"For the Lord Most High is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth." (Psalm 47:2)

Recently I have shared some observations made on our trip to the Atlantic Ocean. Standing upon the beach of the great sea definitely got my attention. The land on the way kept me awake with its rich beauty. I completely agreed with the Psalmist, "O God, How awesome are Your works!" (66:3)

The great water and fertile fields encountered on our venture spoke volumes about the awesomeness of God. But what really made an impression on this small man from a two horse hamlet in western Pennsylvania was seeing the multitudes of people and their diversities in language, nationality, age, color and dress. I thought about the 8th Psalm as we sat on the beach. The writer, David, was looking at the vast heavens when he wrote it and I was looking at the mighty ocean and asking the same question: "What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?" (v. 6)

The heavens and the seas and the lands are so immense...and then there is you and me and he and she and they and...we're so small in comparison. I picked up two handfuls of sand and said to my wife: "There are six and a half billion people on this earth. How many grains of sand do you suppose I'm holding? We seem so insignificant under this sky above us and that ocean before us and the continent behind us, yet God knows every one of us intimately. Six and a half billion people and every one of them is different and unique, and He loves all these people here and every where. Think about it and try to get your hands around that one."

David concludes his song with his question becoming an awe-filled pronouncement: "You have made him (man) to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen - even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea...O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth!" (vs 6-9)

When the Lord Most High created the heavens and the earth, the seas and the land and all its creatures, He pronounced it good. He then brought forth the culmination of creation - mankind. "Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good!" (Genesis 1:31) The creation was the means and the provision for the ends and the purpose - mankind.

And when we realize this, we too shall sing: "All the earth shall worship You and sing praises to You; They shall sing praises to Your name. Come and see the works of God; He is awesome in His doing toward the sons of men." (Psalm 66:5) 

Next time: Awesome God (The Redemption)