Dan Olinger

On Hope in Loss, Part 2: Why

May 28, 2026 by Dan Olinger Leave a Comment

What’s the “better way” to face the grief of relationships broken by death?

Unlike the weak and wishful platitudes offered at funerals by those “who have no hope,” believers handle their grief differently—because, as we often say at these times, we will see them again.

I’d like to take this post to note the source of this hope, something I have done explicitly only one other time, I think, since this blog began almost eight years ago. Time to correct that underemphasis.

The source of this hope is the gospel.

The God who is eternally love (1J 4.7-8) has made us in his image (Ge 1.26-27) and therefore love-oriented as well (1J 4.11). He has designed us to be loved by him, and to love him, even as we love others through close relationships.

But there’s a problem.

We humans—all of us, since the beginning of time—have resisted God’s love by disobeying his will (Ro 3.23). And that resistance, called sin, has prevented that close, intimate, loving relationship with God for which he designed us. We have replaced this highly privileged relationship with love for ourselves and love for our sin (Ps 14.1-3).

But there’s good news.

God still loves us (Jn 3.16), though he is repelled by our sin (Is 59.2). He lovingly offers us a solution to the problem that we started: forgiveness, no matter how deep or wide or intense or violent or disgusting our sin may be. No one is beyond the reach of this loving forgiveness.

How can he do this? Because he has initiated and then taken action to neutralize our sin problem. He won’t just ignore it; that would be unjust, and he is perfectly just. Instead he addresses it directly.

Remember that eternal, loving relationship within the Godhead? Those persons agree on a just way to neutralize our sin. The Son chooses to pay the judicial penalty for it. Now, the penalty is death, and God cannot die; so the Son agrees to become human—to be incarnated—and then to die in our place (He 2.14). And those who repent of their sin and accept, by faith, that substitute payment (or “vicarious atonement”) will have their sins erased, and the barrier to an intimate relationship with God is removed (Ro 10.9-11).

Only those who believe? What about the others?

Well, what do we think about someone who forces a relationship on us? We call him a stalker, or simply one who doesn’t respect our boundaries. A forced relationship is not a genuine relationship at all.

The relationship is freely offered, but not unwilling. It’s bilateral, in the sense that it is not forced.

The gospel continues. The relationship grows and matures over time, and even death doesn’t end it; in fact, death expands it infinitely and eternally (2Co 5.1-10).

That’s Good News. Gospel.

“Come, weary one, leave thy labor; Come, lift thy head, see thy Saviour and Friend; His arms are open wide, Your soul is satisfied; Come find his rest.”

Photo by Hari Perisetla on Unsplash

On Hope in Loss

May 25, 2026 by Dan Olinger Leave a Comment

I suppose you’ve noticed that death seems to come in clusters—whether the deaths of celebrities or of people you know. My wife and I have noticed that we’ve been attending a lot of funerals lately, and while none of them have been for family members, we have seen people we know and love grieve for their personal loss.

If it’s a believer who has died, the service often includes reference to 1 Thessalonians 4.13, where Paul exhorts his readers to “sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.” The officiant will often observe that we do sorrow, but not in the way that those without hope do.

The rest of Paul’s paragraph makes it clear that the “hope” to which he refers is the resurrection, which for the believer will involve eternal life in a glorified body.

But, whether believer or not, we still grieve.

Why?

I think it’s because we are relational people; we’re designed to have healthy relationships with others. That began when God designed marriage—”It is not good that the man should be alone” (Ge 2.18)—but it extends to broader relationships as well: children, extended family, friends, colleagues. Many of us are introverts, but we still value trusted friendships.

And the reason for this devotion is at our core, because we are in the image of God (Ge 1.26-27).

