Declaring Glory and Righteousness

I've always loved the opening to Psalm 19.

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge".

If there's anything I love to discuss (or think about) is how and where this verse shows up in creation. The first picture here is from a very old slide that shows the sunrise over the trees that were at the end of my backyard where I grew up. (in arrington, TN). The second picture is one I took in Alaska a few years ago. Both are two totally different subjects, yet both moments express something profound about Christ; both his Beauty, and Majesty.

I just love when being set before such beauties in Nature (whither it be the grand canyon, or hearing the sound of morning birds, or as CS Lewis notes; 'the smell of cut wood in a workshop',) to think about whats going on here. God is not just simply giving us a gift of beauty...he's actually telling us something about HIMSELF. HE is as beautiful as this sunrise...HE is as strong and powerful as this mountain.

However, the other day when I reading Psalm 97, I noticed something that I never really thought about that much. in verse 6, it also states that "the heavens declare his 'righteousness'. I guess it should seem obvious, but I just never thought about how this impacts your view of creation.
For example....any one person could seem to be beautiful beyond comparison, and with it have a sense of 'majesty' in their power......however...still not have a trace of 'goodness'. The most powerful and most beautiful Queen may still be the cruelest. This is why I believe scripture goes a step further than just speaking of 'beauty and power' being woven into creation.....Psalm 97 says that God's RIGHTEOUSNESS is there as well.

I pray that the next time (and every time) I see a beautiful tree blooming in the spring, or hear the sound of katydids on a summer night, or feel the mist from a roaring waterfall, or hear one of my brother's little girls laughing, that I'd be moved not just by Christ's beauty and might...but his righteousness as well.

-michael