanksgiving, praise, faith and trust.
Wordless Witness Heard Everywhere
There is no human speech or language in it, yet its voice is heard everywhere, across every people and nation and tongue, through all the earth to the end of the world. It is the testimony of creation to glory and knowledge, borne without confinement by spoken words and reaching every place and people. The heavens and the natural world make known in this way what has been made, promptly answering when called to testify.
The witness is given by the heavens declaring glory and the firmament showing handiwork. Day unto day utters speech and night unto night shows knowledge. Their line has gone out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world, with no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. With them is joined the sun rejoicing in its circuit as a bridegroom and strong man, with nothing hid from its heat.
The same voice speaks through ten thousand forms perceived by the senses. It is heard in sun, moon and stars, in hills and mountains and rocks, in seas and ocean, in rivers and brooks, in clouds and rain and sunshine, in snow and ice, in wind and thunder. It is heard in fields and harvests, in trees and forests, in flowers and green grass carpeting the earth, in birds with their music, in cattle upon the hills and flocks, in fruits and raiment and dwellings and health, in pearls and precious stones, and in treasures of sea caves and earth depths with ten thousand unnoticed mercies. Mountains molded and balanced so they are not moved except at command, and wind, sun, rain, snow and ice as ministers to do will, belong to this same universal speech.
When called to testify to what has been made, nature promptly does so. The psalm joins this testimony of created works to perfect law converting the soul, to sure testimony making wise the simple, to right statutes rejoicing the heart, to pure commandment enlightening the eyes, to clean fear enduring forever, and to true and righteous judgments altogether. Those judgments and words are more desired than gold, than much fine gold, and sweeter than honey and the honeycomb, warning the servant and rewarding the keeper. Read often, the nineteenth psalm thus binds up created works with law.
What Creation Reveals About God
Creation without human speech still declares glory, power, wisdom, skill, grandeur, character and handiwork, and its witness reaches every place and people beyond spoken language. Hill and vale, rivers and seas, and the plants of the earth express love and handiwork, most fully appreciated as gifts from the Father, and their beauty and grandeur teach power, love and law while pointing the mind to the living God. The works continually reveal love and glory with lessons of wisdom and healing to all who listen, inviting them to know the Creator. The ever-changing scenes of the seasons keep giving fresh evidence of glory, power and love.
All things in nature tell of tender fatherly care even for the humblest creature and of the desire to make His children happy. They declare goodness, mercy and love, and rain and sunshine, beauty, birdsong, fragrance of flowers, fruits, harvests, cattle, fields, flocks and ten thousand unnoticed mercies proclaim love, long-suffering and providential care even toward idolatrous, ungrateful and rebellious men. From the beauty of natural things and their wonderful adaptation to human needs and happiness is learned that God still loves and His mercy is still shown to the world.
The wordless voice testifies that One infinite in power and great in goodness, mercy and love created the earth and filled it with life and gladness, and that He is the life and light of all He made. Nature is His created work and agency testifying to His power, not God Himself, and its influence on the senses bears witness to God and to Jesus Christ as Creator without making nature divine. It must not be worshipped in place of its Creator, but its voice points beyond itself to Him.
He continually upholds and directs what He has created, so nature is not left independent. Mountains are molded and balanced by His hand so they are not moved except at His command, while wind, sun, rain, snow and ice are His ministers to do His will.
Sin has marred the form and beauty of nature and left traces of evil and of the work of the prince of the power of the air, so present things give only a faint conception of Eden's beauty and glory. Yet much beauty and usefulness remain to reveal the handiwork of the great Master Artist and lover of the beautiful. In briars, thistles, thorns and tares is read the law of condemnation, while from what is beautiful and useful is learned that God still loves and His mercy is still manifested. Fallen nature therefore does not reveal His moral character perfectly.
Studying Nature Alongside Scripture
The book of nature and the written word agree and shed light on each other, bearing the impress of the same master mind. Both make God better known by teaching His character and the wise, beneficent laws through which He works. By different methods and in different languages they witness to the same great truths, for the light of nature and the light of revelation come from the same source. Everywhere in nature the Creator's name is written, and amid towering rocks and everlasting hills His greatness, majesty and power expose the insignificance of false gods. All created works act in sublime harmony with His laws, showing how unreasonable it is for man to oppose the law of God, and science rightly understood brings from research nothing conflicting with revelation.