God is relational, and he has always been that way. Before there were humans, and even before there were angels—before there was anything but God—there was relationship. The Bible tells us that God is love; and since he does not change, he has always been love. But love requires relationship. With whom would God have a relationship, if he hadn’t created anything yet? His relationship must have been with another eternal being. And the Scripture teaches that there were two other eternal Persons in those days (if “days” makes any sense in that context). There was the Son, and there was the Spirit. And the three of them—one essence, but three persons—were in a perfect, eternal relationship of love—and of every other attribute: truth, justice, goodness, power, wisdom, and so forth.*

And so we, in the image of God, find it unnatural when a relationship is broken. We know instinctively that this is not the way we were designed. This is not the way it’s supposed to be. And so we all, even Christians, grieve. That is a proper response to the breaking, even the temporary breaking, of a relationship.

But Paul says that our grief is not like the grief of others; it is qualitatively different from that of those “who have no hope.” The resurrection changes our perspective dramatically.

Those without this hope bring comfort to themselves with thoughts that believers find unfulfilling:

“He will live forever in our hearts.” Well, our hearts are temporary too, and when we die, we will stop thinking about him. So no, he won’t live forever, even in that way.

“He has joined the universal soul.” Well, there’s no evidence of that, and what is the “universal soul,” anyway? How is that any meaningful sort of existence, or relationship to us?

Related to the previous platitude is a poem by Mary Elizabeth Frye:

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.

Forgive my bluntness, but this is just wishful thinking. No, he’s not any of these things. And no, the white peacock who showed up at Paul’s house during the recording session was not the late John. And no, these thoughts do not serve as any realistic or meaningful basis for not grieving.

There’s a better way.

Next time.

* This logic was used by a Scottish theologian of the Middle Ages, Richard of St. Victor, to argue for the deity of Christ in his “On the Trinity.”

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Why Creation Matters, Part 24: Summary

May 21, 2026 by Dan Olinger Leave a Comment

This has been a long series. As I noted at its beginning, that’s pretty much the whole point: God bases a broad range of deductions and applications on the fact that he is the Creator.

It’s traditional in biblical theologies to note the development of various emphases as the Scripture proceeds chronologically. I do think we see some of that in the treatment of Creation Theology.

The Torah emphasizes the basic idea of the image of God. That sets the foundation for the relationship between God and man, the overarching theme and purpose of the Scripture.
The Prophets emphasize that the Creation demonstrates the power of God: power to deliver in the Former Prophets, and power to rule and to bring judgment or blessing in the Latter. I find it interesting that The Twelve highlight all three of those themes: Amos sees Creation as demonstrating God’s power to rule; Jonah, to judge; and Zechariah, to bless.
The Writings continue this theme of power for judgment and blessing, but their special emphasis is on the Creator’s praiseworthiness: Creation demonstrates his goodness, his greatness, his glory, his faithfulness, and his wisdom.
The emphasis of the Old Testament, then, appears to be on deriving from Creation the characteristics, the attributes of God, and responding with praise. The New Testament, it seems to me, takes a different tack.
The Gospels present Creation as a pattern for marriage, which is the basic unit of social order. John also presents the Son as the Creator, reflecting the NT introduction of the Trinity.
As it narrates the introduction of Christianity across the Roman Empire, Acts contrasts the Creator with false gods, who are incapable of creating anything.
Paul continues the focus on human behavior on the basis of Creation. He notes the foolishness of suppressing the facts of Creation; the role of God as Sovereign; the seriousness of proper worship; and the transitoriness of the current world as opposed to the world to come.
Hebrews continues the theme of transitoriness from Paul and the role of the Son in Creation from John and Paul. It also emphasizes the importance of believing that the worlds were created by the Word of God.
Peter expands on Paul’s criticism of those who suppress the truth of Creation.
And Revelation repeats the fact that Jesus is the Creator, and that this Creator is authoritative and thus to be worshiped. It then climaxes the Scripture by revealing a New Creation, freed from all the defects introduced to the Old by human sin.
So while the OT emphasizes the attributes of God as displayed in Creation, the NT seems to focus more on how we should respond to such a Creator.

So what do we have?

Recognizing the fact of the Creation—and the Creator—gives us worth as images of God and objects of his care.
Recognizing the power of the Creator gives us peace about the course of history and confidence in God’s plan and his ability to judge and bless with justice.
Recognizing the glory of the Creator lifts our eyes above the evils and cares of this world to focus on something infinitely greater than ourselves.
Recognizing the significance of Creation gives us wisdom in living out our roles as images and servants of God.
And anticipating the New Creation gives us a certain expectation—a hope, in the biblical sense—that there will be restoration and justice, and for all eternity.

