Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
Let me give you the context of this verse. Jeremiah is writing and comparing the idols of the world to the actual God of the universe. Those idols are made by human hands. They do not speak. They have to be carried around. In contrast, you have God—the One who made the earth. Jeremiah points out three things specifically.
Power, Wisdom, and Understanding
First, His power. God brought everything out of nothing. That is some power.
Second, His wisdom. He says that God preserves everything—the ESV says God establishes everything—meaning the universe is not some chaotic accident. It is actually held together by God, by a very precise and divine design.
Third, Jeremiah draws attention to His understanding. We are trying to understand the universe, but God is the only one who truly understands it because He is the one who created it. Think about that. The God who created and stretched out the galaxies is the same God who is involved in the very details of your life. He didn't just start everything and walk away—He preserves it. God is hands on. If God has the power to hold the planets together, if God has the power to orchestrate the galaxies and hold everything in their orbits—and He does—then don't you think He has the power and the wisdom to handle whatever you're facing today?
Here's what Sinclair Ferguson wrote: "We often live as if God were small and our problems were large. But Jeremiah reminds us of the cosmic scale of God's power. The Creator is also the Sustainer. Nothing is too hard for the One who stretched out the heavens."
Go Look at the Stars
Here's what I want you to do tonight. Find a dark spot outside and look up at the stars. I'm sure you've done that before. In the darkest place possible, with no light pollution, looking up, you might be able to count a few thousand stars. That is only a fraction of the stars that might be visible on any given night. But did you know that the universe is so vast we're not even sure if there is an end to it? For every one star that you see as you look up in the sky, there are hundreds of quintillions of stars you don't see. For every one star you see, what scientists would effectively say is that you are seeing 0% of the stars that actually exist—the fraction is that small. As you look up and think about that, remind yourself that the God who created all of that is the God who has you and keeps you.
