Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them (Psalm 111:2).
The Grand Canyon has been on my “bucket list” since I can remember. I’m an OG (Old Guy) now but I can remember seeing photos of the Canyon as a NG (New Guy) in grade school and thinking…
I want to see the Grand Canyon.
My dad had two-weeks of vacation, and my parents loved the ocean. So for vacations, off we went to the East Coast. My mom explained, “We can’t drive to the Grand Canyon; we would spend our entire vacation driving.”
Evidently, a lot of people do exactly that, as six million people a year visit the Grand Canyon. I was one of those six million people just a few days ago! Cross the Grand Canyon off my bucket list.
However, I find my pen stuck on the box to be checked.
The Grand Canyon is beyond grand – and descriptive words like immense, gigantic, and enormous also fall short. After seeing the Canyon, you can’t easily “X” it off and then go to the next item on your Bucket List.
I first sighted the Canyon after parking in an overlook. I was told there was a visitors’ center, with an amphitheater, and a talk by a park ranger describing it.
I bypassed the talk and headed directly to the south rim road.
There it was…
I was at a loss for words.
In preparation for seeing the Grand Canyon, I began memorizing Psalm 111. Since I can’t adequately describe my first impression, I will let the Psalmist speak…
Full of splendor and majesty is God’s work! (Psalm 111:3)
Reading about the Grand Canyon, I’ve learned that many scientists believe it shows evidence of the Biblical accounts of creation, the flood of Noah, and the quick return of life to earth after the flood. Other scientists say the believing scientists are nuts and then give their “believable” theories – that all of existence came from nothing plus hundreds of millions of years and then voila – the Grand Canyon and everything else in the universe.
I wasn’t thinking scientific debate when I saw the Grand Canyon.
God has caused His wondrous works to be remembered (Psalm 111:4).
God has shown His people [Pastor Grant] the power of His works (Psalm 111:6).
I believe that you sense God’s presence in nature. I’ve never felt a stronger Presence than during my first sighting of His Grand Canyon.
You can’t feel the presence of nature and make a religion of it. If you do, you get all sorts of pagan, mythical, mystical, and even violent, ideologies. Fortunately, we have the very words of the Creator of the Grand Canyon to help us define His presence known throughout nature.
The works of His hands are faithful and just; all His precepts are trustworthy; they are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness (Psalm 111:7-8).
I spent three hours with my wife and friends driving 23 miles along the southern rim of the canyon. I saw only a fraction of it.
I have seen the Grand Canyon, but only a glimpse. Psalm 111 teaches that the Canyon… all of creation… all nature… the entire universe… gives us only a glimpse of the glory of God.
His praise endures forever (Psalm 111:10).