Heaven's Playlist

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork.” Psalm 19:1

There is a train of thought, led by groups ranging from the New Atheists to many scientists and philosophers, which says God does not exist. In fact, such people deny that there is any evidence for God’s existence. Many say that God is merely a crutch used to help us get through life’s difficulties or to cope with the problem of death. God is a creation of our own imagination to try and make sense of the world we live in. Others say evil and suffering in the world makes Him either a bad or impotent God if He even does exist. None of these ideas are true.

Do you have a favorite playlist? A playlist is a list of video or audio files – usually of music – that is collected on a cell phone or computer that people love to listen to at their leisure. Did you know God created the first playlist? He put together a playlist of biblical songs that addresses some of the major questions about God, evil, and suffering. We call this playlist, “Psalms.” Psalms are actually heaven’s songs. They are biblical truths put to music. And Psalm 19, written by King David, is for sure one of the greatest hits in of them all.  If it had a name, I think it should be called, “Here, There, and Everywhere,” because this song says that is exactly where you find God.

C.S. Lewis called Psalm 19, “The greatest poem in the Psalms and one of the greatest lyrics in the world.” The theme is simple – God has spoken loudly enough that everyone can hear Him, and God has shown Himself clearly enough that everybody can see Him. The Psalm tells us that we don’t have to look far to find God.

Whether it is daytime or nighttime, what do you see when you look up in the sky? In the four stanzas of Psalm 19, David tells us that God has spoken and revealed Himself in the expanse of the heavens so that we can know not only that He is, but also who He is. In other words, we can see God here, there, and everywhere if we will just open our eyes and look.

David opens this greatest-hit psalm with these words, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork.” Throughout the rest of the song David sings of how we can see God’s glory in the skies (verses 1-6), His guidance in the Scriptures (verses 7-11), His goodness in the soul (verses 12-13), and His grace in Christ our Savior (verse 14). It’s as if God is beckoning the hearts of the doubters through this song…”Look up,” He whispers. “Don’t miss Me. I am here!”

Dear Lord, I know it's been a while since I have just looked up and soaked in the evidence of your existence and marveled at your glory and handiwork in creation. I'm asking that you would help me to be diligent to carve out some time today to sit in your presence and reflect on all of your amazing work that is so evident around me. May I never take for granted how amazing you are. In Jesus' name, amen.