In his Reflections on the Psalms, here is how C.S. Lewis described Psalm 19:
“I take this to be the greatest poem in the Psalter and one of the greatest lyrics in the world.”
The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The skies display his craftsmanship.
Day after day they continue to speak;
night after night they make him known.
Our Milky Way Galaxy is approximately 100,000 light-years in diameter. How far from the center of the Milky Way is our Solar System? About 26,000 light-years. Below is a graphic of our “neighborhood” within our galaxy. We’re located just left of bottom center.
Not only is our solar system tiny in comparison to our galaxy, our planet is tiny in comparison to our solar system.
Now, consider that our galaxy is merely one of 200 billion known galaxies.
One last thing…
Those galaxies aren’t just “sitting there.” They’re speeding away from earth at a rate of over 2500 mph (41 miles per second) – per 3.3 million light-years (parsec). In other words, with every 3.3 million miles a galaxy speeds into the distance, the speed by which it is traveling outward increases another 2500+ mph.
I can’t wrap my head around this. The vastness and orderliness of our universe is precisely what God used to gently land lovingly “lead me back home” after I had given up on him following the death of my son.
I have to agree with Abraham Lincoln who said,
“I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how he could look up into the heavens and say there is no God.”
It’s no wonder David, looking into the heavens, wrote,
O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!
Your glory is higher than the heavens.
When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—
the moon and the stars you set in place—
what are mere mortals that you should think about them,
human beings that you should care for them?O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!
Nick