Sirach 42:17-25: a reflection

17The Lord has not given power to the saints to declare all his marvelous works, which the Almighty Lord firmly settled, that the universe might be established in his glory. 18He searches out the deep and the heart. He has understanding of their secrets. For the Most High knows all knowledge. He sees the signs of the world. 19He declares the things that are past and the things that shall be, and reveals the traces of hidden things. 20No thought escapes him. There is not a word hidden from him. 21He has ordered the mighty works of his wisdom. He is from everlasting to everlasting. Nothing has been added to them, nor diminished from them. He had no need of any counselor. 22How desirable are all his works! One may see this even in a spark. 23All these things live and remain forever in all manner of uses. They are all obedient. 24All things are in pairs, one opposite the other. He has made nothing imperfect. 25One thing establishes the good things of another. Who could ever see enough of his glory?

This passage is a hymn to the wisdom of God seen in his works. He knows the deep and the human heart alike; no thought escapes him, no word is hidden from him. And his creation is beautifully ordered: all things come in pairs, one balancing the other, and, the sage says, he has made nothing incomplete. Everything answers to something; the whole holds together by a wisdom that overlooks nothing.

Notice the confidence in that: he has made nothing incomplete. When we look at the world, we often see gaps, flaws, things that seem to make no sense. But the sage, contemplating the vast order of creation, sees the hand of a wisdom that leaves nothing half-done, that fits things together in pairs and balances, a design deeper than we can trace. Even in a single spark, he says, you can glimpse it. The world is not a chaos; it is the work of a God who orders all things well.

And the passage ends not with a conclusion but with wonder: who could ever see enough of his glory? The right response to the wisdom and order of God is not analysis that files it away, but wonder that never gets to the bottom of it. Today, look at the world, even at a spark, a leaf, a pattern, and let it move you not to boredom but to wonder at the God whose wisdom made nothing incomplete. His glory is inexhaustible; you will never see enough of it.

Lord, your wisdom orders all things and leaves nothing incomplete; no thought escapes you, and even a spark reveals your glory. Move me from dull familiarity to wonder at your works, and let me never think I have seen enough of your inexhaustible glory.