"Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the ground." Psalm 104:30

Additional readings: Isaiah 45:11-25, John 1:1-14, Psalm 104

Some today think of the universe as self-created, that its life is from itself, and that man is a product of the forces of nature. This is, in brief, the materialist's explanation of nature and of human life.

If this were true, the knowledge of nature and of its laws should solve all our problems. But there are qualities in man that are not found in nature. There is no morality in nature, nor is altruism to be found there. Nature's first law is the law of self-preservation, but among men—even the lowest of them—there is the feeling that they should not always seek to please themselves, that it is truly manly to try to save another at the risk of one's own life, that it is right to protect the weak, to help the neighbor.

Nature knows of no power above itself nor of any life after death. Likewise the materialists are unable to conceive of anything supernatural; they can acknowledge no supreme Being or Creator; they do not believe that they live after death. It should be obvious that nature cannot reveal anything that lies beyond its realm.

Yet in order that any finite thing may live there must be an infinite and uncreated source of life. If there were nothing to begin with, then plainly nothing could result. The forms of life which we see about us, and which we ourselves are, must derive their existence from One who is life itself. This is the meaning of the name Jehovah—the "I Am"—He who is in and of Himself. Such is the true conception which lies at the foundation of all intelligent thinking concerning Him. "Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Greater of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?" (Isaiah 40:28). Creation is but the effect of the outpouring of life from Him. This life is called in the Scriptures His breath or spirit. Accordingly we have such statements as that of our text: "Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created."

But He who sends forth His life-giving spirit is hidden from our natural sight. Yes, even spirit itself is outwardly invisible. And so those who do not lift up their thoughts above nature are tempted to deny His existence. There are higher things than those that can be seen. The spirit of God and all else that is spiritual lie within and above the plane of the senses. Life flows from within outwards. What we see is its external effects; we do not see life itself. Our own spiritual natures are concealed from outward view. We cannot see the souls of those about us. The soul is within the body but is distinct from it. When it is withdrawn, the body dies. In like manner all life is internal and spiritual. He from whom it proceeds is the inmost fountain of all being. "Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created."

Again it has often been imagined by people who do believe in a personal God that He created the world and then let it go on by itself according to a system of laws provided for its government. This belief is in part due to the fact that God keeps Himself out of sight and in part to the fact that men think that His way of doing things would be like theirs. A man builds a house, and he may go away and never see it again. But we must remember that man does not create; he only makes use of materials at hand, reforming them to serve his immediate purpose. The Lord, because He creates, is never absent from any part of His creation. By His presence He keeps the universe alive, just as He originally called it into being. Were He to separate Himself from the things which He has made, they would all perish. This is what our text declares in saying, "Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created." We are not told that the Lord did send out His spirit at some time many years ago, but that He is sending it out now. The language is not that things were created once upon a time, but that they are created. "Existence is perpetual creation." The present tense transforms the statement into a universal law.

It is so too with the second phrase of the text, "Thou renewest the face of the ground." Allusion is obviously made, in the sense of the letter, to the changes continually going on in nature—the succession of one generation by another and the endless alternation of the seasons. Mother earth is just as fresh and young and productive today as she was in most ancient times. She is in the constant reception of new life. Not a moment passes without the face of the ground being renewed.

There is a lesson for us in this. It should teach us of the nearness of our Heavenly Father and of His constant provision for us. He is present in the heat and light of the sun, in the fields, forests, and mountains, in the rivers, lakes, and seas, in the winds and skies. All tell of His majesty and power, and especially of His constant presence. If we can see this, nature becomes more beautiful and wonderful to us. We see in nature His spirit renewing the face of the ground.

How strange it is that study of nature should lead men to disbelief in God. If the universe did not have order, if its parts were disconnected, without relation or use to one another and to the service and enjoyment of men, we might perhaps believe that it was not designed or created by an intelligent Being. But as the case stands, love and wisdom could not have written themselves more plainly in living characters before our eyes. And what are love and wisdom but the essence of a perfect personality? They cannot possibly exist as mere abstractions: they must be embodied in a person. Love is the inmost vital principle, and wisdom is the means whereby love accomplishes its purposes.

The Lord alone has life in Himself. He needs must be the Source of all creation. "All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made" (John 1:3). And of the creation of the earth it is written, "He created it not in vain; he formed it to be inhabited” (Isaiah 45:18). The purpose of the creation of the world was that there might be people upon it, that we might here be formed into God's own image and likeness and find happiness in heaven to eternity. For this reason, however long our life here may be, we are never completely satisfied with it. There has always been among all people a conviction that there is an afterlife. This conviction is not an idle dream but a perception that the goal of life cannot be reached here—that there is more which the Lord has prepared for us.

And just as the Lord is ever present in His creation, sustaining and controlling it from moment to moment, so He is ever present with us, giving us life, and guiding us if only we will be guided—for it is contrary to the Divine love to compel men—to our heavenly home. The Divine Providence is concerned with our spiritual and eternal life, and with bodily and temporal things only as they affect this. "What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Matthew 16:26).

This view of the relationship between God and His creation gives us a concept of God that is both rational and also satisfactory to our affectional nature. The Bible starts with the words "In the beginning God. created the heaven and the earth" (Genesis 1:1) to teach us that there is a Divine Being with a purpose supremely beneficent, and that there is an Intelligence altogether equal to the attainment of that purpose, and the rest of the Scriptures tell us of the Lord's operation in history to the accomplishment of His purposes. Knowledge of Him and of His purposes enables us to realize that there are better times ahead for us and happier times for the human race upon the earth, to which all lovers of mankind may look forward.

Moreover the Lord Himself came into the world as the Redeemer and Savior of men. In our own struggles we are not alone. The God of Battles is fighting for us. We are not cogs in a universal mechanism. The Lord is present everywhere in the universe. He comes to us outwardly in all the beneficent influences of nature, in the warmth and light of the sun and in all its other bounties. He is present in our souls, seeking to gladden us with the warmth of His love and to enlighten our minds with His wisdom, redeeming us from our iniquities and creating us anew into His own image and likeness.

1736. The fact that the Lord is Jehovah, who is here called 'God Most High', is quite clear from the Word: in Isaiah,

Jehovah Zebaoth is His name, and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth He is called. Isaiah 54:5.

Here it is explicitly stated that 'the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel', who is the Lord alone, is 'Jehovah Zebaoth' and 'the God of the whole earth'. In the same prophet,

Thus said Jehovah your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am Jehovah your God. Isaiah 48:17.

In the same prophet,

I am helping you, said Jehovah your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah 41:14.

The expressions 'the Holy One of Israel' and 'the God of Israel' occur many times. That the Lord is the Holy One of Israel and the God of Israel is quite clear from where it is said that they saw the God of Israel, under whose feet there was so to speak a paved work of sapphire stone, like the substance of the sky for purity, Exodus 24:10.

[2] None other was acknowledged and called Jehovah by the Jewish Church because that Church worshipped the one God Jehovah, and more importantly, because all the religious observances of that Church represented Him -- though the majority did not know this - and because all things in the internal sense of the Word had Him as their meaning. In Isaiah,

He will swallow up death for ever, and the Lord Jehovih will wipe away tears from all faces. And it will be said on that day, Behold, this is our God, we have waited for Him and He will save us. This is Jehovah, whom we have waited for; let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation. Isaiah 25:8-9.

This refers to the Coming of the Lord.

[3] In the same prophet,

Behold, the Lord Jehovih will come with might, and His arm will exercise dominion for Him. He will pasture His flock like a shepherd, He will gather into His arm, He will carry the tiny lambs in His bosom, ¹ and will lead those that give suck. Isaiah 40:10-11.

This refers explicitly to the Lord who is 'the Lord Jehovih'. 'He will come with might, and His arm will exercise dominion for Him' stands for the fact that He would by His own power overcome the hells. 'Pasturing the flock', 'gathering into His arm', 'carrying the tiny lambs in His bosom', and 'leading those that give suck' have reference to His love, or mercy.

[4] In the same prophet,

Thus said Jehovah, God Himself who created the heavens, who formed the earth and made it, who Himself established it and created it not an emptiness, and formed it to dwell in: I am Jehovah, and there is none else. Am not I Jehovah and there is no God else besides Me? A just God, and a Saviour, there is none besides Me. Look to Me and be saved, all ends of the earth. For I am God and there is no other. Isaiah 45:18, 21-22.

Here it is explicitly stated that the Lord alone is Jehovah and God. 'To create the heavens and form the earth' is to regenerate, and so 'the Creator of heaven and earth' is the Regenerator, see 16, 88, 472, and elsewhere. This is why the Lord is in various places called Creator, One who forms, and Maker.

[5] In the same prophet,

You are our Father, for Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O Jehovah, are our rather, our Redeemer; from of old is Your name. Isaiah 63:15-16.

This refers explicitly to the Lord who alone is the Redeemer. In Moses,

Take notice of His face, ² and hearken to His voice, lest you provoke Him, for He will not endure your transgression, for My name is in the midst of Him. Exodus 23:21.

'Name' is the essential nature, see 144, 145, while 'in the midst' is the inmost, 1074.

[6] In Isaiah,

To us a Boy is born, to us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. His name will be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, God, Hero, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6-7.

This plainly refers to the Lord. In Jeremiah,

Behold, the days are coming and I will raise up for David a righteous branch and He will reign as King, and act with understanding, and execute judgement and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell with confidence. And this is His name which they will call Him, Jehovah our Righteousness. Jeremiah 23:5-6.

This plainly refers to the Lord. In Zechariah,

Jehovah will be King over all the earth; in that day there will be one Jehovah, and His name one. Zechariah 14:9.

This is plainly a reference to the Lord. 'Name' stands for Essential Nature.

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