100 Billion X
by Peter Lane 1 June 2022
Psalm 148
Shout praises to the Lord! Shout the Lord 's praises in the highest heavens. All of you angels, and all who serve him above, come and offer praise. Sun and moon, and all of you bright stars, come and offer praise. Highest heavens, and the water above the highest heavens, come and offer praise. Let all things praise the name of the Lord, because they were created at his command. He made them to last forever, and nothing can change what he has done. All creatures on earth, you obey his commands, so come praise the Lord! Sea monsters and the deep sea, fire and hail, snow and frost, and every stormy wind, come praise the Lord! All mountains and hills, fruit trees and cedars, every wild and tame animal, all reptiles and birds, come praise the Lord! Every king and every ruler, all nations on earth, every man and every woman, young people and old, come praise the Lord! All creation, come praise the name of the Lord. Praise his name alone. The glory of God is greater than heaven and earth. Like a bull with mighty horns, the Lord protects his faithful nation Israel, because they belong to him. Shout praises to the Lord!
Springtime is my favourite time of the year. As I step out into our garden and the surrounding countryside, I find it difficult not to be completely amazed by the signs of new life all around me. The blossom and new leaves on the trees, numerous plants coming into flower, new born lambs and calves in the fields, ducklings on the water, and birds singing and searching for food to feed their young. The quantity of new life is vast and I can't attempt to put a number on all the things I see.
It's at this point I have a confession to make. Within our family I am known for exaggerating things - it is usually when something goes wrong and what is actually a minor mishap is made to sound like a major disaster. Our daughter Rachel, who is a Primary School teacher, has even been known to quote her dad when explaining the meaning of the word "exaggerate" to the children in her class!
However, when I try and quantify the beauty of all the things I see around me and then try and imagine that multiplied across the world and throughout God's creation I simply cannot put that into numbers. A quick search of the internet shows there are 8.7 billion people, 1.4 billion cattle, 1.1 billion sheep and 18 billion chickens in our world. The number of galaxies in the universe is estimated to be well over 100 billion - Wow!! Indeed, as the Psalmist says "Shout praises to the Lord for all he has created". It is impossible to exaggerate all he has done.
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Prayer
Dear Lord,
As I step out into your world and look around me, I can see Your heart in everything You've made. If creation sings Your praises, so will I.
Amen.