The ash outside my window sprouted new leaves over the last couple of weeks. As the leaves enlarge, my view of dog walkers headed up the street to the park slowly disappears. Spring brings a fresh perspective on a tired view through an empty tree.

An ancient writer, thought to be David, wrote a few lines bringing a fresh perspective into a tired world:

For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.

David contrasts the idols of those nations surrounding him, pieces of wood and stone, to the Living God. The Lord created with a word the very materials craftsmen scrounged to form those idols. A ludicrous juxtaposition, this ridiculous difference between the Creator and the created. A vast gulf separates the two and David acknowledged the difference.

I enjoy the creation in the spring, when flowers pop and trees bud. David’s words remind me to especially enjoy the Creator of the creation, who is great and most worthy of praise.

Psalm 96 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Bob Chisholm