From the Pastor's Study
In the song, This Is My Father’s World, we sing these words:
This is my Father’s world; the birds their carols raise;
The morning, the lily white, declare their Maker’s praise.
This is my Father’s world; he shines in all that’s fair.
In the rustling grass I hear him pass; he speaks to me everywhere.
The author of this song, Maltbie Babcock, no doubt was aware of the biblical teaching that we
can see and know God through creation. Creation is a book, the Belgic Confession states, that
reveals to us the wonder and power and beauty of God.
When Jesus walked this earth, he also pointed to creation and told his disciples that we
can see God’s continual care for his world when we look at the birds which are all around us.
These birds, Jesus says, have food because God feeds them. In the context (Matthew 6), Jesus is
advising his disciples that they don’t have to worry, for God takes care of every part of creation.
If he takes care of the birds, Jesus says, then certainly he will take care of us. This is also
reflected in above-mentioned song in the third verse:
This is my Father’s world; oh, let me not forget
That, though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the Ruler yet.
This is my Father’s world; why should my heart be sad?
The Lord is King, let the heavens ring! God reigns; let the earth be glad.
Again we are reminded that God is sovereign over all and he holds this world in his hands,
caring for it and providing for it. That should give us great confidence.
As I was thinking about this song, particularly the line, “In the rustling grass I hear him
pass; he speaks to me everywhere,” I asked myself if I have heard God in creation. Or is it more
likely that his voice has been drowned out by other sounds.
In a couple of conversations I have had in the past few days, we talked about how we
who are living in the 21st century have the ability to surround ourselves with a variety of sounds
in a way we have never been able to do before. If I drive to London, for example, I can have my
car radio on (or connect the sound system to my phone), and I can listen to music or a podcast or
a talk show for the entire hour and a half it takes me to get to my destination. In fact, in less than
a century, we have developed the ability to surround ourselves with a whole variety of inputs
every moment of the day. A century ago, if you wanted to listen to music, you had to attend a
concert, and if you wanted to hear a speaker expound on a particular topic, you had to attend a
meeting. Today we can surround ourselves with all sorts of inputs all day for every day of our
lives. Even more, with the power of the Internet, we have the ability to choose what we listen to,
something that was nearly impossible three decades ago. Then we could only listen to the local
radio station.
It’s not that all these inputs are bad. Some of them are very good, and they are very
beneficial. Yet, if we constantly surround ourselves with all of these highly technical inputs, we
might be missing out hearing God’s voice. It is noteworthy that Jesus, when he directs his
attention to the providence of God, he points to the birds that were flying around them. The fact
that these birds are eating is a sign that our heavenly Father provides for us. These birds don’t
