The Heavens Declare the Glory of God.
If you look into the early evening sky over the next few weeks you will see two bright planets. Low in the south west is Venus, much higher in the south is Jupiter. They appear as the two brightest stars in the sky. If you have a pair of binoculars and steady hands, take a look at Jupiter, you might just be able to see the four Galilean moons spread out in a line.
Over the next few weeks Jupiter and Venus will move closer together, until in the middle of March they appear to pass one another in the evening sky.
The Psalmist in Psalm 19 wrote these beautiful words...
“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 poetic form the psalm compares the order and laws that govern the heavens with the laws that God has given for men and woman to follow. The Psalm continues...
The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul;
the testimony of the LORD is sure,
making wise the simple;
the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the LORD
is clean, enduring forever;
the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping
them there is great reward.
The universe is governed by laws, which is in itself fascinating. Why do objects obey laws? The likes of Isaac Newton, Galileo, Copernicus believed that the universe was governed by laws because there is a creator. The science that we take for granted today, came about because those early scientists of the enlightenment age, firmly believed that God created and therefore the universe would follow orderly laws and not be in chaos.
For example Isaac Newton wrote in “Principia mathematica”
"This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent Being... All variety of created objects which represent order and life in the universe could happen only by the willful reasoning of its original Creator, Whom I call the Lord God."
When you next look into the evening sky and see the bright planets think about Psalm
19. God created a universe that obeys laws, each night they silently speak of the
creator, as they “declare the glory of God.”
The message of the psalm is… If the heavens
obey God’s laws and order and beauty comes out of chaos, then we ought also to contemplate,
love and act on God’s laws too. As we read elsewhere in God’s word,
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8 v 28)
If you do manage to spot Venus and Jupiter, here is a further challenge: can you
spot Mars and Saturn.
Mars rises in the late evening and is reasonably high in the
east by midnight. It is quite bright and has a distinctly reddish hue. Have a look
at the picture on the left. This was taken just after midnight early on January the
14th 2012. Mars is the bright star in the middle of the picture. The moon is just
rising low in the east.
If you’re not up that late, take a look in the morning just before sun rise. Mars is in the south west, about twice as high in the sky as Venus was the evening before. Saturn is due south and not as high in the sky as Mars.
The picture below was taken on the morning of the 15th of January 2012. Mars is visible in the south west to the far right of the picture. Saturn is much fainter and is at the 11 o’clock position above the moon. Roll your mouse pointer over the image to see the planets labelled.
