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creator

Believing in the God of the Psalmists, Part 3: God is My Creator

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(If you want to study more on this topic, start at the beginning of this series on prayer and the Psalms and follow the links to each successive post.  Or check out the index for this entire series of posts.)

My excitement for this series is increased this week because I just got home from Orlando, Florida after a great weekend with the teenagers from the South Bumby Church of Christ. We spent four hours on Saturday talking about prayer from the psalms. I know I was built up and I hope they were too.

Last week we saw God is creator. However, the psalmists took it even further than just a general statement about creation. God is not only the creator in general. He is very specifically my creator.

Psalm 139 drives this home better than any other passage.

For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

Psalm 139:13-16

If God is creator of the universe, He is sovereign ruler of the universe. If He is creator of me, He is the sovereign ruler of me. The psalmist recognized that this creation gives God intimate knowledge of me.

You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar. 
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.

Psalm 139:2-6 

As we expect an inventor to know the ins and outs of the work of his hands, God knows us intimately. He knows how we tick. He knows how we think. He knows how we respond. He knows what we will say before we say it. The psalmist is left in awe. “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.” Notice, the psalmist doesn’t get bogged down trying to figure out how that works. He doesn’t get bogged down trying to figure out if he even needs to speak this psalm because God already knows. He is just in awe of God’s knowledge and he expresses it.

Perhaps the greatest point we should get from this psalm however is not that God knows the thoughts of the psalmists, but that the psalmist, seeing God as his creator, wants to know the thoughts of God.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.

Psalm 139:17-18

The psalmist also realizes this means God is my judge.

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try my and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the everlasting way!

Psalm 139:23-24

At first, this statement brings up some fear in me. I’m not sure I’m ready to tell God search me that thoroughly. I’m not sure if I’m ready for God to look in every crack and crevice of my heart to find if there is any grievous way in me. I already know I’m still growing. I know there are struggles and problems. The psalmist seems to be saying he knows he is pure. However, at second glance, I think there is something other than acknowledging God’s judgment and the psalmist believing he measures up. Instead, he ends the thought with, “…lead me in the way everlasting!” Is it possible the psalmist is not saying, “Look at me God. Judge me God. I measure up”? Is it possible he is saying, “God look at me. Know me. Find everything that is wrong and fix it by leading me in your way”? I’m tending toward that second idea. After all, we’ve heard the first kind of statement before. But that was from a Pharisee and Jesus said that man was not justified. Perhaps God’s knowing us is not as frightening as it seems at first. Yes, He is judge. But He is not waiting to cast us into hell. He wants to search our hearts and show us the right way. 

We must acknowledge God is our creator. He knows us. He knows how we work. He knows what is in our heart. Therefore, He can help us. Let us surrender to Him. Let us open every closet. Let us expose every buried skeleton. Let us shed the light in every chasm. We are only as sick as our darkest secrets. Let us let God’s light shine on them all so He can lead us away from our grievous way and onto in His everlasting way.

Come back next Monday as we strike on one of the most shocking aspects of the Psalmists faith in God. If we are going to believe in the God of the psalmists, we will see Him as the source.

Believing in the God of the Psalmists, Part 2: God is Creator

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(If you want to study more, start at the beginning of this series on Praying Like the Psalmists. Or check out the index for this entire series of posts.)

Last week we learned the Psalmists prayed because they believed God Is. Yet, their faith did not end there. God was not merely out there, He was integrally related to what is down here. He is the author of it all. He is the creator. Everything down here is merely the creature.

God is Creator

Psalm 8:3 defines it, saying, “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place…” Look to the skies. See the moon, the stars, the planets; these are not just out there. They are there because God put them there. They are His handiwork. Be in awe of the great God who said, “Let there be light” and there it was. Merely looking at the expanse of the sky should remind us of God’s glory. However, the more we learn about creation the more in awe we should be. Sadly, too many scientists keep studying to disprove God. Yet, the more they learn about the intricacies of creation, the more I’m amazed at God. From the precision with which our expansive solar system moves creating days, months, seasons, and years, to the extensive information stored in the most microscopic of cells, every bit of creation sings for God’s praise. Psalm 19:1-2 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.” Every part of creation prompts us to praise God, from the burning gas of the stars to the brilliant colors of the flowers to the amazing efficiency of the ants and bumblebees.

Psalm 89:11-12 says, “The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours; the world and all that is in it, you have founded them. The north and the south, you have created them; Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.” Because God is the creator of all I see, He is the owner of all I see. As Psalm 50:10-11 says, “For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine.” None of this is ours. It is all God’s. He merely grants us the use of it. You think your father is rich and has a great many land holdings? My Father has yours beat. He owns it all and one day your father will have to give account to mine for how he used the land.

The Springboard for Our Prayers

Here is the crux of the matter. When we fully see God as the creator of heaven and earth, of all we see, and all that is, prayer will no longer be a checklist item of Christian homework. Rather, prayer will become the natural response to who God is and what He has done. How can we help but praise God when He is that powerful? How can we help but petition when we see we are so weak in comparison? How can we help but confess to the God who holds us in the palm of His creative (and therefore destructive) hand? He is the creator. He is the owner. He is the sustainer. Because of Him we have life. Because of Him we have breath. Because of Him we have food. Because of Him we have clothes. Because of Him this world is perfectly suited for us. How could we not pray when we let this sink in to our hearts?

Additionally, when we fully see God as creator of heaven and earth, of all we see, and all that is, everything becomes a reminder and a prompt to pray. The budding trees, the blooming flowers, the mountains, the valleys, the fruit trees, the cedars, the stars, the moon, the planets, the people, the animals, the plants. Everything around us is the handiwork of God. Everything around us is reason to praise God. Walk outside whether day or night and pray with your eyes open. Start thanking God and praising Him for everything you see that comes from Him. Be amazed at it all.

The Psalmists prayed like they did because they saw God as Creator. Do we? Do we really? Or is creation merely one of those points we like to argue technically about with the atheists? 

Praise for God the Creator

Psalm 148 provides the ultimate crescendo of praise for God as creator.

Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, from the heavens;
praise him in the heights!
Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his hosts!

Praise him, sun and moon,
praise him, all you shining stars!
Praise him, you highest heavens,
and you waters above the heavens!

Let them praise the name of the Lord!
For he commanded and they were created.
And he established them forever and ever;
he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away.

Praise the lord from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all deeps,
fire and hail, snow and mist,
stormy wind fulfilling his word!

Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars!
Beasts and all livestock,
creeping things and flying birds! 

Kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers of the earth!
Young men and maidens together,
old men and children!

Let them praise the name of the lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his majesty is above earth and heaven.
He has raised up a horn for his people,
praise for all his saints,
for the people if Israel who are near to him.

Praise the Lord! 

Come back next Monday to learn that the Psalmists did not merely see God as the creator of all that is out there. They saw God as creator of me and all that is within me.