Well, thank you so much, Esther. And folks, let me encourage you to have that psalm open in front of you.
It's so important that we have God's Word open in front of us, because it's His voice that we want to hear today.
That's what the power is. And so let me just encourage you to have His Word open in front of you.
So, Psalm 104, let's dive straight in. Put your hands up this morning if you watch Netflix.
Watch Netflix. Okay, I don't know if you knew this.
But back in May, Netflix for the first time released a list of its most watched shows that month.
Now, just while we wait for the PowerPoint to come on, why don't you turn to your neighbour,
see if you can have a guess what the most watched show in May on Netflix was.
Okay, 10 seconds, and then we'll come back in.
Okay, so, the most... I don't know if these guys are laughing, I don't know what they said up there.
The most watched show on Netflix in May was Our Planet by David Attenborough.
Did anyone say that? A few of us said it?
Wonderful. Anyone watched it? Who's watched it?
Wonderful show. For those who don't know what I'm talking about,
Our Planet is the most recent David Attenborough documentary
that explores the different habitats and the different creatures of our world.
So, I googled it this week and The Guardian said about it
that this documentary leaves you boggling at the endless precision of the natural world.
There you go, Guardian readers. Worth a watch, according to The Guardian.
But it's not the first time, you might probably aware,
it's not the first time David Attenborough has won an award for his work.
Okay?
2017, his documentary, Blue Planet,
was officially the BBC's most watched show.
And last year, as the BBC celebrated its 96th birthday,
controversially, I think you'll agree with me,
that his programme, Planet Earth,
rivaled Match of the Day
for being voted the best BBC programme of all time.
But I find that fascinating, do you not?
I find it fascinating and extremely revealing
of something we all know to be true.
And it's that as human beings,
we have a love affair with this planet that we call home.
Right?
A love affair with this planet that we call home.
Its complexities, just think about it,
its complexities amaze us.
I love that they're still finding animals on these programmes in our year,
do you not?
Its complexities amazes,
its diversity captivates us,
and its beauty inspires us.
And we think to ourselves, to quote Louis Armstrong,
what a wonderful world.
What a wonderful world.
Well, it's this wonderful world that this psalm,
Psalm 104,
is going to get us to think about today.
And we're going to be asked to lift our eyes
and take in the world that we see around us.
But here's the thing.
The psalmist is going to go one step further
than David Attenborough.
So the psalmist isn't going to just ask us
to observe creation and take it in.
The psalmist is going to ask us to listen
to what creation is saying.
Okay, here's the central thrust of this psalm.
If you get one thing, get this, okay?
That creation is speaking.
Creation is speaking.
You see, as our wonderful world,
as it does its thing,
in all its beauty,
as it captivates us,
it's telling us something
about the God who made it.
You see, the God of the Bible
is not a silent God.
Okay?
He's a God who has made himself known.
And the Bible would say
that God has made himself known
in three ways.
Firstly, he's made himself known
in his words.
So we have the Bible.
We have it.
Amazingly, think about this.
We have it in our own language.
In our hands.
So we can read.
We can open the scriptures.
And we can know who this God is
for ourselves.
We can know what he's like.
We can know what he's done for us.
And amazingly,
we can hear him speak to us.
Secondly, he's revealed himself
most supremely
in the person of his son, Jesus.
In other words,
you want to know what God is like.
You look to the son,
who is,
as you probably heard
in that Colossians reading,
the exact representation
of God the Father.
So he's made himself known
in his word.
He's made himself known
in his son.
And thirdly,
he's made himself known
in this wonderful world,
in creation.
So as we look around
at our wonderful world,
as we take in its beauty,
we can understand something
of who this God is.
That's what we were just singing,
wasn't it?
If you remember the words
on the screen,
O Lord my God,
when I in awesome wonder
consider all
the worlds thy hands have made.
I see the stars.
I hear the rolling thunder,
the power throughout
the universe displayed.
Then sings my soul,
my saviour God to thee,
how great thou art,
how great thou art.
Have you ever wondered
where that hymn
gets its inspiration from?
It gets it from verse 1
of this psalm.
Look at it with me.
Okay?
Bless the Lord,
O my soul.
O Lord,
my God,
you are very great.
Do you see it?
And it's a sentiment
that carries over
straight on from verse 1
of Psalm 103.