The verse calls people to contemplate God's works, to turn the mind from the artificial to the natural, to lift the eyes to the hills and open the eyes of the senses to take in His beautiful things. Teachers are to behold the heavens and study His works, commit nature's lessons to memory, and read the nineteenth psalm often for how the Lord binds up His law with His created works. People are to look through nature to its Creator and learn from it, for the sun, moon and stars declare His glory and teach of God and His eternal kingdom. Older students, while learning human arts and knowledge, should also seek God's wisdom and learn His divine laws both natural and moral, since obedience to those laws brings life and happiness in this world and in the world to come. The mountains are molded and balanced by His hand so they are not moved except at His command, and wind, sun, rain, snow and ice are His ministers to do His will.
Rightly studied and interpreted, nature is an extended page of God's Word and a lesson-book teeming with instruction and vocal with wisdom. It impresses the unity of humanity with nature and God, the universal rule of law, and the consequences of transgression, and so shapes character. The obedience of sun, moon, stars, fields, trees, flowers, clouds, rain and streams to their Creator contrasts with fallen beings who refuse full obedience. In Eden Adam and Eve heard God speaking in His created works, and as Maker of all things Christ made nature speak in shrub and flower and in seedtime and harvest. Natural things unfold divine and momentous truths bound up with them that always lead heavenward, and to every student of Scripture nature still reflects as a mirror the different aspects of truth.
The open heart is impressed with the love and glory of God revealed through the works of His hands, and the listening ear hears and understands His communications through the things of nature. Green fields, lofty trees, buds and flowers, the passing cloud, falling rain, babbling brook and glories of the heavens speak to the heart and invite people to become acquainted with Him who made them all. The works of creation continually reveal His love and glory without ceasing to the senses, communicating His message to people of every language without spoken words. When His works are studied the Holy Spirit flashes conviction into the mind beyond what logical reasoning produces, impressing the sublime spiritual truths of the written Word on the heart unless the mind has become too dark to know God, the eye too dim to see Him, and the ear too dull to hear His voice.
Contemplating His created works teaches His skill, power and grandeur, and these lessons are to be shared with children. Creation can teach children about Christ's love and lead them to learn obedience to God's law through its lessons. Nature is a great lesson book that wise instructors can use together with the Scriptures to guide lost sheep back to God. God is to be learned through His works as well as through His word because the voice of His works is heard everywhere, and this learning gives faith in God which gives power to resist temptation and is the only real safeguard against sin. It teaches youth that true greatness consists in honoring God by revealing His character in daily life, so that their lives may fulfil His purpose.
The verse calls for never again failing to offer thanksgiving and praise for His goodness, being joyful in the Lord, praising Him in assemblies and breaking silence with words of praise. The works of nature point minds to the living Creator and reveal His power, wisdom and love, calling forth reverence, gratitude, faith and trust. Every temporal blessing speaks of the Giver, with rain and sunshine, beauty, music of birds, fragrance and loveliness of flowers, fruits, golden harvests, cattle, raiment, dwellings, fields, flocks, health and ten thousand unnoticed mercies declaring His love, long-suffering and providential care even toward idolatrous, ungrateful and rebellious men. To enjoy these gifts without grateful acknowledgment is to refuse to listen to that voice, and His many gifts of providence silently testify though the wicked and backsliding can ignore this witness and remain ungrateful. When men persistently refuse to hear Him in creation and in the warnings, counsels and reproofs of His word, He removes His protecting hand and speaks through judgments.
