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He sends out his command to the earth;

his word runs swiftly.

He gives snow like wool;

he scatters frost like ashes.

He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs;

who can stand before his cold?

He sends out his word, and melts them;

he makes his wind blow and the waters flow.

—Psalm 147:15-18

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

—Genesis 1:3

Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven...”

—Matthew 6:9-10

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

—John 1:9

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

—2 Corinthians 4:6

The rain has stopped, the clouds have broken, and there's a bit of late afternoon sun before evening. North of here, there are blizzard warnings. South of here, there have been tornado warnings. We make jokes about weather that doesn't quite match the forecasts, but when there is dangerous weather in the projection, the wise pay attention.

Despite the limits of our finite knowledge, we have come to take predictions of hazardous weather seriously. And when a solar eclipse was predicted, we bought appropriate eye protection. In other words, we take for granted the workings of nature and the increasing ability of meteorologists—not to mention astronomers—to tell us what to expect. All of which, of course, is due to the fact that there is order to the workings of nature.

Throughout the story of creation, we read that God said... and it was so. That is all it took.

Humans aren't so cooperative.

When we read the account of creation, when we look to the universe that is so comprehensible that humans have been able to make a start toward understanding it, and then when we join in the prayer that Jesus taught—“your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”—we can take that prayer more personally. Instead of imitating the Pharisee—"I wish that they would do your will; I'm glad I'm not like them."—we can follow the example of the tax collector—"May I follow your will, as obedient as the sun, moon, and stars; Lord, have mercy!"

O Lord God of hosts,

who is mighty as you are, O Lord,

with your faithfulness all around you?

You rule the raging of the sea;

when its waves rise, you still them.

—Psalm 89:8-9

...who stills the roaring of the seas,

the roaring of their waves,

the tumult of the peoples...

—Psalm 65:7

The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven.

—Genesis 1:2, 7-8a

”I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

—John 16:33

Turbulent waves of the sea provide a powerful poetic image of the troubles of life. But the One who ruled the waters, divided the waters, and calmed the waters still protects His own.

After explicitly connecting the image of roaring sea waves to the chaos and violence of the peoples surrounding Israel, Psalm 65 goes on to show the Lord transforming water from a terrifying turbulence to gentle rain that waters the cultivated earth, providing abundance. The Lord not only ruled over the waters, He tamed them and turned them to good purpose.

From Genesis to Exodus to Psalms to Jonah (among others), the Hebrew Scriptures provide a rich background of examples showing the Lord's power to bring chaos under control. That can help us to better appreciate the response of the disciples who witnessed the power of Jesus to calm the winds and the sea with only a word: “What sort of man is this...?” “Who is this...?”

And with that personal experience behind them, they were equipped to understand better the reassurance and gift of peace recorded by John. The world is full of turbulence. But—from the beginning—the Lord has overcome it.

Lord, you have been our dwelling place

in all generations.

Before the mountains were brought forth,

or ever you had formed the earth and the world,

from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

—Psalm 90:1-2

“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,

you who seek the Lord:

look to the rock from which you were hewn,

and to the quarry from which you were dug.

Look to Abraham your father

and to Sarah who bore you;

for he was but one when I called him,

that I might bless him and multiply him.”

—Isaiah 51:1-2

“And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.”

—Matthew 3:9

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going... For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

—Hebrews 11:8, 10

There are many references in the Hebrew Bible to literal rocks and stones: the rock from which the Lord provided water to the Israelites in the wilderness, the cleft rock in which the Lord sheltered Moses, the rock of Rimmon to which the remnant of the Benjaminites fled, and so on.

But many passages and poems use “Rock” to represent the Lord, who is a trustworthy and enduring refuge for His people. Jesus taught of the need to build on rock instead of sand. And Paul, in a letter to the Corinthian believers, identified the “spiritual Rock” from which the Israelites drank as being Christ.

All of that can make it surprising to encounter Isaiah's reference to “the rock from which you were hewn”, which Isaiah immediately connects to “Abraham your father”. The reference to rock and quarry leaves a striking visual after-image: Abraham as a cliff face or great boulder from which the little pebbles of Isaiah's audience had been mined. And that provides an additional overlay of irony when John the Baptist scolds some of his audience with the assertion that the Lord could produce children for Abraham “from these stones”.

The references to Abraham in Hebrews shine even more light on this connection. Some of the formally-religious people of John's day placed great importance on their genealogies and on their own accomplishments in observing the Law. But Abraham's righteousness was established prior to the Law of Moses. And was established by his faith in the Lord.

Abraham is not worthy of worship. Only the Lord can claim our ultimate loyalty and our worship. And faith cannot be inherited. But it can be imitated, held up as an example worthy of following by the pebbles who are part of his family.

Isaiah's reference is not belittling; it is encouraging. Abraham started as one person, in a day of small beginnings. He began as a flawed human, he remained flawed and human, but he also grew. Likewise, the pebbles that are chips off the old block may start small, but can grow through faith.

Just like mustard seeds.

O Lord, how manifold are your works!

In wisdom have you made them all;

the earth is full of your creatures.

—Psalm 104:24

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

—Genesis 1:1

The Lord by wisdom founded the earth;

by understanding he established the heavens;

by his knowledge the deeps broke open,

and the clouds drop down the dew.

