Sunrises and Sunsets; meditations from Psalm 68

You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy! (Psalm 65:8b)


This psalm tells us how involved God is with creation, even down to how days begin and end on earth. The Psalmist specifically uses sunrises and sunsets as examples of creation praising its great God. It got me thinking, what else does God want sunrises and sunsets to do?



SUNRISE: A PICTURE OF GOD'S REIGN
2 Samuel 23:3-4
The God of Israel has spoken;
the Rock of Israel has said to me:
When one rules justly over men,
ruling in the fear of God,
he dawns on them like the morning light,
like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning,
like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.

SUNRISE: A PROMISE OF GOD'S HELP
Psalm 46:5 (Show me Psalm 46)
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.

SUNSETS: A REMINDER OF GOD'S CONTROL
Psalm 104:19
He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting.

RISING AND SETTING: A PICTURE OF EVERYWHERE
Psalm 113:3
From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised!

RISING AND SETTING: A PICTURE OF ETERNITY
Ecclesiastes 1:5 The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises.



SUNRISE: A PICTURE OF GOD'S JUDGMENT ON THE NATIONS AND HUMAN PRIDE
Isaiah 13:10
For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light.

SUNLIGHT: A PICTURE OF GOD'S PRESENCE
Isaiah 60:20
Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended.

SUNRISE: A REMINDER OF THE CERTAINTY OF GOD'S WORK
Hosea 6:3
Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord;
his going out is sure as the dawn;
he will come to us as the showers,
as the spring rains that water the earth.

SUNSET: A PICTURE OF GOD'S JUDGMENT ON HIS PEOPLE
Micah 3:6
Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without divination. The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be black over them;

SUNRISE: A PICTURE OF HEALING
Malachi 4:2
But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.



SUNRISE: A PICTURE OF GOD'S GENERAL BLESSING
Matthew 5:45
so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

SUNRISE: A PICTURE OF PERSECUTION OR TRIBULATION
Matthew 13:6
but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away.

SUNRISE: A REMINDER OF RESURRECTION
Mark 16:2
And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.

SUNSET: A PICTURE OF GOD'S CARE FOR THE INDIVIDUAL
Luke 4:40
Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them.

SUNSET: A REMINDER TO RECONCILE RELATIONSHIPS
Ephesians 4:26
Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

SUNRISE: A REMINDER OF THE TRANSIENCE OF RICHES
James 1:11
For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

SUNLIGHT: A PICTURE OF GOD'S FULL PRESENCE IN HEAVEN
Revelation 21:23
And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.