There is no human speech or language needed for creation to testify, yet its voice is heard everywhere among every people and nation through all the earth to the end of the world. The heavens and firmament declare glory and handiwork, day speaks to day and night shows knowledge, and their line and words reach everywhere with the sun rejoicing in its circuit with nothing hidden from its heat. That same voice speaks through ten thousand forms perceived by the senses, from sun, moon and stars, mountains, seas, rivers, clouds, rain, sunshine, wind and thunder to fields, trees, flowers, birds, cattle, fruits and precious stones. What it reveals is One infinite in power and great in goodness, mercy and love who created and upholds all things, showing His glory, wisdom, tender fatherly care and wonderful adaptation of all things to human need and happiness, yet nature is His work and agency and not to be worshiped in His place. Though sin has marred creation and left traces of evil so that fallen nature does not perfectly reveal His moral character, much beauty and usefulness remain to show He still loves, and the book of nature agrees with the written word in teaching His character and laws, calling all to contemplate His works, learn obedience that brings life and happiness, and never fail in reverent thanksgiving, praise, faith and trust.
Wordless Witness Heard Everywhere
There is no human speech or language in it, yet its voice is heard everywhere, across every people and nation and tongue, through all the earth to the end of the world. It is the testimony of creation to glory and knowledge, borne without confinement by spoken words and reaching every place and people. The heavens and the natural world make known in this way what has been made, promptly answering when called to testify.
The witness is given by the heavens declaring glory and the firmament showing handiwork. Day unto day utters speech and night unto night shows knowledge. Their line has gone out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world, with no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. With them is joined the sun rejoicing in its circuit as a bridegroom and strong man, with nothing hid from its heat.
The same voice speaks through ten thousand forms perceived by the senses. It is heard in sun, moon and stars, in hills and mountains and rocks, in seas and ocean, in rivers and brooks, in clouds and rain and sunshine, in snow and ice, in wind and thunder. It is heard in fields and harvests, in trees and forests, in flowers and green grass carpeting the earth, in birds with their music, in cattle upon the hills and flocks, in fruits and raiment and dwellings and health, in pearls and precious stones, and in treasures of sea caves and earth depths with ten thousand unnoticed mercies. Mountains molded and balanced so they are not moved except at command, and wind, sun, rain, snow and ice as ministers to do will, belong to this same universal speech.
When called to testify to what has been made, nature promptly does so. The psalm joins this testimony of created works to perfect law converting the soul, to sure testimony making wise the simple, to right statutes rejoicing the heart, to pure commandment enlightening the eyes, to clean fear enduring forever, and to true and righteous judgments altogether. Those judgments and words are more desired than gold, than much fine gold, and sweeter than honey and the honeycomb, warning the servant and rewarding the keeper. Read often, the nineteenth psalm thus binds up created works with law.
What Creation Reveals About God
Creation without human speech still declares glory, power, wisdom, skill, grandeur, character and handiwork, and its witness reaches every place and people beyond spoken language. Hill and vale, rivers and seas, and the plants of the earth express love and handiwork, most fully appreciated as gifts from the Father, and their beauty and grandeur teach power, love and law while pointing the mind to the living God. The works continually reveal love and glory with lessons of wisdom and healing to all who listen, inviting them to know the Creator. The ever-changing scenes of the seasons keep giving fresh evidence of glory, power and love.
All things in nature tell of tender fatherly care even for the humblest creature and of the desire to make His children happy. They declare goodness, mercy and love, and rain and sunshine, beauty, birdsong, fragrance of flowers, fruits, harvests, cattle, fields, flocks and ten thousand unnoticed mercies proclaim love, long-suffering and providential care even toward idolatrous, ungrateful and rebellious men. From the beauty of natural things and their wonderful adaptation to human needs and happiness is learned that God still loves and His mercy is still shown to the world.
The wordless voice testifies that One infinite in power and great in goodness, mercy and love created the earth and filled it with life and gladness, and that He is the life and light of all He made. Nature is His created work and agency testifying to His power, not God Himself, and its influence on the senses bears witness to God and to Jesus Christ as Creator without making nature divine. It must not be worshipped in place of its Creator, but its voice points beyond itself to Him.
He continually upholds and directs what He has created, so nature is not left independent. Mountains are molded and balanced by His hand so they are not moved except at His command, while wind, sun, rain, snow and ice are His ministers to do His will.
Sin has marred the form and beauty of nature and left traces of evil and of the work of the prince of the power of the air, so present things give only a faint conception of Eden's beauty and glory. Yet much beauty and usefulness remain to reveal the handiwork of the great Master Artist and lover of the beautiful. In briars, thistles, thorns and tares is read the law of condemnation, while from what is beautiful and useful is learned that God still loves and His mercy is still manifested. Fallen nature therefore does not reveal His moral character perfectly.
