He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them. Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite.
PSALM 147:4–5 NASB
Moonless summer nights are the perfect time to head out into a high mountain meadow with a group of friends and some blankets to do a little stargazing. It is amazing to watch the Perseid meteor shower in August, or even to just lie back and let yourself fall upward into the brilliance of all those stars. In the quiet, your voices gradually hush as you murmur about what you’re seeing: constellations, maybe a plane or satellite gliding along. The Milky Way stretches across the vault of the sky, filmy and luminous. There are so many more stars, in more sizes and colors, than are ever visible in town. They seem to be closer, too.
Long after leaving the meadow and the stars, we’re filled up inside, replete with wonder, beauty, joy, and peace. When we understand that we are loved by God, we don’t find it alienating to be one person on our one little planet in the bejeweled sky. Instead, we are set free. Not that any of our troubles have miraculously vanished. But our glimpse of the beautiful vastness that spins through the cosmos night after night (whether we notice it or not) reminds us that we’re not the center of it all. We didn’t set the stars in motion, and it’s not up to us to keep them going. We can let God be God while we relax in His love.
O Lord, Your universe is dazzling! The more I learn about it, the more I am awestruck by Your power and creativity. Thank You that Your love is as unending as the night sky.