Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep. (Ps. 36:5–6)
Expanded Passage: Psalm 36:1–6
I really enjoy looking at pictures that depict the vastness of space. Recently, the James Webb telescope released the newest and best images we have of deep space. Even with this new technology, we cannot map the universe. We can only see so far, but we know that there is more beyond. For those of us on this small, blue ball, space might as well be infinite.
David, the author of this psalm says that God’s love reaches to the heavens. For the psalmist, the heavens were the stars above. Even though we know so much more about the stars and the universe than the psalmist did back then, the metaphor still works, because it still communicates the same message: God’s love is infinite.
We live in a world where it feels like love is lacking, where faithlessness seems more common than faithfulness, where righteousness seems like an outdated expectation, and where justice feels scarce and sporadic. In such a world it is comforting to know that there is a God who has infinite love for us, who is always faithful, who is totally righteous, and will ultimately bring justice to bear for everyone. By his help we have the power to show this world what love, faithfulness, righteousness, and justice are supposed to look like.
Be a conduit of God’s love to the world.
Aaron Wilkinson is the vice president of operations and enrollment at Wesley Seminary, a member of College Wesleyan Church (IN), and an employee resilience researcher.
© 2023 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
