Praise the LORD!
For it is good to sing praises to our God;
for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.
The LORD builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
He determines the number of the stars;
he gives to all of them their names.
Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
his understanding is beyond measure.
The LORD lifts up the humble;
he casts the wicked to the ground.
Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;
make melody to our God on the lyre!
He covers the heavens with clouds;
he prepares rain for the earth;
he makes grass grow on the hills.
He gives to the beasts their food,
and to the young ravens that cry.
His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love. (ESV)
The psalmist here presents numerous reasons to praise the Lord; each uttered with emotional fervor as if the writer grew more amazed and filled with awe with each one. These verses praise the Lord for His direct control over the affairs of human beings as well as over the heavens and the earth. They also praise God for His sustaining providential care over the earth and all living creatures. Such truths as these are largely dismissed these days by the educated, the elite, and the egoistical who want to remove any idea or mention of God in the world. They do not praise Him or live for Him, preferring to worship themselves or gods of their own making. Those who shut God out of their lives are trapped in darkness and chaos.
The words of this Psalm should inspire us to mediate on God’s greatness. When we look all around us and see the myriad ways he acts in our lives, in creation, in the so-called natural forces, and in the ways of the flora and fauna of all the earth, we cannot help but praise Him. All the laws which scientists have uncovered that undergird the whole universe all serve to confirm the existence of an intelligent and creative God. They also demonstrate that He is a personal being who loves beauty and order. Therefore those who continue to look at His creation without seeing Him are quite foolish. How then can we even trust scientists to tell us the right things about the world and life if they continue to deny the existence of a personal God who created all that is? Rather we must place our trust in the one person who reveals to us who God really is: Jesus.