His everywhere-steadfast love will never fail you.
He sends out His command to theearth;
His word runs very swiftly.
He gives snow like wool;
He scatters the frost like ashes;
He casts out His hail like morsels;
Who can stand before His cold?
He sends out His word and melts them;
He causes His wind to blow, andthe waters flow.
– Psalm 147.15-18
For, just as in the case of one who speaks, when he stops speaking, his voice ceases and disappears, so also with the heavenly Father, should he stop speaking his Word, the effect of his Word – the created universe – would cease to exist. For the very continuance of the created universe is the speech of God the Father, the eternal and unchangeable generation of his Word.
– Eriugena, Homily on John 1.1-14, Irish, 9th century[1]
We had our first snow of the season the other day. OK, it was just a dusting of graupel, but it was a welcome portent of winter and the glorious everywhere-whiteness of New England snows.
And then, as soon as it fell, it was gone. The Lord Who gives snow like wool sends out His Word and melts it. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
The world and everything in it continue to exist only by the pleasure and power of God. Were it not that the Word of God, enthroned at the Father’s right hand, upholds all things by His power, they would all cease to be (Heb. 1.3). In Him, everything holds together (Col. 1.17); thus, all things speak of Him in some way, inviting us, whatever the weather or conditions, to reflect on the greatness and goodness of our King.
The secularist snorts at such a notion; even most Christians hardly give it a thought. But the creation and everything in it summon us continually to give thanks and praise. Everything in life, joyous blessing or heart-wrenching trial, is fraught with reasons to marvel and tremble and rejoice before a Power we cannot fathom, but can experience and know.
Every electron circling the nucleus of every atom throughout the whole vast cosmos holds its course, not because of some impersonal material “law” insisting it must, but because the Word of God commands and sustains it in precisely the course and function He has determined.
So regular – the Scriptures would say, “faithful” – is the Word of God in His maintenance of the cosmos that His ways (which are past finding out) can appear to take the form of physical laws, embedded in the stuff of the cosmos. But they only appear thus, for the Word of God is free to suspend or alter His ways at His pleasure, at which time we observe a miracle.
Contemplate the wonder which is your hand – that collection of nimbleness, strength, dexterity, and multi-tasking living tools – and realize that everything about that marvelous appendage is what it is, and can do what it does, because of the unremitting, unfailing, personal attention of the Word of God.
His steadfast love truly endures forever. We can see it in all the ways He sustains the world.
If you ever doubt God’s love for you, or wonder if He has withdrawn His presence, look at your hand and consider its beauty, intricacy, detail, and design, as well as all the marvels it can perform. And as you do, know that He is with you always; He will never fail you nor forsake you.
Or look to the winter-gathering skies. Revel in the prospect of the soft, silent beauty of the Word-sent snow.
And rejoice: His steadfast, unfailing love for you endures forever.
Psalm 147.15-20 (St. Ann: “Our God, Our Help in Ages Past”)
His Word to earth runs to and fro to carry out His will;
He brings the rain, He sends the snow, and none can keep Him still.
His Word He to His Church bestows – His promises and Law –
No other nation God thus knows: praise Him with songs of awe!
Lord, let me see in all created things Your vast goodness, benevolence, and power! Adapted from Augustine Hibernicus, On the Miracles of Holy Scripture.
Creational Theology
The Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, upholds the world and everything in it. The world displays the touch of His creating, sustaining power. Everything speaks of the greatness and goodness of our Savior and King.
Read the Scriptures daily, friends, because they will bring you to Jesus and His glory (Jn. 5.39). But as diligently as you read the Savior’s first and foundational revelation of Himself, read the other volume in His story as well – the book of creation.
Don’t know how to do this work of “creational theology”? We can help. Order the book Consider the Lilies from our online store (click here), and you will never look at the world around you the same. You’ll learn to glimpse the presence of God’s Word and glory, to hear His self-disclosing whispers, and to rejoice in the reminders of His everywhere-presence with you.
The blessings of our Lord be with you all.
T. M. Moore, Principal
tmmoore@ailbe.org
All Psalms for singing from The Ailbe Psalter. Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[1]Bamford, p. 102.