My soul,
bless the Lord.
The psalmist looks up
and it's as if he's
saying to himself,
having a wee pep talk
with himself,
I do that now and again,
saying,
look at this.
Brain,
take this in
and celebrate
how good
my God is.
Notice the personal
pronoun there,
my God.
The psalmist rejoices
because he knows
the God
who has made
everything.
It's his God.
And you notice
that that God
is Israel's God.
Right?
The word Lord
there comes up
five times
in this psalm.
So the psalmist
is looking around
and he's exclaiming
to himself,
my God's done this.
Right?
My God's done this.
Creation speaking,
the psalmist
is singing.
The question
for us this morning,
whoever you are
here today,
whatever you think
about this God,
the question is,
are you joining?
Are you joining?
So creation speaking,
what's it telling us?
It's telling us
three things.
Firstly,
and these are
alliterating,
so you'll remember,
okay,
it's firstly telling us
about a mighty maker,
verses one to nine.
A mighty maker,
verses one to nine.
Come with me,
verses one to nine.
Look at how the Lord
is described to us here.
Let's glance over it.
What is he described
as being?
As being clothed
with splendor
and majesty.
Of wearing a garment
of light.
That's what we were
singing,
wasn't it?
Of the heavens
being his upper chambers,
of the clouds
being his chariots,
of the winds
being his messengers,
and of fire
being his servant.
This is the Lord.
And do you see
all the verbs?
All the verbs.
Still remember a verb
as being a doing word?
That's how you remembered
it in school,
wasn't it?
A verb.
Do you see all the verbs,
right?
He makes,
he rides,
he lays,
he stretched,
he covered,
he set,
he spoke,
he assigned,
he raised,
he sank,
he established.
That's a lot of verbs
in nine verses.
And it's a deliberate echo
of Genesis one.
We don't have time
to do that.
I would love to do that
comparison
between how Genesis one
goes and how this psalm
goes,
and you'll see the
connections if you want
to go home and do it
yourself.
But this is a deliberate
echo of Genesis one.
See what's going on?
The Lord has been
described to us
like a king.
Just feel the language,
like a king.
One who has
all the power
and one who has
all the wisdom.
And you have to say
what a beautiful
combination of
attributes that is.
and that we see
come gloriously
together
in the creation
of the world.
He did it.
God did it.
And he loves it.
He loves what he made.
It's the picture,
if you want to check it out,
that we get in the
Genesis account,
isn't it?
That God is like a
master artist who,
when he finished his
greatest work,
he sat back and he
surveyed what he made.
And if God was Scottish,
he would have gone,
yeah, beauty.
Right?
Yes.
What did he say?
He says it is very good.
Do you see how creation
brings God satisfaction
and glory?
This is very good.
So let me ask you here
today,
done that very quickly,
let me ask you here
today,
whoever you are,
what do you make
of all that?
There's a lot of
questions come up there,
isn't there,
about the creation
of the world.
But let me ask you,
how do you account
for the world?
You know,
comedian Frank Skinner,
who from what I can tell
has some kind of
belief in God.
There's a story that I
heard about him
recently,
about how he was
having a debate with
his friend who didn't
believe that God
created the world.
And so they had a bit
of back and forth chat,
went on for a long,
long time,
and his friend turned
to him and said,
Frank, listen,
do you want a cup of
tea?
And Frank said,
that would be lovely,
thank you.
So his friend went
to the kitchen
and put the kettle on.
And he was so engrossed
in this conversation
that his friend came
right back to see Frank,
came right back
into the conversation.
And the chat went
back and forth a bit,
bit more.
And then all of a sudden
in the kitchen,
the kettle goes,
and his friend says,
listen,
I need to go back
into the kitchen,
Frank,
because that cup of
tea won't make itself.
And Frank said,
why not?
Just think about it.
Think about it.
Why not?
You see,
the psalmist is saying
that God established
the earth,
that there's a first cause.
He did it.
Our God,
he did this.
And what an
awe-inspiring thought
for the psalmist
and for the Lord's people
in this day
who would have been
surrounded by people
worshipping all sorts
of small g-gots,
worshipping the sun,
worshipping the moon,
worshipping the sea,
that the psalmist
can shout to the world
and say,
hey,
see our God.
