Always Back to Creation

Excellent or Praiseworthy is posted on Monday and Thursday nights.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. — Genesis 1:1

The wives in the ladies’ Bible study group at the base chapel were nervous. Their husbands were returning home from deployment—and they were all hesitant, but honest, to admit that they were anxious about the transition of reintegration. We read Psalm 145 (the great psalm of God’s majesty) together . . . then prayed . . . then discussed. Our discussion included a sharing of times past when God’s faithfulness was evident in their lives. Their hearts were stilled as they remembered what they already knew—that God the Creator was sovereign and worthy of awe.

In the burning sands of Afghanistan, a soldier opened his care package from home. In it was another calendar—this time with pictures of beautiful flowers up against a background of majestic snow-capped mountains. His wife told me that it didn’t matter what the year was—the calendars she sent were ones she found with beautiful pictures of nature. . . and sometimes with Scripture in the margins. God’s created beauty ministered to her husband’s weary heart in a way he couldn’t describe—but was very real. God’s presence revealed in creation comforted his war-torn soul.

Veterans of many deployments, a military couple had to make a decision soon regarding their future. He had plans and concerns—she had plans and concerns. They went round and round with their discussions, trying to decide whether to “stay in” or “get out”, seemingly getting nowhere. It wasn’t until they went to church and joined their hearts in praise and worship to God the Father that they agreed to pray together, seeking God’s guidance. Their prayers were simple—using the Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication model (ACTS). But their prayers were made together, holding hands. Demonstrating the unity given by God in the Trinity, even before creation, they praised and they pleaded . . . and their Father answered.

It all begins with creation . . . which begins with the Creator. If you find yourself feeling empty today—with doubts, frustrations, concerns bearing down on you, consider reading these verses of adoration, beauty, and correction to set your heart on the one who loves you enough to give this beautiful world—and to send His Son, Jesus Christ, into it . . . just for you.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.” John 1:1-4

“It is I who made the earth and created man upon it. I stretched out the heavens with My hands and I ordained all their host.” Isaiah 45:12

“Before the mountains were born or You gave birth to the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” Psalm 90:2

“The One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these.” Isaiah 45:7

“When He established the heavens, I was there, when He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep, when He made firm the skies above, when the springs of the deep became fixed, when He set for the sea its boundary so that the water would not transgress His command, when He marked out the foundations of the earth; Then I was beside Him, as a master workman; and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him, rejoicing in the world, His earth, and having my delight in the sons of men.” Proverbs 8:27-31

“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.” Revelation 4:11

“The LORD is good to all; and His mercies are over all His works. All Your works shall give thanks to You, O LORD, and Your godly ones shall bless You. They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom and talk of Your power, to make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts and the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom.” Psalm 145:9-12

“Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God and a great King above all gods, in whose hand are the depths of the earth, the peaks of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for it was He who made it, and His hands formed the dry land.” Psalm 95:2-5

“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; what is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, and You crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, whatever passes through the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!” Psalm 8:3-8

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:15-17

“Lift your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, the One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one of them is missing.” Isaiah 40:26

“Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; the LORD of hosts is His name . . .” Jeremiah 31:35

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.” Ecclesiastes 3:11

“For behold, He who forms mountains and creates the wind and declares to man what are His thoughts, He who makes dawn into darkness and treads on the high places of the earth, the LORD God of hosts is His name.” Amos 4:13

“I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:1,2

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.” Job 38:4

“Thus says the LORD: ‘Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool . . . For My hand made all these things, thus all these things came into being,’ declares the LORD.” Isaiah 66:1,2

“Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called; I am He; I am the first, I am also the last. Surely my hand founded the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand together.” Isaiah 48:12,13

“Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it.” Deuteronomy 10:14

“Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.” Psalm 33:8,9

“Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven. Your faithfulness continues throughout all generations; You established the earth, and it stands.” Psalm 119:89,90

Questions to Share:

1. Which of the verses above encourage you in a particular situation you are currently facing?

2. Share with your spouse a time when a scene of beauty—whether observed in person or photo—encouraged your heart. It can be as grand as the expanse of the Grand Canyon, or as simple as the smile of a child presenting a bouquet of dandelions.