Psalms 115:16

The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s: but the earth hath He given to the children of men.

The mysteries of the universe

Our contemplation of the mysteries of the universe is to be associated--

I. With faith. “The heavens are the heavens of the Lord.” All the wonders of unseen worlds are in charge of Him whom we serve. Whatever marvellous forces range the universe we may sing, “All things serve Thee,” and dismiss all fear. How foolish to fear the discoveries of science! “All facts,” as Kingsley used to say, “are God’s facts.” How foolish to fear for our safety here or hereafter if we be the Lord’s, for all is His! The mysteries of the universe are those of Him who died for us, and in the heart of those mysteries there is love.

II. With diligence, “The earth hath He given to-the children of men.” Earth’s fields are to be tilled, her provisions stored and distributed. Homes are to be superintended and cities and states to be governed. These are the first claims upon our thoughts as servants of God. “The heavens are the Lord’s,” let us claim the kingdom of the earth for Him and humbly help to establish His dominion hero. (W. Hawkins.)

The earth for men

I. A strong rebuke to all social monopoly. The earth is for “the children of men.”

II. A strong rebuke to religious indifference. The earth is given to man in trust for certain uses.

1. As a scene for man’s physical development.

2. As a school for man’s intellectual culture.

3. As a temple for man’s religious worship. The children of men to use this world rightly should worship God in all they suffer, enjoy, think, or do. In everything there should be--

(1) A reigning gratitude. The earth is a gift to every man, and every man should use every portion of it thankfully.

(2) A reigning reverence. The earth is a gift where the greatness of God is everywhere seen, and, therefore, “take off thy shoes from off thy feet,” etc.

4. As a sphere for evangelical labour Christ has been on this earth. Here He has left doctrines for every child of man to believe, propagate and work out. (Homilist.)

The earth of the redemption

The heavens and the earth are set in contrast with each other. The heavens with their sun and moon and stars, their wandering winds, their majestic domes and pinnacles and fields of cloud, their mysteries of rain and dew, of frost and snow; and then the earth, with its familiar cities and forests and cornfields, its homes of men and women, its seas and rivers, its sports and toils, its friendships and kinships, these stand over against each other. And their contrast is in this,--that while the heavens are out of the reach of man, the expression and result of forces which he cannot control, the earth is what man makes it. He is the changing power here. It is the familiar contrast which is always present, and always having its effect upon our life. The earth, and life upon the earth, are never the same things they would be if the great heaven did not stretch, mysterious and unattainable, above them. Man, great as his power grows upon the earth, is always kept aware of how limited his power is. There is always the heaven above him, which is not his, but God’s. And this becomes a figure of the limit of man’s power everywhere. When David says that God has “given the earth to the children of men,” he cannot mean that it was given away from those eternal plans and purposes of goodness which God must always keep with reference to all His creation. It is God’s world still. It has been given to man not absolutely, but in trust, that man may work out in it the will of God. Here is the fundamental difference in the lives of men. Man finds the world in his hands. He can do with it what he will. Everywhere the difference of men lies here, in whether this mastery seems to be absolute, or whether it seems to be a trust. Absolute mastery means self-indulgence. The mastery of trust means humility, conscientiousness, elevation, charity, the fear of God and love of man. It is in this higher and true view of the giving of the world by God to man that the coming of Christ into the world gains its true meaning. Here was God’s world, given to man to keep, to use, to work for God. Here was man, always falling into the temptation to think the gift of trust an absolute gift. And here the Giver came, with clear assurance of Himself; making the men who saw Him know that it was He; not taking the earth back out of man’s keeping, but making Himself man, so that all men might see what it might really mean for man to keep and use and work the earth for God; so God came to the world. It is within this great general purpose that all the special personal works which Christ does for men are included. (Bishop Phillips Brooks.)