Pondering Our Place in the Universe

If you haven’t guessed this about me already, I love learning. Whenever I am somewhere that has cable, the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, and others like them fascinate me.  

Recently, I received 2 emails with two similar presentations about the earth in relation to the universe. One of them compares the relative size of Earth to its sister planets and then in relation to the Sun and other stars. The other included a power point presentation which contained many pictures of the earth taken from space.

These pictures amaze me and thrill me at the same time. They remind me how vast the universe is, and therefore they point me to how absolutely indescrible is the God who made it all! As the Psalmist said:

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens….When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? …O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! (Psalm 8:1, 3-4, 9 emphasis mine)

Another couple of verses which give us perspective as we ponder our planet’s place in the universe,  are found in Isaiah 40.

Behold, the nations [i.e. Earth] are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust….All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness. (Is. 40:15, 17 emphasis mine)

I hope that you will be listening to the message that these pictures (that I’ll link to in a moment) will be preaching to you, just like this psalm teaches:

The heavens [think universe] 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 measuring line goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world…. (Psalm 19:1-4a emphasis mine)

Well to see the pictures I am talking about, click on the picture above or this link. Also, you will need to click on this link to start the powerpoint presentation (you may want to save that to your computer rather than just opening it online). Hope you enjoy the pictures and the meditation time on the wonder of our God!