Now it’s time for the other guys’ turn.

What does believing in evolution do for you?

I’ll wait.

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Why Creation Matters, Part 23: Proverbs

May 18, 2026 by Dan Olinger 2 Comments

The theme of the Book of Proverbs is wisdom. We should expect, then, that if and when the author—mostly Solomon—speaks of creation, he would do so to reinforce his theme of wisdom. And indeed he does.

¹⁹The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth; By understanding hath he established the heavens. ²⁰By his knowledge the depths are broken up, And the clouds drop down the dew (Prov 3).

Early in the collection he makes his primary point: the One who created the universe did so by his wisdom, which includes, as we’ve noted earlier, intelligence, or the ability to think; knowledge, or facts to process intelligently; and practical application of that knowledge to useful ends.

How does he know that? Well, it’s obvious: the cosmos clearly demonstrates the wisdom of whoever made it. The intradependence, and interdependence, of biomes, including symbiotic relationships, makes his wisdom obvious.

And by the way—in a symbiotic relationship, which organism evolved first? The flagellate, or the termite? The bee, or the flower? The whale, or the barnacle? Think on these things.

I suspect that’s why, after nearly a century of unanimous indoctrination about random evolution in public schools, the majority still don’t believe it. They believe that their eyes are in fact not lyin’.

A few chapters later Solomon expands on this theme. In chapter 8 he develops at some length a personification of wisdom. In the middle of that development he speaks of wisdom as present even before God created the cosmos (Pro 8.22-26) and as he did so (Pro 8.27-29), and then rejoicing over the completed project (Pro 8.30-31).

Throughout the passage he cites evidences of wisdom in both the planning and the execution:

Seas and springs (Pro 8.24);

Mountains and hills (Pro 8.25);

Dirt and dust (Pro 8.26);

Sky and sea (Pro 8.27);

Clouds and currents (Pro 8.28); and

Stability of both sea and land (Pro 8.29).

The Creator has done all things wisely and well.

I suppose this evidence of wisdom is the greatest obstacle to denying Creation. Wisdom speaks of intelligent design, and evidences of that design all around us speak to us in ways that we suppress only with effort—with dogged insistence (Ro 1.20).

Sometimes you just have to acknowledge the obvious.

Next time, a wrap-up.

Part 24: Summary

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Why Creation Matters, Part 22: Psalms 6

May 14, 2026 by Dan Olinger Leave a Comment

Psalm 104 is the lengthiest discussion of Creation outside Genesis. But while the Genesis account is historical narrative, the Psalm is a poetic celebration.

The Psalmist begins with his application: we should bless the Lord. (Starting a speech with your conclusion, before presenting any argument or development, is called “inductive” speaking. It can make for a very powerful presentation.) He’ll support his contention throughout the psalm, but he puts the conclusion right up front. Worship, glorification, is serious business.

And why should we bless the Lord?

Because he is great. And not just great, but “very” great. Exceedingly. Mightily. Great with muchness.

This is not your ordinary, run-of-the-mill greatness. This is greatness that makes all the other greatnesses of time and space look relatively insignificant; specifically, he is “clothed with honor and majesty.”

Clothed. And for God, these are not dress-up clothes, dressed to impress at some social event by appearing more together than he actually is. Glory and honor are his everyday clothes; they are a natural expression of who he is and what he’s about.

And how do we know that? Well, we look at what he has done. And so follows a poetic celebration of the creation of the cosmos.

