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Context No. 1695 of 4322 · Sirach

Context · Reflection

Sirach 43:1-16: in context

1The pride of the heavenly heights is the clear sky, the appearance of heaven, in the spectacle of its glory. 2The sun, when it appears, bringing tidings as it rises, is a marvelous instrument, the work of the Most High. 3At noon, it dries up the land. Who can stand against its burning heat? 4A man tending a furnace is in burning heat, but the sun three times more, burning up the mountains, breathing out fiery vapors, and sending out bright beams, it blinds the eyes. 5Great is the Lord who made it. At his word, he hastens on its course. 6The moon marks the changing seasons, declares times, and is a sign for the world. 7From the moon is the sign of feast days, a light that wanes when it completes its course. 8The month is called after its name, increasing wonderfully in its changing— an instrument of the army on high, shining in the structure of heaven, 9the beauty of heaven, the glory of the stars, an ornament giving light in the highest places of the Lord. 10At the word of the Holy One, they will stand in due order. They won’t faint in their watches. 11Look at the rainbow, and praise him who made it. It is exceedingly beautiful in its brightness. 12It encircles the sky with its glorious circle. The hands of the Most High have stretched it out. 13By his commandment, he makes the snow fall and swiftly sends the lightnings of his judgment. 14Therefore the storehouses are opened, and clouds fly out like birds. 15By his mighty power, he makes the clouds strong and the hailstones are broken in pieces. 16At his appearing, the mountains will be shaken. At his will, the south wind will blow.

Sirach lifts his eyes to the sky and turns what he sees into praise. The clear heaven in its glory, the sun that rises like a marvel and scorches the earth at noon, the moon that marks the seasons and the feast days, the shining stars in their ordered ranks. Look at the rainbow, he says, and praise the One who made it; see the snow, the clouds flying out like birds, the lightning and hail and wind. All of it, he declares, is the work of God: great is the Lord who made it.

What Sirach does with the sky is worth imitating. He looks at the sun and moon and stars, the rainbow and the storm, and he does not stop at admiring them; he lets them lift him to praise of the God who made them. Look at the rainbow, he says, and praise him who made it. The beauty and order of the created world are, for Sirach, not an end in themselves but a signpost, pointing beyond themselves to their Maker; and the right response to their glory is not merely to enjoy it but to worship the One whose work it is. There is a habit of the soul here that we can lose. We may look at a sunset, a night sky, a storm, the turning seasons, and feel a flicker of wonder, and stop there, at the creation, without letting it carry us to the Creator. Sirach's instinct runs further: every marvel in the sky is the handiwork of God, and each one is an invitation to praise him. The sun's rising, the moon's phases marking the feasts, the rainbow's arc, the falling snow, are not just impressive natural facts; they are the work of a Maker, and they call us to say, great is the Lord who made it. To cultivate this habit, of letting the beauty and order of creation lift us to worship rather than resting in the thing itself, is to see the world as it truly is: shot through with the glory of its Maker, and everywhere inviting our praise. Look at the rainbow, and praise him who made it.

When I see the beauty and order of the world, a sunset, a night sky, a storm, the turning seasons, do I stop at the creation itself, or do I let it lift me, as Sirach did, to praise the God whose handiwork it is, seeing in each marvel an invitation to say, great is the Lord who made it?

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