“And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.” Genesis 1: 6-8
Samuel Longfellow wrote these words in 1864, “ God of the earth, the sky, the sea! … Maker of all above, below! We give Thee thanks, Thy Name we sing, Almighty Father, and heavenly King.” Two brief thoughts in regards to day two. One is that the sky, like the order set in light and other natural phenomenon is ordered and dependable. The second thought is leading up to the work God is about to do in the sea. It is foreign and varied truly extra terrestrial more accurately non terrestrial. Sky and sea each in their own way are vast expanses. To meditate on either is to feel small. After a brief conversation with a friend I mine I long to sail that I might experience the breath of God after the stillness and coolness of a normal night. However it has been said “Oak and triple bronze must have girded the breast of him who first committed his frail bark to the angry sea.” —Horace, Odes In other words the first sailors were brave souls.
My interest in meditating on creation is that I might understand the character of God. To meditate upon either the vastness of the sea or sky could leave anyone feeling very lonely. How could the creator of all that care about me personally. Casting Crowns captures this feeling well in their song Who am I, “Who am I? That the Lord of all the earth, would care to know my name, would care to feel my hurt.”
There is another feeling that I have when I meditate on the greatness of the sky and sea. I have often experienced it when I have ridden my bicycle around Ocean Drive in Newport. That feeling is security. If the God I worship can hold the sky and the sea in their place and keep them in order then “ordering my steps” Proverbs 19:21 is a small thing. He who set the stars in place that men might find their way to uncharted lands can certainly lead me to an uncertain future as I trust his design in my life. Psalm 139: 9-10 read, “If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.” The psalmist makes further application to the greatness of God in his own life when the praises of his lips sing “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts,[God! How vast is the sum of them! Samuel Longfellow makes the application to security in the midst of the storm. “Thy love is in the sunshine’s glow, Thy life is in the quickening air; When lightning flashes and storm winds blow, There is Thy power; Thy law is there.”
The first precept of that law is that the Lord is communicating I am in charge. he would say today "I set the sea and the sky in order. Trust me and lean not on your own understanding."
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/g/o/godofthe.htm
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/longitude/secrets.html
http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/who-am-i-lyrics-casting-crowns/4d39ec0dbfdcd65f48256e9c000db7e2
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/g/o/godofthe.htm
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