A heart of gratitude

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.— Psalm 19:1

My boyhood hero was American frontiersman Davy Crockett. In the book David Crockett: His Life and Adventures, Davy encounters a beautiful sight that causes him to launch into praise to the Creator. The writer describes it this way: “Just beyond the grove there was another expanse of treeless prairie, so rich, so beautiful, so brilliant with flowers, that even Colonel Crockett, all unaccustomed as he was to the devotional mood, reined in his horse, and gazing entranced upon the landscape, exclaimed, ‘O God, what a world of beauty hast Thou made for man! And yet how poorly does he requite Thee for it! He does not even repay Thee with gratitude.’” Crockett recognized that the Creator’s handiwork demands a response of thankfulness — a response that is often neglected or ignored.

The psalmist wrote, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork” (Ps. 19:1). God’s handiwork is a spectacle that, rightly understood, should not only take our breath away but should inspire us to worship and praise our God as it did the psalmist.

Davy Crockett was right — encountering the wonders of God’s creation should inspire, at the least, a heart of gratitude. Are we grateful? — Bill Crowder

Across the expanse God

stretched out His creation—

Established the stars, gave

the earth its foundation;

His strength claims our worship,

His power our fear;

Yet Calvary’s cross sets

us free to draw near.

— Gustafson

READ: Psalm 19:1-6

God’s glory shines through His creation.