“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. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.” Ps. 19:1-4
Today is St. Patrick’s Day, who was a man, a missionary, a priest and a follower of Christ, concerning all accounts, who went to Ireland to proclaim the gospel of Christ. Some of His writings speak of his experiencing the shoreline of Ireland. He was so moved by its beauty that he was convinced further of the Creator’s work and his need to not only to worship Him more but it stirred his compassion and desire to make sure these “wild” peoples came to know Him as well.
He understood clearly as the waves crashed against the cliffs that creation, in fact, does declares God’s glory. As David says in this Psalm, the things God has made declare His glory—“declare” as in shout aloud and at the same time whispers in awe. (Interesting word, for sure, but all along proclaiming in “voice” and action!) “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.”
Think about His promise here. The entire earth is going to be filled with the knowledge of your glory one Day. “There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.” Every place will be just as special and glorious as the next. Each hamlet, township, rural community and great city—every square inch of creation will be liberated from decay, abuse, and disaster.
But above all, this declaration from Creation is a call to us, who are His own, to declare and proclaim wherever we are. This is NOT a competition with creation,(if so we would clearly be losing!) but as image bearers of the King our voices ought to be the clearest and loudest and at the same time most humble so that His message is spread across the world. These characteristics were used to define St. Patrick as well as hundreds of other missionaries who place their lives and livelihood on the line every day for the Lord in His service. Can we who are here do any less in our spheres of influence?
Today, when we think of St. Patrick remember the missionary spirit that drove him to share the good news …to declare and proclaim the glory of God and His handiwork. Remember how he “saw and heard” God’s creation doing this naturally. And then thank God for giving us the same purpose. But also ask God for the boldness to declare and proclaim right where you are today!
God Bless y’all!
In His Grip,
Pastor Mike
