Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Psalm 8:1-9
Why should we be awestruck by anything in nature? Why should we perceive beauty in nature? Isn’t it only because God made us that way? If we were somehow created by random, natural forces, why would we be humbled or inspired by natural things and events? Why would we appreciate beauty or find wonder in our natural surroundings? Do you think a sea turtle finds beauty in the sunrise? Do you think a bald eagle is awestruck by the peaks of the Rocky Mountains? Do you think a whale ponders the vastness of the ocean and is humbled?
I believe our perceptions of this world are direct evidence that God created us and that He created humans uniquely to be awed by His magnificence as displayed in His creation. We can hardly take it in—perceive it, comprehend it—let alone understand how He was able to create such an incredibly vast, interconnected, and complex Universe. Albert Einstein said “The more I study science, the more I believe in God.” He believed that science is God’s thoughts. As a scientist myself, I appreciate the notion that a scientist is someone who wants to understand God’s thoughts.
Psalm 8 conveys this sense of wonder about the celestial bodies we observe, questioning God why we should have such a high place in this awesome universe that He created. Why should we have minds that try to comprehend that which we perceive as awesome? The physicist, Freeman Dyson, said, “I do not make any clear distinction between mind and God. God is what mind becomes when it passes beyond the scale of our comprehension.” When something is beyond our comprehension, we worship it because it is greater than us. God created us with a desire to know Him, though we can never fully comprehend Him. Therefore, we will worship Him forever.
Humbly,
Doug