One evening recently I was sent a photograph of Venus beaming brightly in the night sky. On a recent cold and frosty morning, I was out as the sun rose (which is not difficult to achieve in the dark mornings of early January). There is a world of difference between the clear night sky and the slightly hazy, frosty air of a wintry morning but in both cases, the sky paints a picture that tells of something awesome.
When I was at school, we sang a hymn by Joseph Addison that has dropped out of Singing the Faith and Rejoice and Sing. If you look at number 30 in Congregational praise or 339 in Hymns and Psalms you will find Joseph Addison’s text, ‘The spacious firmament on high.’ Addison describes the sun in verse one and the moon and stars in verse two. Both run their course and each is majestic in its own way. The final verse draws the conclusion that neither is the originator and reasons that there is a greater being.
What though in solemn silence all
Move round this dark terrestrial ball;
What though no real voice nor sound
Amid their radiant orbs be found:
In reason’s ear they all rejoice,
And utter forth a glorious voice,
For ever singing as they shine:
‘The hand that made us is divine!’
Read it carefully and spot the difference in understanding. Addison died in 1719 so he can be forgiven for thinking that everything moves around ‘this terrestrial ball’; that aside, I cannot improve on his conclusion that there is a divine maker – no other explanation suffices in the face of silent beauty and majesty.
There is much to worry us in the world and it is a great tonic to be able to look at the relentless spinning of the circling planets (Rejoice and Sing 623 or Methodist Hymn Book 892) and thank God that he is bigger than the world’s affairs.
A Prayer
It is easy to despair Lord; we confess that we sometimes wonder if everything is crashing round our ears but you are above us and almighty. By your grace give us confidence in your eternity, for our redeemer’s sake. Amen.