PSALM 104: THE GLORY OF MAN....?
Over the weekend, I travelled to Santiago, Chile. During my last day there, I got to visit the tallest building in the city and go to the observation deck at the top. The view was impressive, but as I stood there, looking out at the city, I was struck by two things. First, as I experienced this monument to the wealth of the owner and the power of humans to construct enormous things, it brought something into clear (ish) view: everything below was small and covered in smog. We want to congratulate ourselves for what we can do, yet we are still so very small in this universe, and we tend to make a mess of things in our pursuit of greatness.
The second impression that hit me was the view of the Andes mountains, looming large above the cloud of smog and the busy streets of Santiago. There is a line where the smog stops blocking the view, and there stand the mountain peaks, beautiful in the sun, reflecting the true greatness of their Creator. 62 floors above the street level (which admittedly is nowhere near the tallest thing humans have built), I was reminded that we have never been able to build anything as great, majestic, and beautiful as those mountains. No matter how many cranes we get involved in the work, or how many billions and trillions of dollars we might throw at it, we will fall far short. As the Pharaohs showed us, even when we try to create our own mountains, no amount of “Man-Power” will match what God can do with a single breath of His creative power.
This is the message in Psalm 104. When we look around at what God has made, everything is amazing. Everything reveals His awesome power, matchless glory, and limitless creativity. Compared to this, the work of men seems so small and unimpressive. We need this reminder from verse 1: “My soul, bless the Lord! Lord my God, You [alone] are very Great;” (addition mine). Let us daily be reminded that we are very small, and our God is the only one deserving of our praise and awe. Otherwise, we might get caught up in worshipping man, and become part of the smog, blocking the view of God’s greatness for those walking around in the grime. Only through appropriate worship can we help others rise above the cloud and see God for who He is, so they too can appropriately marvel at The Glory of God.
The second impression that hit me was the view of the Andes mountains, looming large above the cloud of smog and the busy streets of Santiago. There is a line where the smog stops blocking the view, and there stand the mountain peaks, beautiful in the sun, reflecting the true greatness of their Creator. 62 floors above the street level (which admittedly is nowhere near the tallest thing humans have built), I was reminded that we have never been able to build anything as great, majestic, and beautiful as those mountains. No matter how many cranes we get involved in the work, or how many billions and trillions of dollars we might throw at it, we will fall far short. As the Pharaohs showed us, even when we try to create our own mountains, no amount of “Man-Power” will match what God can do with a single breath of His creative power.
This is the message in Psalm 104. When we look around at what God has made, everything is amazing. Everything reveals His awesome power, matchless glory, and limitless creativity. Compared to this, the work of men seems so small and unimpressive. We need this reminder from verse 1: “My soul, bless the Lord! Lord my God, You [alone] are very Great;” (addition mine). Let us daily be reminded that we are very small, and our God is the only one deserving of our praise and awe. Otherwise, we might get caught up in worshipping man, and become part of the smog, blocking the view of God’s greatness for those walking around in the grime. Only through appropriate worship can we help others rise above the cloud and see God for who He is, so they too can appropriately marvel at The Glory of God.
by Ben Urban, Pastor of Student Ministries
Posted in Read Through the Bible
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Amen