A Hymn for Stargazing

A few years ago, my husband, mom and I were on our way back from a carpooled trip to the country to visit my grandma. It was dark outside and the conversation drifted to how clear the sky was and how the stars were so bright. My mom's view in the back seat was obstructed and she mentioned that she couldn't remember the last time she took the time to stargaze.

We drove along a bit in silence afterward — a long enough silence to give my mind enough time to wander to things that go bump in the night and what might happen if we ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere in the pitch black like that. 

Suddenly, my husband pulled over to the side of the road, turned the car with its headlights off and blackness enveloped us. And panic enveloped me!

Did we indeed run out of gas? Did my husband see something ahead that caused him to stop? Or worse, was he having a medical emergency?

Finally, I sighed in relief when I realized we had just stopped to stargaze next to a cornfield. 

We enjoyed a few moments of stargazing before car lights ahead caused us to hurry back to the car and turn our own lights on so we could be seen. 

During those few minutes, though, my mom's tear-brimmed eyes and all three of our hearts rejoiced in the majesty and faithfulness of God. 

Isaac Watts expressed some of what we felt in a beautifully poetic way when he wrote that "the voice that rolls the stars along speaks all the promises."

Consider that. The same voice who created the world and the magnificent night sky is the same voice who has promised you He will be faithful forever. 

Have we any reason to doubt? Next time you look up at the night sky, remember, there's a hymn for that.

The Faithfulness of God

by Isaac Watts

Begin, my tongue, some heavenly theme,
And speak some boundless thing,
The mighty works or mightier Name
Of our eternal King.

Tell of His wondrous faithfulness
And sound His power abroad;
Sing the sweet promise of His grace,
The love and truth of God.

His very word of grace is strong
As that which built the skies;
The voice that rolls the stars along
Speaks all the promises.

O might I hear Thy heavenly tongue
But whisper, "Thou art mine,"
Those gentle words should raise my song
To notes almost divine.