One of the many advantages of rising early is the ability to enjoy the sunrise and the morning stars. It seems as if this November has had more than its share of bright reds, yellows, and oranges splashed against the eastern horizon. Turing my gaze to the south and to the west, Jupiter and Sirius with Orion between them have shone as bright morning stars. As I have witnessed the coming dawn and the stars on my morning run, I have heard the voice of God.
It is not that God speaks through nature; it is that God sometimes uses nature to tune our ears to hear his voice. In fact, the voice I hear these fall mornings is spoken through the word of Scripture echoed by the sunrise and morning stars.
Psalm 30 served as the morning psalm a few weeks ago, and its words spoke to me as I prayed for our world and for the lives of some close to me.
His anger is but for a moment,
and his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may tarry for the night,
but joy comes with the morning. Psalm 30:5
Our weary world weeps and our bodies and souls bear the burdens of sin and misery, but the word reminds us of a joy that is to come. The November sunrise does not speak in its own voice but gives unspoken testimony to the word spoken by the Lord.
Or this:
“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” (Revelation 22:16)
“These things” have to do with a time to come when
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. (Revelation 21:4)
Jupiter and Sirius know no language, but in their shining, they quietly point to the One who is the bright morning star and who, by the Holy Spirit, speaks such encouraging words to us.
Sunrise and morning stars. I am encouraged by the word for which they serve as silent witness. “He has spoken by the prophets,” we confess of the Holy Spirit in the Nicene Creed.
C.S. Lewis says of our attempts to hear nature speak to us, “We can’t get through; not that way. We must make a detour – leave the hills and woods and go back to our studies, to church, to our Bibles, to our knees.” (The Four Loves)
Of course, not every morning is bright and beautiful. Some are gray and dreary. Even so, God speaks in the stillness:
Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
GOD, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places. (Habakkuk 3:17–19)
Joy comes with the morning.
Backyard view across the pond. Some days are mostly gray.