It's Really Summer!

 

Yet God my King is from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. You divided the sea by your might; you broke the heads of the sea monsters on the waters. You crushed the heads of Leviathan; you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness. You split open springs and brooks; you dried up ever-flowing streams. Yours is the day, yours also the night; you have established the heavenly lights and the sun. You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth; you have made summer and winter. (Psalm 74:12-17 ESV).

 

This year in Texas we have seen -2 degrees and 102 degrees; and, the summer is just getting started. Yet I enjoy this part of the world very much. Some people complain that it is too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter with little fall and spring to buffer the extremes. I’ve lived in other states also. North Carolina was wonderful. The tall pine trees and hardwoods made for an astonishing fall as the leaves changed into their brilliant colors. I’ve lived in Tennessee and found the weather there wonderful. We always got four evenly distributed seasons with some cold and hot weather, though it was relatively temperate. The spring season there was ablaze with wild flowers, dogwoods, and redbuds sprinkled through the vistas. However, I still love the way God has created this part of the world and set me in it.

 

Perhaps pastor Maltbie Babcock felt the same while he took walks along the Niagara Escarpment, writing, “This is my Father’s world, and to my listening ears all nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres. This is my Father’s world. Oh, let me ne’er forget that though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the Ruler yet.” I need reminders like this because at times it seems that the world around us can be chaotic. Natural disasters sweep over us, and we can feel so powerless. At other times we can be so proud of our achievements that we need the reminder that this is, after all, our Father’s world.

 

Surely this is the intent of Asaph in our reading today. He says, “Yet God my King is from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth” (v. 12). Then he begins to list the creations of God. I am reminded that when I think I may second-guess God’s order and creation those thoughts are from just another one of the many created in God’s design. And, it is a design specifically set to redeem all things. So, today, as the thermometer begins to top 100 degrees again and the media warning us to drink lots of water reducing our exposure to the hottest parts of the day, I think I’ll find a cool place and thank God for His wonder of creation! Join me!