The Biblical Illustrator
Psalms 69:34
Let the heaven and earth praise Him, the seas, and everything that moveth therein.
The creation praising God
I. On account of what He is in Himself. God is good; intrinsically excellent. His nature is composed of all possible perfections. “God is love,” wisdom, intelligence, goodness, truth, righteousness, mercy.
II. On account of what He is in His relations.
1. To all, He stands in the relation of Creator, Sustainer, and Benefactor.
2. To us, whom He has redeemed, by the sacrificial “death of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ,” He stands in the relation of a Father and Saviour.
III. On account of what He has accomplished. The works of God excel the works of all others. They are, Creation--“He made all things”; Providence--He cares for and governs all things; Redemption--it was God that raised apostate humanity from the ruins of the fall. No works can compete with these. And on their account God will be praised throughout eternity, by an intelligent and redeemed universe.
IV. On account of His wonderful gifts. Life, reason, mind, subjects for thought, Jesus Christ, the Holy Bible, the ministry of reconciliation, the Holy Spirit, the comforts and consolations of religion, and a hope--resting firmly and securely upon the atonement of Calvary--of heaven, when this temporary introductory life shall have passed away.
V. On account of His grand discoveries. Man builds a rightful claim to the admiration, praise, and gratitude of mankind, by the discoveries he makes, and the facts he brings to light. What has God made known? That there is an eternal world; that men are immortal; that noble and abundant provisions have been made for our happiness during the ever-revolving cycles of an eternity to come; the way in which we, and all mankind, may be prepared for the full and unending fruition of the bliss He has prepared for us. (Isaac Evans.).