The heavens praise your wonders, O Lord,
your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones.
For who in the skies above can compare with the Lord?
Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings?
—Psalm 89:5–6
The hand of God in creation should be obvious to all, but since the nineteenth century many leaders, under the influence of the philosophy of scientific progress, have proclaimed that God is dead and, therefore, is not the cause of the creation of the world.
Matthew Arnold, the poet, captures the desolate spirit of this “enlightened” period in his poem “Dover Beach”:
The Sea of Faith was once, too, at the full,
and round earth’s shore lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.
But now I only hear its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,
retreating, to the breath of the night-wind,
down the vast edges drear and naked shingles of the world.
As we now know, the god of that age became the shipwreck of the next century with its sinister technologies resulting in world wars, mass murders, and atomic bombs. When we no longer see God’s hand in the stars and the seas and splendors of the earth itself, we consign ourselves to the desolate and dark places of this world without any possibility of rescue.
As Moses approached the end of his long journey, he told the people of Israel that they have a choice and they should choose wisely: “See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. . . . Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice and hold fast to him” (Deuteronomy 30:15, 19–20).
Think biblically.
—from, Signposts