Glory and honour and now power. How can we conceive of the power necessary to create all things as well as the power to keep them in existence and direct the course of history? Nothing exists that does not owe its existence to God. He goes before us; we can only follow after him. If we notice the most exquisite tiny hidden flower quivering in the shade of a wood, where birds and animals are oblivious to its beauty, yet God saw it first. He thought of it, designed it, made it and by doing so showed his appreciation of beauty to the human mind.
Why is creation itself such fertile ground for giving glory to God? Because by it God reveals so many of his attributes. He reveals his ability to create out of nothing, his omnipotent power – that at a word all things spring into existence. He reveals his vast skill in defining the laws of nature so as to make them all to be in harmony with each other and logical and rational, so that an intelligent mind can consider and explore them. He shows the scale of his thinking which we are overwhelmed by as we gaze up at the sun, moon, and stars. As time goes on, we learn ever more about the vast scale of the universe, yet God conceived this in a moment and in a moment made what in all man’s time on earth, he has only just begun to explore. It is so immense that our minds are stretched beyond their limits in trying to take it in. Near at hand we see plants that demonstrate our Creator’s love of beauty, his love of variety, and the marvellous way that he develops a theme; we see his artistic skill to blend together so many forms into a harmonious whole. We see living creatures that breathe and walk and reproduce, some great and some very small. We see a world teaming with life in every possible location. And we see man brought into a world that is in every way prepared for him, the highest of God’s creatures, made in the image of God, made to have dominion over all other creatures. He alone among all the creatures on earth has the gift of reason; he alone is capable of being conscious of his Creator and worshipping him.
Is the worship of his creatures something that pleases the Lord? Yes it is. Not only because we owe it to him, but also because it is something for us. What greater gift can he give than to share the wonder of his being with his creatures? He knows his own blessedness. He knows that his creatures cannot be exalted more highly than to appreciate what he is. Worship is fellowship with God, the most intimate act between God and his people, a self-revelation of each to the other.