Psalm 148:7

Psalm 148:7

Looking beneath the surface!

Well, we’ve enjoyed eavesdropping on the praises of the angels and the heavenly bodies, the waters and all inanimate objects in creation, now it’s time to take a dip into the oceans! The sphere of life that is explored here is the ocean depths and the psalmist calls out songs of praise from the creatures that inhabit these dark, secret places. In Genesis 1:21 we read, “So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds …” In Psalm 74:13-14 we saw that the primeval, chaotic waters were depicted as a many-headed monster that the creator God overcame, He is the same Lord who parted the Red Sea to make a path through for the Israelites as they fled from Egypt. The Bible suggests that these waters were all part of God’s creative purposes and that it was He who placed living creatures within them. What cannot be argued is that the oceans and seas all behave according to specific rules and commands and the seasonal movements of the moon. The psalmist is trying to show us that even those elements that were regarded suspiciously by our ancestors have their time and place, as ordered by the Lord. 

It’s maybe hard to imagine whales, sharks, dolphins etc all praising the Lord but how will we ever prove otherwise? At the very least, these great creatures display grandeur, harmony with their environment, and a sense of purpose and in that they show us that they are far more than just evolutionary coincidences. Just remember, it was a “big fish” that reacted to God’s command and ensured the safe delivery of Jonah to dry land! 

 

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