God Is Beautiful

Psalm 45:11 “And the king will desire your beauty. Since he is your lord, bow to him.”

This psalm is rather different than most as it is almost like a love poem but it is directed toward God Who first loved us before we ever loved Him (1 John 4:19), even though we were not lovely at all but still in our sins (Isaiah 59:2) and enemies of God and wicked sinners (Rom 5:8, 10) but do you not desire to see the King of kings and Lord of Lord and see His beauty and then, since He is Lord, “bow to him?”

Isaiah 28:5 “In that day the Lord of hosts will be a crown of glory, and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people.”

What is a more beautiful thing than to die for someone who was an enemy and yet Jesus said “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13) and amazingly He says, “You are my friends if you do what I command you” (John 15:14). If you had a friend and he or she promised to do something for you but then didn’t do it, could you say that they really love you like a close friend should? No, as Jesus said, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23).

Isaiah 33:17 “Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty; they will see a land that stretches afar.”

Again, for those who trust in God, they will behold the King that is most glorious and most beautiful but it’s not so much the appearance of beauty on the outside but the beauty of the work of the Person of Christ. We shall see Him someday, as it were, face to face (Rev 21:3; 22:4) and He will be with us and we will see Him and He will be our God, forever more. Isn’t that a beautiful thought?

Psalm 50:1-2 “The Mighty One, God the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.  Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.”

This one describes Zion, the City of God, as beautiful but this glimpse of beauty is yet in the future, when the kingdoms of the earth will become the kingdoms of our Lord, Jesus Christ. His glorious splendor cannot even be described but the glory of God, in all His majestic beauty, will surely shine forth someday for all who trust in Him to behold.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”

Since God doesn’t look at the outward appearance but at the heart (1 Sam 16:7), what He sees in the heart can either be ugly or beautiful and a beautiful spirit is one which is humble, contrite, and willing to live a life of service and love for others.  There is also beauty in the creation and it reflects the beauty of its Creator God Who created a perfect world but was quickly populated by imperfect human beings. Only when a person trusts in Christ does God see anything beautiful in us but it’s not really our beauty but the very righteousness of Christ that God sees (2 Cor 5:21).

Contemplating God in the Beauty of Nature

Bill Gaultiere     soulshepherding.org


A primary way God nourishes our souls with his loving presence is 

through the beauty of nature. The face of the Lord shines on his in the sun. The moon and stars remind 

us that God’s light and love shine to us even in the dark. The Lord is speaking to us and warming us from

 the heavens, the Psalmist says (Psalm 19:1-6). The joy of the Lord comes to us in splashing waves and

 playful animals! (Psalm 29:3, 6)

Throughout the Bible we read testimony of the Lord communicating to us in the skies, ocean waves, breeze rustling through the trees, fields and flowers, and birds that sing cheerfully. Jesus reassures us that our Father in the heavens always near cares for the little sparrows and he cares for us (Matthew 6:26 and 10:29).

Nature reveals to us God’s beauty, glory, power, wisdom, presence, creativity, and, most of all, his loving care. This is why we’re drawn to spend time in the beauty of nature and to enjoy animals. To talk a walk on a beautiful day, play with your dog in the grass, or hold your cat are reliable ways for many people to connect with God’s loving presence.

Jesus makes continual use of nature in his parables that welcome us to find life with him in the Kingdom of God. The revelation of God in nature is so poignant and prevailing that the Apostle Paul cautions if we don’t notice and honor our Creator we are without excuse (Romans 1:20).

The Word of God inspires us to contemplate God in creation. Saint Francis of Assisi and Henri Nouwen are two devoted disciples of Christ who draw our attention to love God by loving his creatures and creation. Below are some of the Bible verses that inspired them. These are followed by Saint Francis’ famous nature hymn: “All Creatures of Our God and King” and a meditation from Henri Nouwen on “Being Sisters and Brothers of Nature”.