Studying Nature Alongside Scripture
The book of nature and the written word agree and shed light on each other, bearing the impress of the same master mind. Both make God better known by teaching His character and the wise, beneficent laws through which He works. By different methods and in different languages they witness to the same great truths, for the light of nature and the light of revelation come from the same source. Everywhere in nature the Creator's name is written, and amid towering rocks and everlasting hills His greatness, majesty and power expose the insignificance of false gods. All created works act in sublime harmony with His laws, showing how unreasonable it is for man to oppose the law of God, and science rightly understood brings from research nothing conflicting with revelation.
The verse calls people to contemplate God's works, to turn the mind from the artificial to the natural, to lift the eyes to the hills and open the eyes of the senses to take in His beautiful things. Teachers are to behold the heavens and study His works, commit nature's lessons to memory, and read the nineteenth psalm often for how the Lord binds up His law with His created works. People are to look through nature to its Creator and learn from it, for the sun, moon and stars declare His glory and teach of God and His eternal kingdom. Older students, while learning human arts and knowledge, should also seek God's wisdom and learn His divine laws both natural and moral, since obedience to those laws brings life and happiness in this world and in the world to come. The mountains are molded and balanced by His hand so they are not moved except at His command, and wind, sun, rain, snow and ice are His ministers to do His will.
Rightly studied and interpreted, nature is an extended page of God's Word and a lesson-book teeming with instruction and vocal with wisdom. It impresses the unity of humanity with nature and God, the universal rule of law, and the consequences of transgression, and so shapes character. The obedience of sun, moon, stars, fields, trees, flowers, clouds, rain and streams to their Creator contrasts with fallen beings who refuse full obedience. In Eden Adam and Eve heard God speaking in His created works, and as Maker of all things Christ made nature speak in shrub and flower and in seedtime and harvest. Natural things unfold divine and momentous truths bound up with them that always lead heavenward, and to every student of Scripture nature still reflects as a mirror the different aspects of truth.
The open heart is impressed with the love and glory of God revealed through the works of His hands, and the listening ear hears and understands His communications through the things of nature. Green fields, lofty trees, buds and flowers, the passing cloud, falling rain, babbling brook and glories of the heavens speak to the heart and invite people to become acquainted with Him who made them all. The works of creation continually reveal His love and glory without ceasing to the senses, communicating His message to people of every language without spoken words. When His works are studied the Holy Spirit flashes conviction into the mind beyond what logical reasoning produces, impressing the sublime spiritual truths of the written Word on the heart unless the mind has become too dark to know God, the eye too dim to see Him, and the ear too dull to hear His voice.
Contemplating His created works teaches His skill, power and grandeur, and these lessons are to be shared with children. Creation can teach children about Christ's love and lead them to learn obedience to God's law through its lessons. Nature is a great lesson book that wise instructors can use together with the Scriptures to guide lost sheep back to God. God is to be learned through His works as well as through His word because the voice of His works is heard everywhere, and this learning gives faith in God which gives power to resist temptation and is the only real safeguard against sin. It teaches youth that true greatness consists in honoring God by revealing His character in daily life, so that their lives may fulfil His purpose.
The verse calls for never again failing to offer thanksgiving and praise for His goodness, being joyful in the Lord, praising Him in assemblies and breaking silence with words of praise. The works of nature point minds to the living Creator and reveal His power, wisdom and love, calling forth reverence, gratitude, faith and trust. Every temporal blessing speaks of the Giver, with rain and sunshine, beauty, music of birds, fragrance and loveliness of flowers, fruits, golden harvests, cattle, raiment, dwellings, fields, flocks, health and ten thousand unnoticed mercies declaring His love, long-suffering and providential care even toward idolatrous, ungrateful and rebellious men. To enjoy these gifts without grateful acknowledgment is to refuse to listen to that voice, and His many gifts of providence silently testify though the wicked and backsliding can ignore this witness and remain ungrateful. When men persistently refuse to hear Him in creation and in the warnings, counsels and reproofs of His word, He removes His protecting hand and speaks through judgments.