Psalm 57:11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.
Many of our young people are being raised with a belief in naturalism – that everything came into being and continues through natural means. We don’t need to believe in God; we can explain everything through natural processes. Naturalists look only at the created order to understand how it came into being, instead of looking at the One who created what is. To the naturalist or materialist, nothing external, outside of the created order, exits. There is no supernatural at all.
Naturalism permeates our whole society, starting from the premise that there is no God. Many say that those who believe in God are outdated, unscientific and ignorant. Rational people, they say, realize that there is no God – science proves that there is no God. Our youth especially have turned away from God and from the church. Many more are emotionally non-theistic, but intellectually theistic (i.e. they would call themselves Christians, but live as though there is no God). However, if we dispense with God, then we are alone in this world, the value of man is depreciated, there is no ultimate purpose for life and no need for redemption; there is no model for character formation and no power for inner transformation; there is no foundation for determining right and wrong, no one to whom we are accountable, and no life after death. If there is no God, then life is hopeless. The root of the gradual collapse of our civilization is the belief that there is no God.
We, as Christians, however, believe that God is the Creator and Sustainer (Col 1:17) of all things. The diameter of the universe is 93 billion light years. And that is only what we can observe. There are at least 2 trillion galaxies in the observable universe. God spoke this whole creation, the whole universe into existence; all came from His creative power. Furthermore, He created all things ex nihilo, which means that He did not use preexisting material (either matter or energy) to make the heavens and the earth; He created something, everything out of nothing. Before God began to create the universe, nothing else existed except God himself. He existed from eternity. So, when we exalt God above the heavens, we are saying that the One who created all things is superior to and above the creation itself.
Our job, then, is to “let his glory be over all the earth.” If we truly believe that God created and sustains the universe, we cannot help but give Him the glory which is due Him. We erupt in praise and worship for God’s creative power and loving care for us. In the book of Revelation the 24 elders bow before God’s throne and declare in reverence, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” (Rev 4:11) May God be exalted!