So, I've been gazing at the Atlantic Ocean all week. That's not a complaint. What a blessing to tune out the rest of the world for a few days and just stare at the sea, great and wide (see Psalm 104: 25). Even more than the storm-free calming motion it is a teaching plan about life. When King David wrote the Psalms he often referenced the sea because he saw the physical, emotional, and spiritual lessons God laced into the currents and waves. As Harriet and I have enjoyed our week in our beach front condo, staring at the sea has been devotional time. God's eternal Word in one hand, and his forever sea lashing the coast in front of us, inspiring and challenging moments of Bible study and thought have given spiritual underscore to some time away. Glory. Nice!
Many of King David's Psalms honor God for the masterful work of creation. One of his texts spoke to me early this morning---
Blessed is he whose help in the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord God, who made
heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever...
Psalm 146: 5-6, ESV.
Mr. Quibbler was especially captured by the phrase "...the sea and all that is in them". So, there I am, staring at the Atlantic Ocean wondering at the tenses of this verse..."the sea, and all that is in them". Of course, that was before scientific classification and the numbering of our oceans, seas, and other water systems. The meaning of Psalm 146: 5-6, references the water that covers more than 70% of our earth, the sea, representing all of them. That was a quick quibble. What captured my heart and mind was the simple phrase "...all that is in them...". King David wanted to honor God for the seas, and the creatures he had created to occupy them.
Today, I stared at the sea. Right up front this morning Harriet and I saw dolphin grazing just offshore. Meaning that, there were also smaller aquatic creatures, perhaps fish, in those same waters. On the beach were shells tiny animals called home, beach worms, minnows swimming in the shallows, and a few star fish washed ashore. Now, we know nothing of fish species or the vast array of sea life. We do know flounder, shrimp, scallops, oysters, crabs, and some of the other edibles. Still, it's a mystery world to us, life under the currents and waves.
Scientists estimate more than 1,000,000 species of sea life, mostly invertebrates with no backbone, like jelly fish or shrimp. Common vertebrates are the bristlemouth, a tiny fanged glow-in-the-dark fish. There are Jaws, whales, eels, rays, sea lions, sun fish, and thousands more. Scripture mentions sea monsters like Leviathan (see Job 41:1; Psalm 104: 26, and others for example). But, there is only debate about them.
The point? Staring at the Atlantic this week has given me new appreciation for the lessons King David learned from the sea, His mention of "...all that is in them..." is another wonder of our creator God, the God who thought of everything and prepared his earth for you and I to occupy and govern.
Here is the sea, great and wide, and here am I thankful.
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