WORD From The Woods
Psalm 19
“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat. The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.”
This Psalm is one that many of us probably think about a lot when we see the incredible sunrises that we as loggers are privileged to witness each day since we’re usually up on a mountain somewhere long before the sun comes up. We get a front row seat to the creative, wondrous, glory of God from the tops of the mountains, as we see the valleys blanketed in fog being touched by glorious colors of a new day that the Lord has made being unveiled before us. I’ve seen thousands of these incredible sunrises, and yet, they still cause me to stop in awe of the splendor before me, as the heavens declare the glory of God and the sky proclaims His handiwork! I feel so bad for people who don’t get to see it as often as we loggers do! This Psalm is very familiar to a lot of us regarding this glory. But, many of us may not have given the rest of this passage a lot of thought before. Just as the rising sun comes out to meet the new day like a groom coming to his bride, so the law of the Lord comes to meet us. And, as a well trained athlete runs a course, so the sun runs the course of the day, finishing its cycle without fail, in the same way, the testimony of God is right and sure. As the sun brings glory and light and warmth to the morning after a dark and cold night, the commandments of the Lord bring light and warmth to a dark, cold world. I love verse 9 where it says that “the fear of the Lord is clean,” and His “rules are true and righteous altogether.” As the sun lights and guides us through the day, the law of God warns and guides us through the days of our lives! King David wrote so many beautiful psalms like this about the goodness of God’s law and His precepts. We don’t talk much about God’s law or rules in our modern Christian era. We tend to focus more on love and liberty, which are only possible because of the goodness and truth revealed through His law. Just read Psalm 1! It is God’s law, written onto the tablets of our own hearts that points us to our rock and our redeemer, our savior Jesus Christ! So much more could be said about this passage, but I hope as you go about your week and see the glory of God on display each morning, you will think about the glory of God displayed through the scriptures and fulfilled in the finished work of redemption on the cross by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
God bless and have a great week! -Terry-
Psalm 19
“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat. The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.”
This Psalm is one that many of us probably think about a lot when we see the incredible sunrises that we as loggers are privileged to witness each day since we’re usually up on a mountain somewhere long before the sun comes up. We get a front row seat to the creative, wondrous, glory of God from the tops of the mountains, as we see the valleys blanketed in fog being touched by glorious colors of a new day that the Lord has made being unveiled before us. I’ve seen thousands of these incredible sunrises, and yet, they still cause me to stop in awe of the splendor before me, as the heavens declare the glory of God and the sky proclaims His handiwork! I feel so bad for people who don’t get to see it as often as we loggers do! This Psalm is very familiar to a lot of us regarding this glory. But, many of us may not have given the rest of this passage a lot of thought before. Just as the rising sun comes out to meet the new day like a groom coming to his bride, so the law of the Lord comes to meet us. And, as a well trained athlete runs a course, so the sun runs the course of the day, finishing its cycle without fail, in the same way, the testimony of God is right and sure. As the sun brings glory and light and warmth to the morning after a dark and cold night, the commandments of the Lord bring light and warmth to a dark, cold world. I love verse 9 where it says that “the fear of the Lord is clean,” and His “rules are true and righteous altogether.” As the sun lights and guides us through the day, the law of God warns and guides us through the days of our lives! King David wrote so many beautiful psalms like this about the goodness of God’s law and His precepts. We don’t talk much about God’s law or rules in our modern Christian era. We tend to focus more on love and liberty, which are only possible because of the goodness and truth revealed through His law. Just read Psalm 1! It is God’s law, written onto the tablets of our own hearts that points us to our rock and our redeemer, our savior Jesus Christ! So much more could be said about this passage, but I hope as you go about your week and see the glory of God on display each morning, you will think about the glory of God displayed through the scriptures and fulfilled in the finished work of redemption on the cross by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
God bless and have a great week! -Terry-