—Proverbs 3: 19-20

“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,

you who seek the Lord:

look to the rock from which you were hewn,

and to the quarry from which you were dug.”

—Isaiah 51:1

For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

—James 3:16-17

Psalm 19 describes the power and wisdom of the Lord as seen in creation to lead the hearer/reader into contemplation of the wisdom and care of the Lord as seen in His word. Many other passages also use the technique of beginning with what is seen to reach toward the wise Creator and Teacher.

Similarly, the book of Proverbs uses many different poetic images to point to the Lord as the source of reliable wisdom. The eighth chapter contains an extended poem in which wisdom calls out an appeal to all who will listen. And creation plays a central role in that appeal.

Echoes of creation and the language of creation resonate from beginning to end in the Bible. When James writes of “jealousy and selfish ambition”, it is easy to be reminded of the temptation of Eve. The serpent implied that God had lied and was keeping from humans something that they could reach out and take for themselves: to be like God. And events go rapidly downhill from there, degenerating into “disorder and every vile practice”, including jealousy, murder, and vengeance.

Hearing those echoes helps us recognize the “wisdom from above”, demonstrated by Jesus, who did not regard “equality with God a thing to be grasped”.

There is great wisdom to be gained from Isaiah 51, beginning with the need to consider all of the wisdom of all of the Scriptures.

From the beginning.

Open my eyes, that I may behold

wondrous things out of your law.

—Psalm 119:18

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

—Genesis 1:3

“the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you”

—Numbers 6:25

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

—Luke 2:15

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

—1 John 1:5

The light shines into the darkness, but the darkness doesn't get it.

The books of Genesis and John and 1 John all begin with beginning. And beginnings begin with light. Light is the way that information moves through our universe. I know that the wind is moving through the tree at the edge of our yard because I see the leaves fluttering and the branches swaying. The light entering the window near me brought that information. Therefore, both Scripture and our everyday language are filled with uses of the word "light" to represent knowledge and understanding. And truth.

A person who hears an explanation and comes to understand may say, "I see now." Light and glory and a message of joy came to shepherds in a dark field one night. And they went to see.

As this new year dawns, may the Light shine into all the dark places, illuminating them and cleansing them.

May all the Lord's people bear witness to the Light.

All of it.

He makes peace in your borders;

he fills you with the finest of the wheat.

He sends out his command to the earth;

his word runs swiftly.

He gives snow like wool;

he scatters frost like ashes.

—Psalm 147:14-16

Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?”

—Genesis 4:9

And Solomon said to God, “... Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people, for who can govern this people of yours, which is so great?”

—2 Chronicles 1:8a, 10

It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this.

—1 Kings 3:10

“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country.”

—Matthew 21:33

“It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake”

—Mark 13:34-35a

The importance of “keep” can be seen not just from the number of times it is used in direct instruction from the Lord to His people, but also in the way that its extended meaning finds expression in other ways.

The first use of “keep” appears in connection with the human's responsibility for the garden of Eden, given by the Lord. Tragically, it appears again just a little later, when Cain tries to dodge responsibility for murdering Abel by asking, “Am I my brother's keeper?” If we are tempted to ask the question, “Who is my brother?”, we should take warning from Luke’s account of a legalist who tried to justify himself by asking Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”

And, just in case the conversation and following parable weren’t emphatic enough, Luke later records Jesus rebuking the greedy Pharisees who ridiculed him by saying “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts.” That interaction and rebuke came right after Jesus told a parable about a dishonest manager who was fired by the one who hired him. Jesus concluded by calling for faithful service, whether over much or little. And that points back to Eden and around to the many parables of Jesus that featured the obligation of managers or tenant farmers or servants to their employer.

In the coming year, may all of the Lord’s people be faithful servants in the world that He created—faithful to do all the good works that He created and appointed.

As faithful as the elements of nature that keep and obey His word.

Good and upright is the Lord;

therefore he instructs sinners in the way.

He leads the humble in what is right,

and teaches the humble his way.

All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,

for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.

—Psalm 25:8-10

The Lord will keep you from all evil;

he will keep your life.

—Psalm 121:7

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

—Genesis 2:15

And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.”

—Genesis 17:9

“You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.”

—Leviticus 19:30, 26:2

“The Lord bless you and keep you”

—Numbers 6:24

The casual, everyday usage of "keep"—as in "keep the change"—simply indicates retaining possession. But that is far too weak to explain uses that imply care, responsibility, and protection—as in “the grandparents will keep the kids this weekend”. And that is much closer to the usage in Scripture.

The first use appears in connection with the human's responsibility for the garden of Eden, given by the Lord. It appears hundreds of times in the Hebrew Bible, often in familiar contexts such as the Lord's commanding Abraham to “keep my covenant” or commanding Israel to “keep the Sabbath”. Despite the behavior of some in Israel, when the Lord commanded them to “keep my statutes”, that didn't simply mean to possess a written copy of a rulebook. We might get a better understanding when we look at the roles reversed.

The priestly blessing, “The Lord bless you and keep you”, the pleas in the Psalms for the Lord to keep his people, or the assurances that He would do so all imply more than simply ownership. They refer to the kind of loving protection, compassion, and attention that a child should receive from a parent.

And that is the same kind of “keeping” that the Lord's people should have toward the Lord's instruction, His creation, and all those whom He desires to have as His children.