He manipulates light (Ps 104.2). We’re just surrounded by light, and we do the best we can to minimize its effects, when we need to, with parasols and SPF. But He spoke it into existence, and it does his bidding.
He has created the atmospheric forces (Ps 104.3)—and while he’s at it, the other “winds”—spirits—as well (Ps 104.4). (You may recall that “wind,” “breath” and “spirit” are all the same word in Hebrew.) They all do his bidding, even though to us they’re invisible.
He has created the solid ground (Ps 104.5)—which is so solid that Jesus later compared “impossible” prayer requests to moving mountains (Mt 21.21).
He has created the seas and told them where they may go (Ps 104.6-9; cf Job 38.8-11).
Speaking of water, he has created springs, which refresh animals (Ps 104.10-12) and rain, which nourishes the plants (Ps 104.13-16).
He provides shelter for wild animals (Ps 104.17-18).
He has created heavenly lights that guide creatures as to both time and place (Ps 104.19-23).

And here the Psalmist pauses for an outburst of praise (Ps 104.24). The variety of works that he has just enumerated demonstrate that God is not only very great; they show as well that he is both wise and generous. He’s good and kind.

And then he returns to his list for one more observation.

God has created sea creatures (Ps 104.25-30) and graciously provides for their sustenance—and determines when they die.

Wow.

What is the appropriate response to all this?

Creation declares the glory, power, and wisdom of the Creator (Ps 104.31-32).

And so, I will praise him while I have breath (Ps 104.33). And that meditation on his works and praise for them will bring joy and gladness to my heart (Ps 104.34).

Why? Because that’s what I was made to do (1Co 10.31).

You can choose a different path, if you want. But if you ignore your source and purpose, you will not prosper (Ps 104.35)—just as you can’t expect to ignore the oil warning light in your car and then gripe when the engine freezes up on you.

The Psalmist concludes with his opening—“bless the Lord”—making the psalm an extended inclusio (Ps 104.35).

Hallelujah! (Ps 104.35).

Do you see how much we miss when we dismiss the biblical narrative of Creation, either by denying it or by failing to meditate on it?

We miss the aesthetic; we miss the joy; and consequently, we miss our very purpose for living.

Next time we’ll consider what the book of Proverbs contributes to Creation Theology, and then one more post, Lord willing, will tie it all up.

Part 23: Proverbs | Part 24: Summary

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Why Creation Matters, Part 21: Psalms 5

May 11, 2026 by Dan Olinger Leave a Comment

Psalm 148 begins with a command to praise the Lord (Heb haleluyah; Ps 148.1a) and where to do it (Ps 148.1b). Then begins a list of persons and things that the Psalmist intends to include in the command: namely, who and what should praise the Lord. The list is impressive:

angels and hosts (Ps 148.2)

sun, moon, and stars (Ps 148.3)

heavens and atmospheric waters (Ps 148.4)

Now, what do all these things have in common? The Psalmist tells us:

For he commanded, and they were created. ⁶He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: He hath made a decree which shall not pass (Ps 148.5-6).

People and things that God has created should praise him.

But this list is not exhaustive, is it? There are no humans on it, or animals of any kind.

Why not them?

Oh, give him time; he’s just getting started.

Now comes another list, what we might call Part 2 of the inventory. It includes

sea creatures (Ps 148.7)

atmospheric phenomena (Ps 148.8)

topography (Ps 148.9a)

trees (Ps 148.9b)

land animals, both wild and domesticated (Ps 148.10a)

reptiles and birds (Ps 148.10b)

humans of every political class (Ps 148.11)

… and of every age and sex (Ps 148.12)

That last verse appears in the hymn “Praise Ye the Triune God”: “Young men and maidens, ye old men and children.”

Those lists include just about everybody and everything, don’t they? At least from an earthly perspective, without the help of Voyager probes and hifalutin space telescopes.

He ends the Psalm with a justification: why should all creation praise the Lord?

¹³Let them praise the name of the Lord: For his name alone is excellent; His glory is above the earth and heaven. ¹⁴He also exalteth the horn of his people, The praise of all his saints; Even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him.

He’s not focusing on just one reason here; he has a litany.

Creation demonstrates the Creator’s uniqueness (Ps 148.13a). The word excellent speaks of altitude—the Creator is “very high,” at the very top of the list. There is no one who holds a close second place.

He is glorious (Ps 148.13b). This is a different Hebrew word from what we saw in the previous post, but it means the same thing: weight, heft, value.

