How Stargazing Connects Us with God
Did you know there is a sermon in the stars every night?
It all is a symphony of praise to God the Creator. In Psalm 19 God’s glory is declared by His creation. The stars of the skies are preaching sermons every night and it’s up to us to listen! In Hebrew, the word for how the heavens “declare” God’s glory is an intensive action. The proclamation is not tame, it is a vigorous expression of worship! The cosmos never stops announcing the story of the glory of the Creator God.
No matter where you are on the earth you cannot escape the sermon of the stars—every night they pour forth praise to the LORD. They preach a message, whether humanity recognizes it or not. You can shut your spiritual eyes and ears to their worship, but you cannot stop their praise. That’s because in God’s reality, everything dances and sings in unison to His glory!
Instead of fighting it, join the song of creation! Grab your family, a blanket, and go somewhere outside at night, even your own backyard! But, if possible and safe, get outside the city where nature is in the raw and there is less light pollution. Find a spot and stand in awe of the galaxies—listen to their sermon—join in their song! You will find that the grandeur of creation is only the springboard, the catalyst, as it propels your heart to soar in worship of our God.
Enjoying God while enjoying His creation is like enjoying an artist in the midst of his gallery.
In this activity allow yourself to feel small and allow the ever-expanding galaxies to make you reflect on how big God is. (After all, we need experiences that allow us to feel how big is in comparison to our worries.) Think about His beauty as He made such a beautiful cosmic expanse. Allow the sermon of the stars to birth a prayer of adoration and awe. There is practical value to this as well.
Isaiah 40:26 records God calling our attention to gaze at the heavens of the night sky in hopes that the grandeur would help us remember His strength and His care as Creator. But the next two verses are crucial as well.
26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.27 Why do you complain, Jacob?
Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
my cause is disregarded by my God”?
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom. – (Isaiah 40:26-28)
Isaiah is calling us out here. He is calling us out to gaze at the stars for a while. Why? Because when we do, we will remember that if God tends each star and knows them by name, how much more does He care for us? Our worries are not disregarded by God, as verse 27 expresses as a concern.
The Lord is everlasting and so “He will not grow tired or weary” of taking care of us, who are tired and weary.
That is good news.
Make time to listen to the sermon of the stars—allow the glory of creation to lead to adoration of the Creator. Discover how times staring at the stars and hearing their sermon will lead us to a make God-entrenched vision of reality.
But hey, we live in sunny San Diego (“Sun Diego,” as some call it). So, this does not only apply to stargazing… take advantage of the beautiful sunrises and sunsets available to us. And allow God’s creation to woo you into authentic worship.
This is a great reminder to find time to sit back and enjoy the beauty of God’s creation and all the expanse within it; including the stars, galaxies and universes therein. This really gave me a sense of peace when reading it. Its a great reminder of just how much God loves us and as an omnipresent creator is sovereign over all of his creation material and immaterial. After all it’s one thing to look into the expanse of the heavens and marvel at it’s beauty. It’s also another thing to remind ourselves that the same God who created it did so by …oh merley speaking it into existence!
I love the account in Job where the Lord answers him and says, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
38:4-7
…“Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loose the cords of Orion?
Job 38:31
Cherry picking a bit here, but just in God’s response to Job alone we see that he knows the constellations and stars by name and all the hosts sing and declare of his glory. Incredible!
Also, I wanted to say I appreciate these blog posts and to whomever writes them, thank you for the encouragement and scriptural reminders they bring.
Kyle,
We appreciate your kind words! It has been a pleasure to help produce great content that comes alongside all Newbreak already is doing in regard to discipleship and missional living.
I love that passage in Job 38 as well! Thanks for contributing that for others to see here on this page. I believe things such as “awe” and “wonder” are highly underestimated in their value in how they bring us to the God who created such beauty. In other words, if such beauty exists because He created it, imagine the beauty of the Creator. Also, understanding that we are looking at a “post-Fall” and “pre-Eschaton” world, even the beauty we see now is still broken. The most beautiful sunset we see is still a broken sunset needing redemption. Just imagine the beauty that will be from the stars to the oceans and everything in between in the new creation!
Again, thanks for contributing, Kyle. And thanks for your encouragement. We hope you are having a great week.
Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful piece.
I love the thought of a sermon of the stars. The stars worshipping their Creator–that is a dazzling word-picture. Thanks for this thoughtful post.
Glad it connected with you. Seriously, so glad.