He's the one
who made
the sun,
the moon,
and the sea.
And so when it comes
to any of you guys
challenging me
to a game of
BC God-top trumps,
let me tell you
that Yahweh,
let me tell you
that the Lord
is always going to win.
let me tell you
how this challenged
me this week.
As I try and
allow God's word
to shape my soul,
here's how it
challenged me this week.
I don't know if you
remember the
Duracell batteries
when we were young.
The type that you
squeeze at the top
and the bottom
and if you squeezed
hard enough
you could see
how much power
was left in the battery.
Do you remember them?
Yeah?
Well, I don't know
about you,
but over the past
season of life,
see if you'd
squeeze me,
right?
Squeeze me.
Friends,
you would have seen
that I was
extremely low in power.
And I don't know
if you find that
in your own life,
you've known that
over the last season
or you know that
right now,
that you're low in power.
But here's what
I've asked myself
this week,
in those times,
why is it,
friends,
that so often
we live our lives,
we run from
thing to thing,
we run from
job to job,
we run from
task to task
and not only do
we massively overrate
our own power
as creatures,
but we massively
underrate God.
Because if you think
about it,
if by faith
in Jesus Christ
that this mighty
maker is for us
and he's one
who we can call
incredibly
our good father,
then what a reason
we have
to run to him
and to trust
and to pray.
So as you go
home today,
I want to challenge
you,
just take a leaf
out of the
psalmist book.
Look at creation,
just look at creation
as you drive home,
as you walk home,
take it in.
As you go up
Blackford Hill,
as you walk up
Arthur's seat,
as you look on
the Pentlands,
as you drive over
the Fourth Road Bridge,
I know where you live,
right?
Take a minute
to take stock
of the fact
that our God
is not lacking
in power.
He's not lacking
in power.
Friends,
creation is speaking.
The question is,
are we listening?
Second thing
it tells us
is about
a perfect provider.
Now,
if you come with me
to verses 10 to 30,
this is where we see this.
Now,
there was an English
philosopher called
William Paley.
Some of you might
have heard of him.
He came up with this
analogy to describe
the creation of the world
and he said it was a bit
like coming across
a pocket watch
lying on the floor.
And he was saying
that logic would lead
you to believe
that that pocket watch
hadn't just come
out of nothing.
There must have been
someone that created it.
It's a pretty decent
stab at an analogy.
But what happened
is down the years
people took that analogy
and they used it
to promote
what is called
deism,
right?
So it's this idea
that God wound
the world up
like a watch
and then he stepped
back,
put it down
and he's just
let it run its course.
He's not involved
in the slightest.
But if you come
with me to these verses
this psalm is telling
us that the opposite
is true.
It is telling us
that the Lord
is intimately
and actively involved
day after day
after day
in lovingly
caring for his creation.
Right?
Here is this God.
He is not just
the God of the big
picture of life.
He is the God
who cares about
the small details
of life.
Again,
see the present tense
verbs,
what does the Lord
do?
Present tense,
he causes.
Do you see it?
Verse 10 and 14.
He causes water
to flow
and the grass
to grow.
He waters
the mountains.
Verse 13.
He makes
both the sun
and the moon
rise and set.
Verse 14.
He gives food
to his creatures.
Verse 20.
Does this strike you
as a God
who isn't actively
involved in lovingly
caring for his creation?
Not a bit.
God cares.
And do you see
who benefits
from this loving care?
The birds,
verse 12.
The sea creatures,
verse 25.
Verse 11.
The beasts
of the field.
And here is my
favourite character
in this psalm.
If you check him out.
The wild donkey.
Do you see him?
The wild donkey.
Where is he?
I should have
written down there.
Verse 11.
The wild donkey.
Picture the wild donkey
in your head.
Right?
He's away out
on the wilderness
on his own.
He is undomesticated.
He is scruffy.
He is filthy.
No kids running up
to their mum
saying mum, mum, mum, mum.
Can we please, please,
please, please, please,
please have a wild donkey
as a pet?
He's not making it
onto Blue Planet.
There's no funfair
about this wild donkey.
And yet do you see
that God provides
even for him?
The animals benefit
from God's care
and this is where
we come in.
Man does.
Verse 14.
The crops that we are
able to grow,
the ground that we are
able to cultivate
in verses 22 and 23.
Think about this one
tomorrow morning.
The work that we are
able to do
because the sun comes up.
All of that
finds its original source
from the Lord's
good hand.
You know,
our little girl Grace
is dairy intolerant.
And because of that,
almost for the first time
in my life,
what I've started doing
is checking the ingredients
on the back of packets.
I was doing it this week
with a psalm in my mind
and saying,
thank you, Lord,
for providing the sun
and the rain
and for giving the farmer
the skills that he needs
to cultivate that land
so that we can have
sunflower seed oil
that could go in
that flora tub
that I could put
on my little girl's toast
and she could eat it.
Tracing things
all the way back,
aren't we,
to our first source,
first cause.
This is what the psalm
is asking us to do.
I was challenged
this week as well
to develop my theology
of grass cutting.
Went to cut the grass
on Thursday night.
I haven't done it for weeks
and it was so long.
Why was it so long?
Because it rained
and rained
over the past few weeks
and every time I went
to cut it,
I couldn't
because it rained again.
But the rain fell
and the sun came out
and boy did that grass grow
and I cut it
and I filled two
wheelie bins
worth of grass.
But God made
that grass grow.
It is testimony
to the fact
that he lovingly cares
for his creation.
It's challenges,
doesn't it,
it's the everyday things
that we do in life.
How often does grace
around the dinner table
saying thanks
just become a routine
thing for us?
We all fall into that,
don't we?
It gets stale
at giving thanks.
Friends,
every glass of wine
that you enjoy,
every potato peeling
that you scrape
into the bin,
parents,
every nappy
that you change
is telling you something
about the God
who provides
for the creatures
of his world.
In the book of Acts,
you see Paul,
he's speaking to the people
of this little town
in Lystra
who don't know
about the God
of the Bible.
What does he do?
He appeals to creation.
Getting them to think
about the how
and the why
that all the things happen.
He says this,
God has not left himself
without witness.
He has shown kindness
by giving you rain
from heaven
and crops in their seasons.
He provides you
with plenty of food
and fills your hearts
with joy.
In other words,
Paul is saying
if you look up,
you'll understand
that the God
of creation
is one who provides
all the things
that you need.
It comes from his hand.
Would you understand?
Take stock,
stop in your life
and think about
what this is telling you.
Friends,
bring those wonderful
two truths together.
Mighty maker,
perfect provider.
This is who this God is.
Incomparable power
and incomparable love.
And of course,
we see both of these
fully
in the person
of the Lord Jesus,
don't we?
who stilled the seas.
Do you see it?
This blew my mind
this week
and then I realized
it wasn't my thought.
It was in my ESV study Bible
but I thought it was mine.
What does the psalmist
write of God?
Verse 7,
that God did what?
He rebuked the water
and it fled.
And what does Mark
write about Jesus
as he was in the boat
with his disciples?
What did he do?
He rebuked
the seas,
the wind and the waves
and the still.
Same words.
Mark helping us see
that God is in the boat.
This is who Jesus is.
He's one of all power.
And what do we see Jesus
doing for the hungry crowd
as he has compassion on them
as they gather
to hear him preach?
He miraculously provides
bread for them to eat.
Do you see in Jesus
we have one
who is a mighty maker
and we have one
who is this perfect provider.
And as we read in Colossians,
he is the one
through whom all things
were created.
And he is the one
who sustains all things
with a word of his power.
What a big Christ we have.
Friends,
creation speaking,
the question is
are we listening thirdly
and finally?
Creation is telling us
about a tragic truth.
Verses 31 to 35,
because in light of everything
that we've seen,
what does this God deserve?
What does the Lord deserve?
The God who made everything,
who provides everything
and who rejoices
in his work
as he gains satisfaction
from it,
as it displays
his majesty.
What does he deserve?
Do you see the words?
He deserves glory.
He deserves glory
from every creature.
All creatures
of our God and King
lift up their voice
and with us sing
hallelujah.
All of creation
is supposed to praise
this God,
this holy God.
And so that
our soul
and creation's soul
were singing praises
to this God.
That is what the psalmist
is doing.
Do you see verse 33?
I will sing to the Lord.
He's adding his voice
to this.
I will sing to the Lord
all my life.
I will sing praise
to my God
as long as I live.
May my meditation
be pleasing to him
as I rejoice in the Lord.
This is why we were made.
This was the creator's
intention for all of us
is his creatures.
We would join in
with the hallelujah chorus
giving him glory
and sharing
in his glory.
But here's the tragedy
of verse 34.
What does the psalmist
see and know?
He knows that despite
of what is obvious
to them
many people
have willfully
turned away
from this God
and will not
recognize him
as their creator.
It was a tragic
truth then
it's a tragic
truth now
it's a tragic
truth today.
Paul writes this
in Romans 1.
for what could be
known about God
is plain to them
because God
has shown it to them.
Hear what he's saying.
For God's invisible
attributes
namely his eternal
power and divine
nature have been
clearly perceived
ever since the
creation of the world
in the things
that have been
made.
So they are
without
excuse.
For although
they knew God
they did not
honor him as God
or give thanks
to him
but became futile
in their thinking
and their foolish
hearts were darkened
claiming to be wise
they became fools
and they exchanged
the glory
of the immortal
God for images
resembling
mortal man
and birds
and animals
and creeping things.
And here is where
we kick in
on the screen.
Therefore
God gave them up
in the lusts
of their hearts
to impurity
to the dishonoring
of their bodies
among themselves
because
they exchanged
the truth
about God
for a lie
and worshipped
and served
the creature
rather than
the creator.
There is the
tragedy
that man
the creature
willfully wants
to worship
creation
rather than
the creator.
Now the thing
is the gods
of our day
they might have
different faces
to those of the
first century
fame, success,
comfort, sex,
money, career
you take your pick
but they represent
the same defiant
heart attitude
that says
I don't want
anything to do
with God.
And friends
the thing is
that God's
righteous anger
is hanging over
all of us
who have bought
into that bad
exchange
and who are
ignoring the truth
about God
and have chosen
to buy
the lie
that he's not there.
And it's a
tragic truth
and it's a
serious problem.
But let me
tell you about
another kind
of exchange.
Let me
tell you about
God the Son
let me tell you
about Jesus
who exchanged
heaven's praises
for birth
in a stable
who stepped
into this
creation
who became
a creature
and who was
crucified
by the very
creatures
that he had
made
the utter
humiliation
of that
and who hung
on a cross
who took
God's anger
on himself
that defiant
creatures like
you and me
deserve making
a way for you
and I by faith
in him to be
perfectly right
with our creator
and by doing
so joining in
this glorious
harmony
as creation
and creature
join in the
worship of
their creator.
French creation
is speaking
the psalmist
is singing
the world
is displaying
the question
is are we
joining?
Just as we
close there
was a man
called Thomas
Chisholm
some of you
might have
heard of him
he lived in
New Jersey
and he became
a Christian
when he was
27
he suffered
ill health
most of his
life
starting when
he was 36
in fact he
had to come
out of the
Christian ministry
that he entered
for one year
because of his
ill health
and he spent
the rest of
his life
working a
desk job
selling life
insurance
I love that
thought
helping people
make financial
plans on the
one hand
and telling
them about
the God
who created
all things
and sustains
all things
and provides
all things
on the other
hand
and he's the
man who's
famous for
writing the
hymn
Great is thy
faithfulness
as he reflected
on God's
loving care
his glory
displayed in the
world but his
loving care for
him
friends I
thought we
would just
close by
singing it
together I
know the
time is
marching on
but just
singing this
together it's
a great way
isn't it we
did this a few
weeks ago and
so many of you
came up to me
and said it
was it was so
potent just a
way of allowing
God's word to
dwell among us
richly as we
reflect on these
truths so we'll
give this a shot
and as we always
say if it flies
great and if it
doesn't we'll never
talk about it again
okay but think
about what these
words are saying
to you this hymn
that was written
reflecting the
God who provides
all these things
okay
how countless
are your works
Lord in wisdom
you have made
them all
heavenly father
thank you so much
that you are this
kind of God
thank you so much
and that we
perfectly see that
you are a mighty
maker and you're a
perfect provider we
see it ultimately
in your son
Jesus Christ
and so father I
pray that you would
help us as creatures
to be those who
look to our creator
would you help us
to find our all in
all in Jesus Christ
in whose name we
pray amen