The Lord's Beauty Upon Us…a post by Joy

Psalm 90:17

“Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us. Establish Thou the work of our hands; yes, establish the work of our hands. “

This is one of the first things that came to mind this morning when I awakened. Momentarily outside my window was the distinct chirping call of a bird: the red cardinal. I felt that the beauty of the Lord was being brought to me through His colorful creation. During the next hour I was drawn to that window three times with that familiar sound excited to see the beauty that was behind the call. Every time I see a bright red set of feathers gliding across the air in front of me, I am immediately reminded “God is with me”.I’m amazed at the different kinds of beauty that have been created by God. Animals, people, and nature, all present ways of His imaginative plan of beauty. This can be “plain as day” to us all to see a view of rivers, mountains, valleys, rolling hills and fields. Yet, I’m amazed that in this Scripture passage, “beauty of the Lord” seems to also be connected with Him “establishing the work of our hands.” He doesn’t mention it once. He mentions it twice as a definite affirmation to all of us who are reading it. Why would it be so important for these two things to segue from one statement to the other?It seems that one possibility could be that the beauty of the presence of the Lord upon us is, indeed, in the work that He has established for our hands. Whatever that may be according to each of our gifts that He has dispersed among us as a body of believers.The bright red cardinal is doing what he was “established” or created to do. Sing, fly, and remind me that “...the beauty of the Lord our God is upon us.” The New International Version translates this verse as: “May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us...