Turning the Corner

Life can be so busy that we miss it. Our schedules rule our days and even the slightest desire to “stop and smell the roses” is overruled by our next appointment or destination. Our busyness is the shame of the modern world.

Our pastor has begun a three-part study of Psalm 19 where David writes of “The Perfect Revelation of the Lord,” as it is described in my Bible. I confess that I am guilty of filling my day with things that lack any eternal value in light of Scripture. As my pastor began reading the first six verses of the psalm, I couldn’t get past verse 1:

    “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.” (Psalm 19:1)

The Hebrew word transliterated “firmament” is raqia, and it means more than just the sky above us. It is the sky, heaven, and the space above the earth that holds visible objects, including clouds, planets, and stars.

When was the last time you noticed a starry night? I noticed it last Wednesday night leaving church after a council meeting. The evening air was unusually cool for a Florida summer night and the stars were beyond magnificent. Alas, I did not stand and soak it in. When I got home, I took the trash down to the street to be picked up in the morning, and I again noticed the starry night and mentioned it to my wife. However, I did not invite her to go with me outside and soak in God’s glory and majesty.

I imagine as a young shepherd boy David saw many a starry night. Perhaps when he wrote Psalm 19 he was sitting out upon the stars as a young shepherd boy. Then again, he could have been sitting on the rooftop of his palace remembering his youth. Perhaps it was the same night that he wrote these famous words:

    “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.” (Psalm 23:1-2)

At times we forget not only God’s majesty, but also His sovereignty. We can look at His creation and know that God is in control of all that happens. God is righteous, but He is also judge. We read this in another psalm:

    “Let the heavens declare His righteousness, for God Himself is Judge.” (Psalm 50:6)

Earlier I wrote that I am guilty of filling my day with things that lack any eternal value. How can one know the difference? First, does Scripture affirm my action? Am what I’m doing bring glory to God and declare that I am a Christian?

Second, am I more obsessed with things of this earth than I am with things of God’s kingdom? Do I look at things created by man and marvel at them more than I do God’s creation? Am I more enrapt with man’s modern marvels than I am with God’s creative handiwork? Would to God that I would explore the Lord’s work more than I do the things of man:

    “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

You are about to begin your workweek or may have already begun it. Why not join me this week in taking more than a moment to notice God’s songbird singing you a welcome song? Let’s take some time to stroll a nearby park or notice the intricacies of a flower. I cant imagine any source of stress not melting away by turning our focus on that which God has created.

My pastor’s words rang into my soul and I recorded them as best as I could remember him saying, “I need to turn the corner and see God again.”

To turn the corner, you have to take a walk.

Care to join me?

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

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    Copyright © 2014 David Jeffers

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