| Psalm 8 – “ Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” |
There are times I grow concerned.
When I was a boy, cities had vacant lots and playgrounds.
I played basketball on a dirt lot on which the owner had erected a backboard and hoop.
A few years ago, I went back to my boyhood home. I drove past the baseball field where I played my first Little League game. Now, it is a square utilitarian office building housing unknown companies that produce unknown results.
As we drive through our towns, vacant lots face backhoes and green spaces get turned into parking lots.
We miss something, something important.
People need to see nature.
It calms the soul. When you see the world God created in its beauty, the mind relaxes.
And yet, where do you go any more to find it?
That’s what bothered Maltbie Babcock.
He loved nature. The sound of chirping birds filled him with joy. He would go the seashore to listen to the rhythm of the surf as it rolled in and out. Freshly cut hay was a tonic for him.
He would go for a morning walk and as he left the house, he would say to his wife, “Im out to see my Father’s world.
Coupled with his love of nature was his love of music.
He joined the two by writing a song, a song we sing from time to time.
Do you know it?
This is my Father’s world, and to my list’ning ears all nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres. This is my Father’s world! I rest me in the thought of rocks and trees, of skies and seas—His hand the wonders wrought. This is my Father’s world—the birds their carols raise; the morning light, the lily white, declare their Maker’s praise. This is my Father’s world! He shines in all that’s fair; in the rustling grass I hear Him pass—He speaks to me ev’rywhere. This is my Father’s world—O let me ne’er forget that tho the wrong seems oft so strong God is the Ruler yet. This is my Father’s world! The battle is not done; Jesus who died shall be satisfied, and earth and heav’n be one.
The psalmist said we should pay attention to our father’s world for we will learn something:
Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8, NIV)
Take time to listen to the songs of the birds, to watch the rustling of tall branches in puffs of wind, to feel the beaming sun. In them, you will see the hand of God.
–Robert G. Taylor
robertgtaylor.com
