Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!                                                                                                                    You have set your glory

    in the heavens.
2 Through the praise of children and infants
    you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
    to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?

5 You have made them a little lower than the angels
    and crowned them with glory and honour.
6 You made them rulers over the works

of your hands;
    you put everything under their feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
    and the animals of the wild,
8 the birds in the sky,
    and the fish in the sea,
    all that swim the paths of the seas.9 Lord, our Lord,                                                                                                    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

‘’When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place…’’ (3, underlining mine).

Recently I ‘attended’ an online theological conference, presented by my denominations. One speaker, who broadcast live from Eugene, Oregon, USA, (at some unearthly hour for him!) – Dr. A.J.Swoboda – spoke about the theology of creation care, in a persuasive and winsome fashion. Here are some of the notes I jotted down from his talk:

‘‘To care for ‘the garden’ is to worship God.’’

‘’In many parables judgment comes from the Landowner on those who do not care for His land.’’

‘’This is God’s garden. We have got to regain this theology of God as the Landowner.’’

But he also told a story about a man he knows who takes kids from urban environments to camps in the countryside. He said, ‘He shows them the stars and leads them to Christ.’ He told us that this evangelist has led hundreds of young people to Christ in this way. They are not used to seeing the night sky in its sparkling clarity, and being exposed to the raw impact of nature opens them up to hear the gospel.

The Bible does talk about the evangelistic power of nature. Think about Psalm 19 and Romans 1:19,20.

I preached a sermon on Psalm 19 and entitled it ‘the Rev Creation’. Have a look at Psalm 19 and see if you can see why.

Even in lockdown, we can step outside and hear the longest sermon ever. The Rev Creation has been preaching for centuries, and what a talk this is. No-one can be bored, surely?

PRAYER: Thank you Lord that even with restrictions placed upon us, we can still look with awe at the natural world, and see your finger-prints all over it. ‘’You are beautiful beyond description, too marvellous for words, too wonderful for comprehension…’’