The Outskirts

 

“Behold, these [creation] are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?”

—Job 26:14

If I were to take you to my hometown and leave you on the outskirts—say, a couple of miles from the center of town—you would see houses far apart, large, meticulously groomed lawns, barns and cows, a decorative windmill or two, and, in the summer, clothes blowing from lines stretched across backyards. Based on your observation of what I’ve described, what would you know about the town? You would rightly say that here you will enter a simple and proud farming community, perhaps of Dutch heritage.

If you came within a couple of miles of the city limits where I live now, you would see some abandoned factories, signs of boats and marine life, homes close together, and a thriving number of small shops and attractive plazas, doctor’s offices, traffic signals, and fire hydrants. Likely you would say you are about to enter a small city with a history of manufacturing, perhaps experiencing a renaissance of business and recreational life, with a location near a water port.

In general terms, the outskirts tell us what we will see if we more deeply examine the core. When we think of this in terms of Scripture, I like what Eugene Peterson says:¹

A well-furnished and generously blessed creation is but “the outskirts of his ways.”—the center is the love in which we respond to our Lord in reverent praise.

I see this in larger terms when I study Psalm 19. Here we observe, in the first six verses, how the creation “pours forth” its speech to the whole world, declaring the glory of God and the work of His hands. You might say that here we read about the outskirts of God’s person. We see His wisdom, creativity, power, and careful preparation for His living creatures.

When we read further, in verses seven through eleven, we begin to see the core of our God’s person, as He proclaims Himself to us in His written Word. Here, we see His perfection, His righteousness, His joy, His light, His endurance, and the introduction of His revelation to each of us personally.

Do the “outskirts” that we looked at in the first six verses lead us to think of someone different than we see in His revealed written Word? Not at all. These verses are like the “thunder” of His power after the “whisper” of His first approach to us.

Has God brought you to see the “outskirts” of His goodness? Keeping moving through His written Word until you begin to see the larger truths of who He is and hear the thunder of His powerful voice calling you to know Him better. Our God is faithful and delights to have us find Him through the wisdom and lovingkindness of His ways!

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1 Peterson, Eugene H. Praying with the Psalms. San Francisco, CA: Harper-Collins Publishing Company, 1993. Entry for December 26.