From the Rising of the Sun

While on vacation at the beach recently, my wife wanted the two of us to wake early at least one morning to watch the sun rise. However, we kept putting off rising early for the comfort of sleeping in. On our last day at the beach, my wife decided to venture out and watch the sun rise from the deck. She didn’t bother to wake me, but wanted to capture the beauty of the moment on her phone. Just as the sun was breaking the horizon, her phone died—not because it was old, but because it wasn’t charged.

In frustration, she ran back upstairs to our bedroom, grabbed my phone and ran back outside to the deck (all the while, I kept on snoozing). The sun had already climbed the horizon just a bit, but she was able to capture its beauty as it lit up the sky and reflected off the ocean that last morning of our vacation. I would love to say that we stood there together in the moment enjoying God’s creation and even taking a selfie to prove we had gotten up early at least one morning, but I can’t. We did not enjoy that moment together because one of us was still asleep. In fact, the only reason I knew she had made the adventure outside is because of the pictures on my phone.

While I laughed as she told me her story of yet another phone-dying mishap, I am grateful for the pictures she captured. I am reminded of the Psalmist who says, “From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised” (Ps 113:3). One thing is for certain, the author of this psalm is concerned for the praise of the Lord from the where the sun rises to where it sets.

In other words, every place on planet earth impacted by the sun’s rising and setting is called to offer up praise to God. Thus, the point of the author here is to say that every place on planet earth is called to praise God. Here, the call of praise is not for creation in general (though that is true elsewhere [e.g., Ps 148]), but for people.

While the rising and setting of the sun affects us all, the praise of God does not flow from all. In fact, of the 7.4 billion people on the planet, each of which benefit from the sun, 4.3 billion are unreached with the good news of Jesus Christ. For the praise of God to be on the lips of all affected by the sun’s rising and setting, all need to not only know of the God who created this sun, but of the God who sent His Son. They need to know that the Son who holds the sun in place lived a sinless life, died a sacrificial death, and was raised to life again. He did all of this in order that people all over the planet will turn from their sins and believe that Jesus is Savior and Lord, even Lord of the rising and setting of the sun.

Now, how might this matter for you? If you are a follower of the Son, you are privileged to be part of God’s plan to make His Son famous not only across the street but across the sea—from the rising of the sun to its setting. The question remains, what part are you playing in this plan in order that the name of the Lord is praised? Let us help you to connect with ways to make Jesus famous by contacting us at [email protected].