This is the second of three posts in which I seek provide a biblical foundation for our celebrating the wonder of God’s great creation handiwork.  In the first post I highlight the fact that “God made it and owns it.” Next it is important to remember this fact from Scripture:

GOD LOVES IT AND CARES FOR IT

The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made. . . . The Lord is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made. . . . You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made (Ps. 145:9,13,16-17 NIV).

I have been surprised to discover how many times the psalmist declared that God has “love” and “compassion” for all the things He has created. Some of the Hebrew terms indicate that God cares for the creation in a similar way that a mother cares for the one she has given birth to. To get a rich picture of God’s compassion and care for man, the animals, the plants, and the lifeless but dynamic forces of the earth, read Psalms 65, 104, 145, 147, and 148.

While the Sermon on the Mount expressly states that God values man above the creatures (Mt. 6:25-34), the entire thrust of Scripture—from paradise lost in Genesis to paradise regained in Revelation—is that God treasures and takes pleasure not in man alone but in everything He created. Itinerant preacher John Woolman, years before the American Revolution, expressed this in his journal after a long ocean voyage that resulted in the disregard  and needless death of domesticated fowl:

I often remembered the Fountain of goodness, who gave being to all creatures, and whose love extends to caring for the sparrows. I believe where the love of God is verily perfected, and the true spirit of government watchfully attended to, a tenderness toward all creatures made subject to us will be experienced, and a care felt in us that we do not lessen that sweetness of life in the animal creation which the great Creator intends for them under our government.

Psalm 145:9 declares, “The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made” (NIV). In The Treasury Of David, Charles Haddon Spurgeon concludes, “The duty of kindness to animals may logically be argued from this verse. Should not the children of God be like their Father in kindness?” (p.379).

How can we celebrate the wonder of God in creation? By acknowledging God’s care and compassion for the entire creation and seeking to do all we can to demonstrate that care—especially by refraining from abusing what He loves and cares for.

See you outdoors!

Dean