Psalm 19 Under the Sea

Over break, while Emily and I were in Puerto Rico with my parents and siblings, I had the great gift of going SCUBA diving. I’ve been SCUBA diving twice previously, first last December and then this past July on our honeymoon. (Emily on the other hand has been diving 40+ times and is literally called a “Rescue Diver” – pretty incredible to have as a lifetime dive buddy) As we descended below the surface to around 60 feet, the view through our masks changed from one of empty ocean water to a reef teeming with life and activity. Sea fans, large leafy looking things swayed in the underwater currents. Sponges of every diameter, height, and color protrude up from the underlying coral. We spotted a sea turtle that we quickly scared off but still saw enough of to remind me of Finding Nemo “You totally rock Squirt!” Feather-dusters, with their milky white tentacles would stick up from the coral and then contract into their tiny tube with the slightest touch or eddy of water (You might have seen something like this in Avatar – no, James Cameroon did not come up with them, God did.)

While I was swimming over the reef, a thought popped into my head. All this has existed since the beginning of the world, yet only in the last hundred or so years has humankind been able to explore and marvel at it. This astounded me, especially in light of this quote about beauty from John Macmurray: "All this beauty exists so you and I can see his glory, His artwork. It’s like an invitation to worship Him, to know Him...Beauty doesn’t make any sense apart from God giving a gift to his children. Think about it. Is there a Darwinian explanation for beauty? Not really. It’s a love letter, that’s all. It’s this massive letter to creation, inviting us to enjoy him."

So God, in his infinite power, creativity and knowledge put every single reef, every single Queen Angel Fish, every little sponge and sea fan in the ocean even though he knew that us humans wouldn’t even be able to see it until just recently. To carry on with the metaphor, it is as if God wrote us love letters with beauty for ink, yet hid them under the sea, tucked away from thousands upon thousands of years of human history until they could one day be opened and read. Wow.

In Psalm 19, David writes the following...

 

          The heavens declare the glory of God,

and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Day to day pours out speech,

and night to night reveals knowledge.

 There is no speech, nor are there words,

whose voice is not heard.

 Their voice goes out through all the earth,

and their words to the end of the world.

In them he has set a tent for the sun,

 which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,

and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.

 Its rising is from the end of the heavens,

and its circuit to the end of them,

and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

David sees God’s love displayed through the night sky and the sun's movement day after day. Those who know me (or even those who have gone through my pictures on facebook) know I love sunsets. But while I was SCUBA diving, surrounded by a world hidden from common view, I thought – what would Psalm 19 say if David had gone SCUBA diving?