God's Care Over All His Creation

No one can see God. Yet the heavens and the earth show forth His power, His wisdom, and His goodness. For God created all things, and He upholds them day by day. Therefore the psalmist in Psalm 104 sings, “Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, Thou art very great.”

Then the psalmist tells of God's wonderful works. The Lord stretches out the heavens like a curtain, he says. The clouds and the winds obey His voice. When God first created the earth, He covered it with water as with a robe. But at His command, the waters fled and the dry land appeared. He then set boundaries for the oceans and the seas so that they would not cover the earth again. The Lord causes the rain to fall upon the mountains, continues the psalmist. It runs off the slopes into brooks and streams, so that the wild donkeys and all other animals may come to them and drink. He causes grass to grow for the animals, fruits and vegetables for man, and the cedars of Lebanon for the birds in which to nest. God has created many different kinds of animals. Yet He supplies the special needs of them all. He gives to the long-legged storks the lofty fir trees for their house, the wild goats have the high mountains to play in, and the timid conies, a sort of mountain rabbit, can hide among the rocks.

God also governs the sun and the moon for the sake of men and animals. He makes darkness, which is when the wild animals creep forth in search of food and the young lions roar for meat. But then He causes the sun to come up again. The animals steal back to their dens, and men go forth to their work. “O Lord,” exclaims the psalmist, “how manifold are Thy works! in wisdom hast Thou made them all: the earth is full of Thy riches” (verse 24). This is true of the earth, but he tells also of the great and wide sea, where tiny fish dart about and porpoises play.

All of these creatures, says the psalmist, depend upon God for their food, and, in fact, for their very life. When He opens His hand, they gather their food and are filled. But when He turns His face away, they go hungry. When He takes away their breath, they die and return to the dust. But when He sends forth His Holy Spirit, new life is brought forth to take the place of that which died.

When the psalmist considers the wisdom and power of God in His creation, and when he sees God's goodness in His daily care of all living things, he breaks forth into praise, saying, “I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being” (verse 33). Many, however, refuse to see God's hand in nature. Yet the Lord who causes the earth to tremble and the mountains to smoke also has power over these sinners. The psalmist rejoices that they shall not overcome the Lord's chosen people, but that God Himself will be victorious over them.
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