Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

VI WHEN YOU SEND YOUR SPIRIT - Day 6 Animals and Man Created

• “Every one of these depends on you to give them their food as they need it. When you supply it, they gather it. You open your hand to feed them, and they are satisfied. But if you turn away from them, they panic. When you take away their breath, they die and turn again to dust.”(27-29) God has designed the world in a balance of ongoing dependence; the animal kingdom cannot survive without the provi- dence and care of God. Man is the only part of his creation that attempts to live independently of Him. “He is the God who made the world and everything in it…He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need there is.”(Acts 17:24,25) • “When you send your Spirit, new life is born to replenish all the living of the earth.”(30) This passage is reminiscent of Genesis when God created Adam’s body and “breathed into it the breath of life.” (Gen. 2:7) Jesus taught that the new birth can only come about by the Spirit of God: “Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives new life from heaven. (Jn. 3:6) • May the glory of the Lord last forever! The Lord rejoices in all he has made! The earth trem- bles at his glance; the mountains burst into flame at this touch.” (31, 32) ’ Jonathan Edwards said; “God’s chief design in creation is to make himself known, to manifest his glory 4 .”’ This psalm shows us that God himself rejoices in the beauty and grandeur of what he has created. This is an extension of what he said after the sixth day of creation: “Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that I was excellent in every way.” (Gen. 1:31) One unsettling glance from him results in massive earthquakes; volcanoes are ignited by the touch of his hand. VII I WILL SING - 33-35 Day 7- The Sabbath of Worship

“I will sing to the Lord as long as I live. I will praise my God to my last breath! May he be pleased by all these thoughts about him, for I rejoice in the Lord.” (33, 34)

Singing praise is the human response to the beauty of the divine creation. The psalmist is ‘enrap- tured with the universe of God and the God of the universe 5 .’ He does not praise the creation but the creator. God uses creation as his worship leader and all that he has made causes him personal joy; he is interacting with the animals, playing with the whales and rejoicing! The psalmist imitates God with his songs of joy and vows that he will sing as long as long as he lives.

“Let all sinners vanish from the face of the earth; let the wicked disappear forever.”(35)

The composer of this psalm looks forward to the time when the heavens and the earth will be to- tally renovated, the unrighteous will be removed and the harmony of all creation will be restored: “But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world where everyone is right with God.” (2 Pet. 3:13)

“As for me–I will praise the Lord! (Bless the Lord, O my soul! NKJV) Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah)

The only place in the universe where God has chosen not to exercise his sovereignty is in the soul of mankind. In Psalm 103 he attempts to win the affection of mankind by his kindness and tender mercy displayed in salvation; in this psalm he displays the greatness of his works and the provision he makes for all of his creatures. The only rational response is to open the soul, all of it, in response to God. This ends with the word that has transcended all languages and is best said in the Hebrew tongue; it needs no translation and embodies all the best and highest elements of praise: ‘HALLELUJAH!’

1 Keil & Delitzsch 2 Keil & Delitzsch 3 Spence 4 Boyce 5 Scroggie, page 36

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