He gives power to his people (Ps 148.14a). The word horn here refers to an animal horn, not so much the musical instrument—though of course ancient peoples did make musical instruments out of animal horns. The animal’s horn speaks of his power in combat.

He holds his people in relationship; they are “near unto him” (Ps 148.14b). He is a God of immanence as well as transcendence. And given the vastness of his Creation, that should strike us as surprising. “What is man, that thou are mindful of him?” (Ps 8.4).

Praise is the least we can render to such a Creator.

There’s a reason why a walk in the woods is good for the soul.

Part 22: Psalms 6 | Part 23: Proverbs | Part 24: Summary

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Why Creation Matters, Part 20: Psalms 4

May 7, 2026 by Dan Olinger Leave a Comment

One Psalm derives from Creation that God is wise:

⁵To him that by wisdom made the heavens: For his mercy endureth for ever. ⁶To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: For his mercy endureth for ever. ⁷To him that made great lights: For his mercy endureth for ever: ⁸The sun to rule by day: For his mercy endureth for ever: ⁹The moon and stars to rule by night: For his mercy endureth for ever (Ps 136).

This Psalm is an antiphonal hymn, with each verse including the refrain “For his mercy endureth for ever.” To our Western tastes this seems boring and distracting, but that’s because we don’t understand what’s going on here. Musicians will understand what “antiphonal” means: the leader reads or sings the first statement in the verse, and the chorus or audience repeats the refrain each time. This does two things: it cements the refrain in the minds of all who hear, and it allows them to hear plainly the “verses,” which specify the multiple ways the refrain is demonstrated. Thus it feels choppy to us, occasionally dividing sentences right the middle. It’s not intended to flow smoothly, like a Byron poem; it’s intended to challenge and convince the mind.

Let me take a moment, then, to develop the main idea in the Psalm before I develop the main idea of this post.

I’ve written before on the Hebrew word hesed, which is the “mercy” repeated in the refrain. It’s best captured, I think, as “steadfast loving loyalty.” The Big Idea, then, is that God has a loving relationship with his people and he will be unfailingly loyal to it. Every one of the 26 verses in this Psalm gives evidence of that fact.

It is a pleasure and a privilege to know and walk daily with such a person.

But we’ve come to this Psalm because of specific point the psalmist makes in verses 5-9. He cites God’s creative work—heaven, earth, the sun, the moon—as being products and therefore evidences of his wisdom.

What’s wisdom? It’s not simply intelligence, although it does include that. In Hebrew the word emphasizes the practical: wisdom is the ability to get things done. It’s close to what we call “common sense,” though it isn’t all that common.

The idea here is that God executed his purposes perfectly, flawlessly. The heavens and the earth and the sun and the moon are, and function, precisely as he intended them to, and thus as they should.

We sometimes come across people who seem to do everything right: perhaps an extremely well-disciplined musician or athlete. They execute well because they are diligent to practice and practice and practice and practice. And there’s always the possibility that they might miss a note, or a line drive.

God’s not like that. He executes perfectly because that’s who he is. He knows how to get things done, and right, every time. The cosmos is evidence of that.

And in the context of this Psalm, it’s evidence as well of his unfailing loyalty to his commitments.

I’ll note that the theme of wisdom is developed deftly, and much more thoroughly, in the book of Proverbs. We’ll get there in a bit.

But first, we need to look at one more theme, and then one more Psalm, one that’s completely given to a consideration of creation.

Two more posts on the Psalms, then one on Proverbs, and then we’re done.

Part 21  Psalms 5 | Part 22: Psalms 6 | Part 23: Proverbs | Part 24: Summary

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Why Creation Matters, Part 19: Psalms 3

May 4, 2026 by Dan Olinger Leave a Comment

Two Psalms, both well known, speak of Creation as revealing the glory of God.

Psalm 8 

Psalm 8 begins and ends with a refrain: “O LORD our Lord, how excellent [majestic, glorious] is thy name in all the earth!” The first refrain adds, “Who hast set thy glory above the heavens.” In comparison with those heavens, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him?” (Ps 8.4).

