ODJ: Pure Delight

January 12, 2018 

READ: Psalm 104:1-35 

May the glory of the Lord continue forever! The Lord takes pleasure in all he has made! (v.31).

The diving bell spider lives the majority of its life in a bubble of air at the bottom of freshwater ponds and streams in northern and central Europe and northern Asia. To create the bubble, it somersaults on the surface of the water, catches a bubble of air, holds it over the breathing holes in the middle of its body, and then dives down and spins a silk web between underwater plants. This arachnid then swims back up to the surface, bringing down bubble after bubble until a big balloon of air is formed. It then eats and lives in the big bubble.

Amazingly, humans only recently discovered this spider. For thousands of years, it’s been doing this fabulous little routine with no one to see other than its Creator. And think of the flowers that bloom in the uninhabited desert, the explosions of brilliant colour in faraway space or the undiscovered creatures of the deep. All of creation points to how “the Lord takes pleasure in all he has made!” (Psalm 104:31).

God delights in His creation as an expression of His glory. “The heavens proclaim the glory of God” (19:1). Nature also declares His great wisdom. “O Lord, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all” (104:24). And miraculously, everything works together perfectly. “You send rain on the mountains from your heavenly home, and you fill the earth with the fruit of your labour. You cause grass to grow for the livestock and plants for people to use” (vv.13-14).

From the dawn of time, God delighted in His creation and declared that it was very good (Genesis 1:1-31). Most wondrous of all is that creation points to the Creator, and we can come to know Him through what He’s made (Psalm 104:31-34).

—Ruth O‘reilly-Smith

365-day plan: Genesis 21:8-21