The Relationship of God's Beauty and Laws

This morning as I’ve been meditating on Psalms 96-98, I’m struck by the connection between the recognition of God’s awesome beauty and majesty, and the realization that His judgments and the justice that He brings are absolutely right! It’s made clear in several places in the Scriptures, where the writer is overwhelmed by the beauty of God, and suddenly comes to the conclusion that the God who would create such beauty and order in the universe can be trusted to judge rightly and bring true justice and righteousness to all the created order.

Take, for example, Psalm 19. David is rejoicing in his observation of the beauty of the created heavens – they declare the glory of God, the wonder and majesty of His ways, and how the message of God’s power and eminence are shouted through the ages by creation itself! David is seemingly awestruck by the sunrise, and suddenly realizes the testimony of the Bridegroom God’s passion is revealed every morning to anyone who will consider it!

Then, with no transition, he goes into a declaration of the perfection of God’s laws, how His Word is perfect and brings everything else into restoration and order. It’s as though he sees that just as God has made the created order perfect in beauty, so His Word would bring beauty and order to all of life. Any God who would be so perfect in His ordering of the creation can be trusted to bring order to human existence through His Word.

The same thing happens in a human example in 1 Kings 10. The Queen of Sheba comes to visit King Solomon because she has heard of his fame and wisdom. There is no doubt that she has a measure of glory in her own right, but when she sees Solomon’s situation, she is dumbfounded. She marvels at the beauty of Solomon’s courts, the majesty of his servants’ attire, and comes to the conclusion that he is qualified to “execute justice and righteousness.”

Here’s the point – the beauty of God expressed in His created order, and revealed to us in the place of worship and adoration, convinces our hearts that He is qualified to establish the order of things, that His order is absolutely right and good, and that His process of justice – bringing all things into conformity to His order – is absolutely right and good. The result? All creation rejoices when the judgments of God are released in the earth.

The application for us is this: before we try to argue for the laws of God to be established in the lives of those around us, let us first be captivated and filled with wonder at His beauty and grace. Then, those around us will see the reflection of that glory in us, see the wisdom of God’s order in our lives, and be stirred in their hearts to embrace His ways for themselves. God created us to be captured by beauty. When we are, we come to see that His laws make perfect sense.

Gary Wiens