For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before Him. Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. (Verses 5-6)
On a day when the butterflies flitted about in the early morning while bluejays sang their cackling songs to the risen sun, Herman went out to the forest on his land carrying his chain saw over his shoulder. He was on a mission to find just the right oak tree to fell, not too big, not too small. Around Herman's waist was a rope for dragging the tree back to his cabin. In the silence of the forest his footfall could be heard as the rabbits and deer ran to hide and the brush cracked under the heels of the man's steel boots. Then the smell of gasoline and the whir of the saw echoed across the piney forest. Wham! The tree flopped dead onto the ground. Herman tied the rope to its trunk and dragged it home. There he chopped off its limbs for use as kindling. With a carving knife the man began to create from the tree a person. An idol for his living room. This he planned to bow before every morning and every evening, for Herman needed something to worship. The falling away of the bark and flesh of the tree gave way to a shape that finally pleased the man. It took all of his strength to lift the idol and position it in his home. Then Herman took a large vat and picked up huge armfuls of the wood that was now trash. Or kindling to be burned in his fireplace and stove. So part of the tree was for a god to worship and the rest to keep him warm or make his soup. The idol had resided unmade and unnoticed within a forest tree. Never had it done a godlike thing from seed to sapling to full grown oak. Yet Herman bows now every morning and prays that oak will meet his needs.
And God sees. A man who falls down before a block of wood when this poor soul could worship the God of All. The One who made the wood. Herman could know splendor and majesty. Could enter in prayer into a sanctuary with strength and beauty instead of crouching on his dirty floor beside an idol that is deaf and dumb. The man walked past the rabbit and the deer, creations of a brilliant Maker, in order to find a block of wood without sense or power. And so it is with us. And God sees. And mourns. He knows we need to adore. Within us is the deep desire to speak to our Creator and be heard. To fellowship with Him as Adam and Eve did. To be His friend as Moses was. To sit at the feet of Jesus as His disciples did. But our God isn't tame and deaf. He speaks and we don't always agree. He isn't as safe as the dumb idols we build for worship. They must agree with our self-made standards because we have assigned our desires to them to be met. Pretty silly, isn't it? Heroin, cocaine, power, lust, relationships, food, pride, stardom...and they all fall down. Straw gods that burn us alive when they implode. No power except what we give to them. Yet they can take our attached hearts and annihilate us. All the while there was majesty. Purpose. Relationship. Exhilaration. Every high we wanted from our idol is a lie. Every joy from our God, eternal.
How must God feel to be the One who made the tree? So much greater than the oak carved into a silly god. How does He watch us bow to smaller things, worshipping cows, people or images? He must think, "What in the world?" These things only speak of a bigger mind. Yet we fill our hearts with dust. "Hey, I made the heavens! Your idol can do nothing!!" And we've become deaf like the thing we love. We've been made for majesty, to look like our God. To joy in Him, not worshipping the things He's made, but because of their beauty and worth, to look at the Giver. We pick up the rock to worship when the Creator of All wants to give us so much more. Thus shall you say to them: "The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens." It is He who made the earth by His power, who established the world by His wisdom, and by His understanding stretched out the heavens. When He utters His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and He makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and He brings forth the wind from His storehouses. Every man is stupid without knowledge. Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, for his images are false, and there is no breath in them. They are worthless. A work of delusion. Jeremiah 10
The things we tend to worship were created so we would look to the Creator and marvel at His power. The thing created is far inferior to the One Who designed it. Oh, heart, cry out for more. Beauty and splendor are revealed in Him. Our God won't topple over or fall apart. Supreme in power and majesty, the God of All, who made the heavens, would also have our hearts.
On a day when the butterflies flitted about in the early morning while bluejays sang their cackling songs to the risen sun, Herman went out to the forest on his land carrying his chain saw over his shoulder. He was on a mission to find just the right oak tree to fell, not too big, not too small. Around Herman's waist was a rope for dragging the tree back to his cabin. In the silence of the forest his footfall could be heard as the rabbits and deer ran to hide and the brush cracked under the heels of the man's steel boots. Then the smell of gasoline and the whir of the saw echoed across the piney forest. Wham! The tree flopped dead onto the ground. Herman tied the rope to its trunk and dragged it home. There he chopped off its limbs for use as kindling. With a carving knife the man began to create from the tree a person. An idol for his living room. This he planned to bow before every morning and every evening, for Herman needed something to worship. The falling away of the bark and flesh of the tree gave way to a shape that finally pleased the man. It took all of his strength to lift the idol and position it in his home. Then Herman took a large vat and picked up huge armfuls of the wood that was now trash. Or kindling to be burned in his fireplace and stove. So part of the tree was for a god to worship and the rest to keep him warm or make his soup. The idol had resided unmade and unnoticed within a forest tree. Never had it done a godlike thing from seed to sapling to full grown oak. Yet Herman bows now every morning and prays that oak will meet his needs.
And God sees. A man who falls down before a block of wood when this poor soul could worship the God of All. The One who made the wood. Herman could know splendor and majesty. Could enter in prayer into a sanctuary with strength and beauty instead of crouching on his dirty floor beside an idol that is deaf and dumb. The man walked past the rabbit and the deer, creations of a brilliant Maker, in order to find a block of wood without sense or power. And so it is with us. And God sees. And mourns. He knows we need to adore. Within us is the deep desire to speak to our Creator and be heard. To fellowship with Him as Adam and Eve did. To be His friend as Moses was. To sit at the feet of Jesus as His disciples did. But our God isn't tame and deaf. He speaks and we don't always agree. He isn't as safe as the dumb idols we build for worship. They must agree with our self-made standards because we have assigned our desires to them to be met. Pretty silly, isn't it? Heroin, cocaine, power, lust, relationships, food, pride, stardom...and they all fall down. Straw gods that burn us alive when they implode. No power except what we give to them. Yet they can take our attached hearts and annihilate us. All the while there was majesty. Purpose. Relationship. Exhilaration. Every high we wanted from our idol is a lie. Every joy from our God, eternal.
How must God feel to be the One who made the tree? So much greater than the oak carved into a silly god. How does He watch us bow to smaller things, worshipping cows, people or images? He must think, "What in the world?" These things only speak of a bigger mind. Yet we fill our hearts with dust. "Hey, I made the heavens! Your idol can do nothing!!" And we've become deaf like the thing we love. We've been made for majesty, to look like our God. To joy in Him, not worshipping the things He's made, but because of their beauty and worth, to look at the Giver. We pick up the rock to worship when the Creator of All wants to give us so much more. Thus shall you say to them: "The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens." It is He who made the earth by His power, who established the world by His wisdom, and by His understanding stretched out the heavens. When He utters His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and He makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and He brings forth the wind from His storehouses. Every man is stupid without knowledge. Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, for his images are false, and there is no breath in them. They are worthless. A work of delusion. Jeremiah 10
The things we tend to worship were created so we would look to the Creator and marvel at His power. The thing created is far inferior to the One Who designed it. Oh, heart, cry out for more. Beauty and splendor are revealed in Him. Our God won't topple over or fall apart. Supreme in power and majesty, the God of All, who made the heavens, would also have our hearts.
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