“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.” (Psalm 19:1-2) The universe continually bears witness to and declares the glory and majesty of God. Day and night, all creation announces that the universe and the world we live in belong to God; therefore, we have no excuse for not giving God all the glory. In Romans 1:20, the Apostle Paul writes, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” The universe declares this reality: the Father created everything by His word (Genesis 1) and brought it into existence through His Son, Jesus Christ, as the Gospel of John attests (John 1:1-3). “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made … The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1-3, 14; cf. Genesis 1) Therefore, observing God’s creation deepens our understanding of His glory and power. With this knowledge, we should follow creation’s lead and continually proclaim this reality, especially because we were created in His image and likeness. “I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” (Psalm 34:1)

God’s Portion “The earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein.” (Psalm 24:1) Everything, including all of us, belongs to the Lord. He created it all (Genesis 1:1, 26). And to us He has given the earth’s abundance and called us to be good stewards of it (Genesis 1:28). Therefore, speaking of God’s portion is a bit ludicrous, because everything is His, as our signature verse states. While it is all God's, He wants us to give Him the very best. Although this is often taught in relation to the tithe, it goes beyond that. The prophet Ezekiel illustrates this when God tells him to measure out God’s holy temple and to show how the land was to be divided in the new millennium. “Moreover, when you divide the land by lot into inheritance, you shall set apart a district for the Lord, a holy section of the land … in it shall be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place.” (Ezekiel 45:1-3) This idea of God’s portion is also reflected in our Psalm, where God asks, “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place?” (Psalm 24:3) The hill referenced here is the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. This signifies that while all the earth is the Lord’s, He wants people to place Him at the center of their lives, since God’s temple now lives within every believer (1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 6:19-20). And so the question becomes, “Have we turned over our best to God?” Have we given God the best of ourselves? (Romans 12:1-2)

“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6 NKJV) Although this deals with the parent/child relationship, it also speaks to our relationship with God as our heavenly Father and how He disciplines us to keep us on the straight and narrow. As parents, we discipline our children not out of hate or anger, but because we love them and want to protect them from future wrong and dangerous behavior. But our discipline needs to be measured with the spirit of compassion. Once the discipline is over, we should take them in our arms, restore them, and let them know we love them. Our children need compassion as much as they need discipline. In other words, we need to discipline our children as God disciplines us, because God’s discipline includes mercy and compassion (Isaiah 60:10b). God had to discipline Israel for her constant idolatry, but in His discipline, He showed mercy by bringing them back into the land and into fellowship with Him. In His love, God disciplines us, so we shouldn’t despise His discipline, but we should always know that, in His love, He will have mercy on us. The Lord said, “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.” (Revelation 3:19) And again, the Lord says, “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.” (Proverbs 3:11-12) Although discipline may not feel pleasant at the time, it ultimately produces a harvest of righteousness and peace (Hebrews 12:11). And while weeping may endure for a season because of our sin, joy will come in the end because of God’s favor toward us. We see this in Psalm 30:5: “For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” Thanks for posting this verse; it is a great reminder.