These all look to you, to give them their food in due season. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. When you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.
Psalm 104:27-30
As we observe the vastness of the universe we live in, it is often easy for us to forget the presence of God and His nearness in it all. All of the intricacies of what we observe and the apparent harmony of our functioning world don’t often indicate to us a dependence on anything. The world, by and large, can seem more “set into motion” than “actively sustained“, even if we acknowledge God as the Creator of it all. Yet, the Scriptures paint a different picture.
Despite our difficulty to see, God is at work in Creation. As Psalm 104 describes, everything comes from and flows from God. He makes the grass grow (v.14), waters the trees (v.16), gives the birds their nesting place (v.17), and even orchestrated the function of all things as he made the mountains (v.18) and hung the moon (v.19). God is not far from Creation at all. He is much more than an intelligent designer behind an intelligent world; He is the Sustainer who holds all Creation in his hand.
This should spark a sense of gracious assurance and wonder at the work of God, but we must not forget that we ourselves are gracious recipients of the Good Giver’s gifts. As much as it is true that God gives to us the food we eat, the water we drink and the place we lay our heads, so much more true is it that He is to us all that we need. Creation, “these” (v.27), looks to God as the Giver of life and every need. In the same way, let our eyes and hearts be so turned to Him.
