November 25, 2021 – Psalms 146-150

Wrapping up the Psalms. For many reasons, the psalmist finds himself praising the Lord, among them: “He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names” (147:4). Just last week, we got to see the longest lasting eclipse of the moon in over 500 years. Eclipses, “shooting stars,” planets (Oh, my! The crescent moon and Venus together, a couple weeks ago!), nebulae, galaxies, and on and on! Astronomers have estimated there are around 200 billion trillion stars in the universe. Don’t even ask me to try to illustrate such a number; it is unfathomable. Yet, our God has determined that number, and he has named every one of those stars.

We praise God for his greatness and his unsearchable knowledge. And his knowledge extends, especially, to his children. Just the other day, from Psalm 139, I wrote, “The Lord is so acquainted with me that there is nothing he does not know about me. There is no place I can go, where he is not there. He made me, and he knows the number of my days. He knows me even better than I know myself.” Charles Spurgeon made application regarding God’s knowledge of the stars and his knowledge of his children: “He who counts the stars and calls them by their names, is in no danger of forgetting His own children. He knows your case as thoroughly as if you were the only creature He ever made, or the only saint He ever loved.” Yes, this Thanksgiving day, we have such joy and express such thankfulness to our God who loves us so.

Delightful is the task to sing,

On each returning day,

The praises of our heavenly King,

And grateful homage pay.

The countless worlds, which bathed in light,

Through fields of azure move,

Proclaim his wisdom and his might;

But O, how great his love! -- Harriet Auber (19th century)