Written Aug. 1999
Many of the thought and words in this prayer come from Dr. John Piper's message, "Do you See Joy in the Sun". Used with permission.
Psalm 19:1-6
1. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork.
2. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
3. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
4. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
5. Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
6. His going forth is from the end of the heaven and his crircuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
You have ministry to me here in Your Word, Lord, but You also have a MINISTRY FOR ME when I go outside and LOOK UP! The sun, the moon, the stars, the clouds, the firmament (The blue dome that I am under that is like a big "tent")-these things along with the rest of Your wonderful creation SPEAK! But I must go outside and LOOK UP to hear the message!
Day after day and night after night, the heavens are "gushing out" a message of "wordless words" to give healing, holiness, happiness, humility, and hope. Yes, every time the sunrises or sets in dazzling oranges, reds, blues, and purples or as a big yellow-orange ball too bright to look on except for a split second, You are SPEAKING to me. The message is about You and Your GLORY. O Lord, You paint such beautiful pictures, a different one every day, and these pictures speak of the INVISIBLE THINGS, even Your eternal power and Godhead. Yes, the INVISIBLE things are UNDERSTOOD by the things that are MADE as Rom. 1:20 explains. There IS a mighty Creator! There is no doubt about it, and this message of "wordless words" goes out to all the ends of the earth. Everyone of every language feels the heat from Your glorious sun. Nothing is hid from the heat thereof, especially today here in hot Texas in August. (Smile) Yes, everyone of every language gets the message so that they are without excuse. All people in the world KNOW that You are the One who made this glorious
sun, but most refuse to acknowledge it or to bow before You. O Lord, what a wonderful thing it is to KNOW You, the Creator!
Lord, I love Your analogy here of how You set up a tent (the great blue dome) for the sun. The sun comes up as a bridegroom who is experiencing the HAPPIEST day of his life. Then this sun takes a cruise around the globe like a strong man running a race. Yes, this is a picture to us of what Your glory is like!
Ah, Lord, it is a humbling thing to LOOK UP and to realize that I am just a little "speck" in Your vast universe. But it is also a wonderful thing to know that You are such a BIG GOD and You are my HELP!
Piper also says that LOOKING UP and experiencing Your wonderful creation can be a small "piece of the puzzle" and part of the answer for my healing. Fresh air, sunshine, and a little exercise in Your beautiful would indeed help to take m ind off of myself and my symptoms and lift the depression. Spurgeon speaks of this wonderful "medicine" in his Lectures To My Students, p 133, 158-
"Moreover, most of us are in some way or other unsound physically. Here and there we meet with an old man who could not remember that ever he was laid aside for a day; but the great mass of us labor under some form or other of infirmity, either in body or mind. Certain bodily maladies, especially those connected with the digestive organs, the liver, and the spleen, are the fruitful fountains of despondency; and, let a man strive as he may against
their influence, there will be hours and circumstances in which they will for awhile overcome him. As to mental maladies, is any man altogether sane? Are we not all a little off balance?…
To sit long in one posture, poring over a book, or driving a quill, is in itself a taxing of nature; but add to this a badly ventilated chamber, a body which has long been without muscular exercise, and a heart burdened with many cares, and we have all the elements for preparing a seething cauldron of despair, especially in the dim months of fog:
'When a blanket wraps the day,
When the rotten woodland drips,
And the leaf is stamped in clay.'
Let a man be naturally as blithe as a bird, he will hardly be able to bear up year after year against such a suicidal process; he will make his study a prison and his books the warders of a goal, while nature lies outside his window calling him to health and beckoning him to joy. He who forgets the humming of the bees among the heather, the cooing of the wood-pigeons in the forest, the song of birds in the woods, the rippling of rills among the rushes, and the sighing of the wind among the pines, needs not wonder if his heart forgets to sing and his soul grows heavy. A day's breathing of fresh air upon the hills, or a few hours ramble in the beech woods' umbrageous calm, would sweep the cobwebs out of the brain of scores of our toiling ministers who are not but half alive. A mouthful of sea air, or a stiff walk in the wind's face, would not give grace to the soul, but it would yield oxygen to the body, which is next best.
"Heaviest the heart is in a heavy air,
Ev'ry wind that rises blows away despair."
The ferns and the rabbits, the streams and the trouts, the fir trees and the squirrels, the primroses and the violets, the farm-yard, the new-mown hay, and the fragrant hops-these are the best medicine… (unless of course you are allergic to them- parenthesis mine) :)…the
surest tonics for the declining, the best refreshments for the weary. For lack of opportunity, or inclination, these great remedies are neglected, and the student becomes a self-immolated victim."
MEDITATION TO BE CONTINUED…
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