Only the Lion

Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright. Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings! Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts. For the word of the LORD is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD. By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host. He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; he puts the deeps in storehouses. (Psalm 33:1-7 ESV). Just the other night, as Mary and I were driving west from church, I remarked at the beauty of the sunset. She simply answered that “it looked like a painting.” So much of God’s creation is like that. The beauty is undeniable. In his novel, "The Magician's Nephew," C.S. Lewis describes in stunning detail, the creation of the incredible mythical land of Narnia-- sung into existence by Aslan the Lion. Among the witnesses to the event was a character known as Uncle Andrew. Though Uncle Andrew witnessed the entire creation, he still refused to see it for what it was. Lewis' narrative is brilliant: "When the Lion had first begun singing, long ago when it was still quite dark, Uncle Andrew had realized that the noise was a song. And he had disliked the song very much. It made him think and feel things he did not want to think and feel. Then, when the sun rose and he saw that the singer was a lion ('only a lion,' as he said to himself) he tried his hardest to make himself believe that it wasn't singing and never had been singing-- only roaring as any lion might in a zoo in our own world. 'Of course it can't really have been singing,' he thought, 'I must have imagined it. I've been letting my nerves get out of order. Who ever heard of a lion singing?' And the longer and more beautifully the Lion sang, the harder Uncle Andrew tried to make himself believe that he could hear nothing but roaring. Now the trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed." That last sentence is very perceptive. It describes those who, though they see creation all around them, refuse to admit there's a Creator. Some even try as hard as they can to make themselves believe there isn't, with devastating results. In 1715 King Louis XIV of France died after a reign of 72 years. He had called himself “the Great,” and was the monarch who made the famous statement, “I am the state!” His court was the most magnificent in Europe, and his funeral was equally spectacular. As his body lay in state in a golden coffin, orders were given that the cathedral should be very dimly lit with only a special candle set above his coffin, to dramatize his greatness. At the memorial, thousands waited in hushed silence. Then Bishop Massilon began to speak; slowly reaching down, he snuffed out the candle and said, “Only God is great.” When you see God’s great creation do you hear the Lion singing? Bishop Massilon was right… only God is great!