2021 Advent Devotions
Psalm 90:1-2, 14-17 | November 29, 2021
Who Created God?
by Mike Clingenpeel
Not long ago a theological conversation broke out between my five-year-0ld grandson and me. For a change I was trying to play the role of serious, not silly, Pops, so to each object he named I affirmed that “God created that.” Finally, he posed the ultimate question: “Then who created God?” I had painted myself into a philosophical corner and mumbled something about the mystery and preexistence of the Creator.
Two, maybe three thousand years have passed since the Psalmist announced this mystery as an affirmation of faith: “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting thou art God (v. 2).”
Now, as then, this should be heard as a source of hope and strength. “Refuge in such a God is not retreat to a makeshift shelter, but habitation in an eternal dwelling place,” wrote Eugene Peterson (Praying with the Psalms: A Year of Daily Prayers and Reflections on the Words of David). John said it in fewer words: “In the beginning was the Word…” (John 1:1)
Undergirded by their confidence in the eternity of God, the Psalmist and his people poured out a series of petitions:
“Teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart” (v. 12)
“Have compassion on your servants” (v. 13)
“Satisfy us…with your steadfast love, so that we may rejoice” (v. 14)
“Make us glad” (v. 15)
“Let your work be manifest to your servants” (v. 16)
“Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us” (v. 17)
“Prosper the work of our hands” (v. 17)
You and I are finite beings in a transitory world, as the long months of pandemic have reminded us. In this season of Advent, and in every season of life, we also reaffirm that God is an eternal refuge, ever open to our prayers, whatever they may be.
Prayer: O God, early in the morning I cry to you. Help me to pray and to concentrate my thoughts on you. I cannot do this alone. In me there is darkness, but with you there is light. I am lonely, but you do not leave me. I am feeble in heart, but with you there is help. I am restless, but with you there is peace. In me there is bitterness, but with you there is patience. I do not understand your ways, but you know the way for me. Restore me to liberty, and enable me so to live now that I may answer before you and before me. Lord, whatever this day may bring, your name be praised. Amen.
(A prayer by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German theologian)