All Of Creation

ALL OF CREATION

a prayer to open

Here’s my heart, Lord. Speak what is true.

Here’s my life, Lord. Speak what is true.

Let all that I am praise the LORD.

O LORD my God, how great you are!

You are robed with honor and majesty.

You are dressed in a robe of light.

You stretch out the starry curtain of the heavens;

you lay out the rafters of your home in the rain clouds.

You make the clouds your chariot;

you ride upon the wings of the wind.

The winds are your messengers;

flames of fire are your servants.

You placed the world on its foundation

so it would never be moved.

You clothed the earth with floods of water,

water that covered even the mountains.

At your command, the water fled;

at the sound of your thunder, it hurried away.

Mountains rose and valleys sank

to the levels you decreed.

Then you set a firm boundary for the seas,

so they would never again cover the earth.

You make springs pour water into the ravines,

so streams gush down from the mountains.

They provide water for all the animals,

and the wild donkeys quench their thirst.

The birds nest beside the streams

and sing among the branches of the trees.

You send rain on the mountains from your heavenly home,

and you fill the earth with the fruit of your labor.

You cause grass to grow for the livestock

and plants for people to use.

You allow them to produce food from the earth—

wine to make them glad,

olive oil to soothe their skin,

and bread to give them strength. . . .

High in the mountains live the wild goats,

and the rocks form a refuge for the hyraxes.

You made the moon to mark the seasons,

and the sun knows when to set.

You send the darkness, and it becomes night,

when all the forest animals prowl about.

Then the young lions roar for their prey,

stalking the food provided by God. . . .

People go off to their work,

where they labor until evening.

O LORD, what a variety of things you have made!

In wisdom you have made them all.

The earth is full of your creatures.

Here is the ocean, vast and wide,

teeming with life of every kind,

both large and small.

See the ships sailing along,

and Leviathan, which you made to play in the sea.

They all depend on you

to give them food as they need it.

When you supply it, they gather it.

You open your hand to feed them,

and they are richly satisfied. . . .

When you give them your breath, life is created,

and you renew the face of the earth.

May the glory of the LORD continue forever!

The LORD takes pleasure in all he has made!

The earth trembles at his glance;

the mountains smoke at his touch.

I will sing to the LORD as long as I live.

I will praise my God to my last breath!

May all my thoughts be pleasing to him,

for I rejoice in the LORD.

The poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote,

Earth’s crammed with heaven,

And every common bush afire with God;

But only he who sees, takes off his shoes;

The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.^a

She captured the psalmist’s sentiments exactly. The author begs us to take notice of all God has made, all he sustains, and all he provides. How might our lives be shaped if we were to pay attention to the stunning details of creation—big and small—more often?

• Read the Bible passage again slowly. What word or phrase stands out to you? Why do you think that word or phrase speaks to you? What does it say?
• Which season of the year is your favorite? What parts of creation do you notice most in that season?
• What part of creation most represents God’s power and majesty for you? What part of creation most represents his care and provision for you?

Thank you for every single detail of creation, Lord. I am in awe of your care and your majesty. You made and sustain all that I see, and still you speak into my individual heart and seek to guide my every step. Thank you. Open my eyes to the beauty and intricacy of this world, and fill my heart with childlike wonder. Amen.