There’s a lot more going on in this Psalm than just this; it repeats the Dominion Mandate from Genesis 1.26-28, and it has Messianic implications as well. But for our purposes, we’ll focus on Creation’s role as a display of the glory of God: his power, his dominion, his greatness.

Those who suppress their recognition of the Creator (Ro 1.18-20) are denied this avenue of worship.

Does the suppression empower the denial, or does the denial empower the suppression?

Good question.

Psalm 19.1-6

¹The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament sheweth his handywork. ²Day unto day uttereth speech, And night unto night sheweth knowledge.

These two verses demonstrate the theme, but of course the thought continues for 4 more verses, which emphasize the global reach of this display of glory, with a special emphasis on the dominant feature of the heavens, the sun, which appears, as David’s simile so artfully paints it, “as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber” (Ps 19.5).

We now know that David’s perspective, 10 centuries before Christ, was but a drop in the cosmic bucket. In the daytime, he had no idea how far the sun was radiating its heat, so far away that the light he was seeing was 8 minutes in the past. He didn’t know how large or hot it was. He was blind to the frequent solar prominences that briefly exceed the size of the earth. At night, even with the advantage of deliverance from light pollution, he could see perhaps a thousand stars, and all of them confined to a single galaxy.

Galaxy? What’s that? He didn’t know that we’re part of a galaxy, the Milky Way. (The Greek word galaxias means “milky.”) He certainly didn’t know that there are more galaxies, millions of them, gathered in clusters, for as far as the very best of our telescopes can see, 50 billion light years in every direction—and that’s not the end of it. He didn’t know about the planets, or their rings, or the asteroid belt, or the heliosphere, or the Oort cloud, or the boundary out there where the molecules are unbelievably hot but feel cold because they’re so far apart.

He didn’t know any of that.

But he was still awed simply by what he could see with his unaided eyes. The Psalm makes it clear that just the sun and visible stars were enough to bring him to his knees.

The Psalm considers the heavens for just 6 verses. The 8 remaining verses turn our attention to a more reliable revelation of God’s glory, the Scripture. The words David uses for it (law, testimony, statutes, commandment, judgments) make it clear that he has in mind the Torah, the 5 books of Moses; that and Joshua may have been all he had access to, besides the songs he was writing.

It speaks volumes that he turns with such focus, respect, and delight to some 500-year-old writings after being so deeply moved by what he has seen in the heavens. We realize that that’s what the heavens should do; they should turn us to the words of the One who made them.

There’s more in the Psalms. Next time.

Part 20: Psalms 4 | Part 21  Psalms 5 | Part 22: Psalms 6 | Part 23: Proverbs | Part 24: Summary

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Why Creation Matters, Part 18: Psalms 2

April 30, 2026 by Dan Olinger Leave a Comment

Psalm 90.2

Another theme developed in the Psalms, based on Creation, is the concept of eternality. In the only Psalm designated as written by Moses, he writes,

²Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God (Ps 90).

The logic is simple. If the cosmos is created, then the Creator must have existed before his act of creation. It’s not a great leap of logic from there to eternity past; anyone who could create such a cosmos was likely not new at it.

Those who deny theistic creation have wrestled with the question of precedence. A century ago a scientist proposed an “oscillating universe” theory, which would have the universe expanding and collapsing in a possibly infinite series of cycles, but mainstream cosmology rejected it for the currently popular “Big Bang” model (though I’ve seen some indications lately that the cyclic model might be making a comeback).

So what was there before the Big Bang? In his work A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes, Stephen Hawking argued that at the moment of singularity, all laws of physics were rendered inoperative, with the result that we have no tools with which to investigate what preceded. So we don’t know, and we can’t know.

In the biblical narrative, we can know, and we do know, though the details are limited. God did exist before the creation of the world, and he was doing things: specifically, the Father and the Son were in a loving relationship (Jn 17.24); the Father was foreordaining the Son to redeem humans with his own blood (1P 1.20)—which necessitates the foreordination of the incarnation; and God engaged in the work of election (Ep 1.4). Undoubtedly there’s more—a lot more—but it remains a mystery to us, at least for now.

