The spring constellations have arrived and it’s reason for singing – like with this beautiful old hymn!
“Who are these like stars appearing,
These before God’s throne who stand?
Each a golden crown is wearing;
Who are all this glorious band?
Alleluia! Hark, they sing,
Praising loud their heav’nly King.”
That is an old hymn! And I love those words: Who like these are stars appearing? Just the idea amazes me! And when it comes to the heavens, I know you are like me: I love to stargaze. Anytime there’s a clear night away from the city lights, you can find me looking up! I remember when my friends Judy and Peg gave me an iPad, I had a great time loading all sorts of apps — and one of them is called “Sky Walk.” I’ve always had a fascination with the stars and this app is amazing. It has a GPS built into it and on any night, I can take my iPad outside, and if there’s a constellation I don’t know, Ken just holds up the iPad in the direction of that group of stars and viola, eureka! The constellation appears on the screen with all the names of the individual stars. Anywhere we aim the iPad, it’ll show what star we’re looking at and it’s so neat, it’s all in color, and it’s got this wonderful star music playing like the kind in planetariums.
Well, the other night we were outside with the iPad, pointing it at the thin slice of moon making a smile on the horizon. The night was a starry dome that took my breath away; there were so many springtime constellations and the Milky Way glowing. I put down the iPad and my heart just broke with joy. Stars do that to me. And I said out loud a verse I had memorized long ago from Daniel chapter 12, verse 3 — it’s such a favorite—“Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” Wow!
I just love that idea. To shine like the brightness of the heavens? Like a star? Now, I know some people are put off by such symbols—like C.S. Lewis said in jest, “Who wishes to become a living electric light bulb?”—but wait. Have you ever stood in the night wind and looked up at a blanket of stars? Have you ever been up in the mountains and looked up, and there’s the arm of the Milky Way spread out like powdered sugar across the sky? Doesn’t your heart just fill with wonder and delight?!
I think that when many of us look up at the night sky we often hearken to the old Psalm in the Old Testament: “The heavens declare the glory of God.” Not the earth; it’s not the land; it’s not the seas—although all these things reflect God’s creative genius, but the Bible makes a point that it is the heavens that declare the glory of God in a very unique and special way. And, friend, here’s the thing: That glory of the stars that captivates you when you stand underneath the starlight, one day that glory will be yours. The ecstasy that enraptures your heart at the sight of a night ablaze with twinkling lights you will one day enter that same ecstasy. One day you will put on glory like that. “Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens.”
© Joni and Friends, 2013
Compliments of Joni and Friends
PO Box 3333 Agoura Hills, CA 91376