5th. May. 2020. Daily Devotion.
In a conversation today, someone remarked on the sound of the doves in her garden. We have wood pigeons in the conifer trees in the Manse garden, and I often hear them cooing and warbling outside my study window. The conversation reminded me of the verse from the Song of Solomon in the King James Version, “12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;” The sounds of the fulness of the spring are here, and although the wind is still cold, the fragrance of trees in bloom, flowering currant and laurel blossom drifts on it. On a sunny day it is great to feel the vibrancy of being alive in the springtime.
Here is the whole passage from Song of Solomon 2:1-13
I am a rose of Sharon,
a lily of the valleys.
He
2 Like a lily among thorns
is my darling among the young women.
She
3 Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest
is my beloved among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
4 Let him lead me to the banquet hall,
and let his banner over me be love.
5 Strengthen me with raisins,
refresh me with apples,
for I am faint with love.
6 His left arm is under my head,
and his right arm embraces me.
7 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires.
8 Listen! My beloved!
Look! Here he comes,
leaping across the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.
Look! There he stands behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattice.
10 My beloved spoke and said to me,
‘Arise, my darling,
my beautiful one, come with me.
11 See! The winter is past;
the rains are over and gone.
12 Flowers appear on the earth;
the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
is heard in our land.
13 The fig-tree forms its early fruit;
the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling;
my beautiful one, come with me.’
Today let us focus on the joy of the creation in Springtime. Its beauty reminds us of the magnificent fulness of God’s creation.
A primary way God nourishes our souls with his loving presence is through the beauty of nature. The face of the Lord shines on his in the sun. The moon and stars remind us that God’s light and love shine to us even in the dark. The Lord is speaking to us and warming us from the heavens, the Psalmist says (Psalm 19:1-6). The joy of the Lord comes to us in splashing waves and playful animals! (Psalm 29:3, 6)
Throughout the Bible we read testimony of the Lord communicating to us in the skies, ocean waves, breeze rustling through the trees, fields and flowers, and birds that sing cheerfully. Jesus reassures us that our Father in the heavens always near cares for the little sparrows and he cares for us (Matthew 6:26 and 10:29).
Nature reveals to us God’s beauty, glory, power, wisdom, presence, creativity, and, most of all, his loving care. This is why we’re drawn to spend time in the beauty of nature and to enjoy animals. To take a walk on a beautiful day, play with your dog in the grass, or hold your cat are reliable ways for many people to connect with God’s loving presence.
Jesus makes continual use of nature in his parables that welcome us to find life with him in the Kingdom of God. The revelation of God in nature is so poignant and prevailing that the Apostle Paul cautions if we don’t notice and honour our Creator we are without excuse (Romans 1:20).The Word of God inspires us to contemplate God in creation.
From Soul Shepherding – Bill and Kristi Gaultier
Prayer
We thank you, our Father, for the beauty that lies about us: this Earth, lovely in springtime, with its bursting buds and the riot of colour in flowering gardens; the cool relief of the first heavy shower after a parched summer; the golden fruitfulness of autumn; and the bracing cold of the winter months.
We thank you for the symphony of sight and sound in nature – deep blue skies and green, grassy lawns; moonlit nights and the first flush of dawn; the chirp of the cricket, the sweet note of the robin; the droning hum of the bees, the excited welcoming bark of a loved pet dog.
We thank you for home and friends and family and the deep content of the fireside in beloved human companionship – with the crisp, sharp cold outside.
You have given us an exquisite setting and immense capacities. We pray that we might be increasingly worthy of this – that inspired by the unsurpassable beauty of your creation, we might strive to cultivate within ourselves a quiet and calm spirit — poise and dignity — the beauty of disciplined, orderly lives, the serenity born of devotion, the deep peace that comes only from perfect love, and of abiding faith in you. Amen.
