Trondhjem Lutheran Church

Psalm 104:24–26

24 O LORD, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
25 Yonder is the sea, great and wide,
creeping things innumerable are there,
living things both small and great.
26 There go the ships,
and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.

This is a portion of one of the texts assigned for today.  What came to my mind as I read it was part of a conversation I had with three young members of Trondhjem on Saturday.  I asked them about summer plans and somehow the conversation came around to the North Shore of Lake Superior.  One remarked about how as they were driving on the road, Lake Superior kept going and going and going.  It was the largest body of water she had ever seen.  In ancient times as well, people were in awe of the immense size of the seas.  The Sea of Galilee is big enough.  The Dead Sea is even bigger, and, if you travel out far enough on the Mediterranean Sea, you won’t be able to see any land. (more…)

Psalm 95:1–7

O come, let us sing to the LORD;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
3 For the LORD is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
and the dry land, which his hands have formed.
6 O come, let us worship and bow down,
let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
7 For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
O that today you would listen to his voice!

I bought a big telescope at the Camp-a-Rama last Saturday at Trondhjem.  I am looking forward to trying it out and gazing at the moon.  This psalm speaks of coming into the presence of the LORD, and that was probably understood as the temple.  I also think of coming into the presence of the LORD as also being when I take the time to regard God’s creation and the one who made it.  The telescope will help me do just that. (more…)

Psalm 104:1–6

Bless the LORD, O my soul.
O LORD my God, you are very great.
You are clothed with honor and majesty,
2 wrapped in light as with a garment.
You stretch out the heavens like a tent,
3 you set the beams of your chambers on the waters,
you make the clouds your chariot,
you ride on the wings of the wind,
4you make the winds your messengers,
fire and flame your ministers.
5 You set the earth on its foundations,
so that it shall never be shaken.
6 You cover it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.

I will admit it.  I am ready for winter to end.  I left North Carolina on Friday to return home to Minnesota.  I left 70 degree weather and returned to “below zero.”  But, as I look out on our snow covered yard, I am reminded of how the seasons work together to make our land one of the most fertile on the earth.  It is an incredible creation that God has made, and we are privileged to live in one of the best places for growing food and flowers and having enough water for our crops. (more…)

Psalm 33:6–9

6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
and all their host by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle;
he put the deeps in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the LORD;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.

There are times when you will hear in the news that our schools should be able to teach the biblical understanding of creation.  The proper response is, “Which one?”  There is an account of creation in Genesis 1.  There is another in Genesis 2.  Here in the book of Psalms we have another account of creation.  (more…)