Psalm 102.25-27

The Mosaic passage does not confine God’s existence to eternity past; he specifies God’s eternal future as well: “from everlasting to everlasting.” An anonymous Psalmist adds to that testimony:

²⁵Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: And the heavens are the work of thy hands. ²⁶They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; As a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: ²⁷But thou art the same, And thy years shall have no end (Ps 102).

Here the writer contrasts God’s eternality to the mortality of creation: “They shall perish, but thou shalt endure.” We are foolish to place our hope or our confidence in material things—including other humans—because they are all temporary. Gold, silver, real estate, political leaders (especially political leaders!), friends, lovers—they will all pass away.

But the Creator will not. As we’ve noted earlier, the author of Hebrews cites this passage and applies it specifically to the Son, demonstrating that he is infinitely superior to the angels (He 1.10-12). I also note that here in the Psalms, the author makes an application that the author of Hebrews chooses not to:

²⁸The children of thy servants shall continue, And their seed shall be established before thee.

The fact that God is eternal has personal ramifications for us. For as long as the present earth endures, God’s people will reproduce, their heritage will continue, and their God will know them.

God’s eternality enables his faithfulness.

Those who deny creation have no such assurance, no such hope.

Creation indeed matters.

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Why Creation Matters, Part 17: Psalms 1

April 27, 2026 by Dan Olinger Leave a Comment

This post isn’t about Psalm 1; if it were, “Psalms 1” would be a barbarism. Rather it is one of several posts on the Psalms—”Psalms, Episode 1,” if you will.

The book of Psalms contains the largest collection of creation theology in the Scripture, even more that we should expect proportionally from the longest book in the Bible. By my count, there are 16 references, appearing in all but one of the collection’s 5 “books,” with Book 5, Psalms 107-150, being the most densely populated.

As we might expect from the relatively high numbers, these references develop several applicational themes. I’d like to take a few posts to cover them.

Deliverance

The most obvious deduction about the Creator, I think, is his power, evident from the vastness of the heavens and the obvious power of earthly forces. It would make sense for God’s people, then, to call on his power for their protection and deliverance:

¹⁶The day is thine, the night also is thine: Thou hast prepared the light and the sun. ¹⁷Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: Thou hast made summer and winter. … ¹⁹O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: Forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever (Ps 74).

¹¹The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: As for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them. ¹²The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon [significant mountains] shall rejoice in thy name. ¹³Thou hast a mighty arm: Strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand. ¹⁴Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: Mercy and truth shall go before thy face. ¹⁵Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance (Ps 89).

²My help cometh from the Lord, Which made heaven and earth (Ps 121).

⁵Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, Whose hope is in the Lord his God: ⁶Which made heaven, and earth, The sea, and all that therein is: Which keepeth truth for ever: ⁷Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: Which giveth food to the hungry. The Lord looseth the prisoners: ⁸The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind: The Lord raiseth them that are bowed down: The Lord loveth the righteous: (Ps 146).

Blessing

A second, related theme is that of blessing, which I suppose we could consider the positive side of deliverance, or perhaps an extension of it:

¹²The Lord hath been mindful of us: he will bless us; He will bless the house of Israel; He will bless the house of Aaron. ¹³He will bless them that fear the Lord, Both small and great. ¹⁴The Lord shall increase you more and more, You and your children. ¹⁵Ye are blessed of the Lord Which made heaven and earth (Ps 115).

¹Behold, bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord, Which by night stand in the house of the Lord. ²Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, And bless the Lord.³The Lord that made heaven and earth Bless thee out of Zion (Ps 134).

I note that this last passage speaks of reciprocity: we bless him, and he blesses us. This is not to say that we bless him in order to evoke his blessing, or that he blesses us because we bless him; this isn’t about back-scratching. But it does demonstrate that the Creator and his people are in relationship; they love and communicate with and respond to one another.

Our consideration of the creation should affect us in these ways as well. We should be convinced of his power to deliver and to bless, and we should seek and respond to him in appropriate ways.

Next time: Psalms 2, which will not be about Psalm 2.

Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash