The
heavens declare the glory of God. (expanding universe)
I can hear Louie Armstrong singing, "What a wonderful world." There are folks who consider such sentiment as idealism and romanticism. I hear the song and think of other songs such as "How Great Thou Art." *
"O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds thy hands have made..." I cannot look up into the starry sky at night without those words coming as an anthem through my mind.
I've been out swimming off the northeast shore of Oahu as the sun came up over the ocean's horizon - and sang 'How Great Thou Art.' I've stood in the midst of the Giant Sequoia's; on the rim of the Grand Canyon; beside Niagara Falls; in the valleys of the Alp's; on the Cliffs of Mohrer in Ireland; overlooked volcanic mountains in Guatemala; snorkeled reefs in the Pacific and walked the sparkling crystaled sands of islands in the Atlantic. And I've sung, 'How Great Thou Art.'
1. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
3. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
4. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,
5. which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
Psalms chapter 19 N.I.V.)
I've looked through electron microscopes at the smallness of the finite world and through telescopes at the infinite universe. Astronomers say there are more than 100 billion stars...untold numbers of planets within those star systems, and, the universe is rapidly expanding. There are no limits, or edges, to the universe - but rather, an indication that there is far more beyond what has been discovered than what we currently consider as the known universe.
"Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee - How Great Thou Art; How Great Thou Art!"
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 man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
5. You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
6. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet:
7. all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field,
8. the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.
9. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
(Psalms chapter 8, N.I.V.)
* Text: Carl G. Boberg (1859-1940), Mönsterås-Tidningen, 1886. Musik: Svensk folkmelodi, Sanningsvittnet, 1891 (How Great Thou Art - words by Carl G. Boberg; music is an old Swedish folk melody)