Isaiah 40:26 Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, the One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power not one of them is missing.
These innumerable stars move and follow their courses according to the command of God, their commander who also created each of them like soldiers who follow the order of their commander-in-chief. Therefore, none of the stars moves on their own random courses; they move according to the rules in their designated place and will come to a complete halt when God gives His call.
How large are stars? There are countless number of stars that are hundreds of times bigger than the sun. Red giant stars are about 10 times the size of the sun. Super giant stars are more than 100 times the size of the sun, and the star Antares in Scorpio is about 230 times larger than the sun. There is a star that catches the eye on clear winter evenings—the Betelgeuse in Orion. This star is so large that it is about 950 to 1,000 times greater than the sun in its diameter, 20 times in mass and 512 million times in volume. Truly, the planet earth, on which we live, is like a tiny speck of dust compared to the size of the great universe (Isa 40:15).
(2) The Immeasurable Distance between the Stars
To the naked eye, the stars in our galaxy are all clustered closely together. In actuality, each star is distanced approximately five light years apart. The astronomical unit light year is used to measure the distance between the stars because it would be impossible to measure them in meters or kilometers. One light year is the distance that light travels in one year at the approximate speed of 300,000 km/s (186,000 mi/s). Light can travel around the earth 7 times in 1 second. At this speed, light can travel about 9.4608 x 1012 km (5.9 trillion mi) in a single light year. Since the sun is 1.5 billion km from the earth, it would take a plane traveling at about 900 km/h (560 mi/h) 19 years to reach the sun while light would take about 8 minutes. Furthermore, the distance covered by one light year is 65,000 times the distance from the earth to the sun. It is a distance that would take an automobile, traveling at the speed of 100 km/h (62 mi/h), about 10 million years to cover. One light year is like an infinite distance to us for it is too great to conceptualize. Now, it is mind-boggling to think about the vastness of the entire universe given the fact that the average distance between stars in the sky, which seem to be gathered up so close to each other, is about 5 light years.
The closest star to the earth, Alpha Centauri in the Centaurus constellation, is located 4.3 light years away. Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, is 8.7 light years away, and Polaris, the North Star located very close to the north celestial pole, is 400 light years away from the earth. There are planets around the Scorpius constellation that are about 5,600 light years away from the earth.
The discussion on the vastness of the universe goes further. We can think of it in a scale, beginning with stars. Stars make up a galaxy; galaxies make up a cluster of galaxies; clusters of galaxies make up a supercluster of galaxies; and lastly, superclusters of galaxies make up the structures of the vast universe. The universe is not just a group of galaxies scattered around without any order; its arrangement is that of a net-like structure. The average distance between galaxies is approximately two million light years. Just imagine how vast the universe is! Thus, the “expanse” that God created on the second day (Gen 1:6–8) is infinitely vast and surpasses the limits of human understanding. Compared to this vast universe, a human being is a mere drop in the ocean.
When we cannot even fully understand this earth in which we live, how can we, as Job confessed, comprehend the infinite power and greatness of our God, who created the universe and governs all things in it? Henceforth, it is merely impossible for man to fathom all the works of God (Job 9:8–10; 11:7–9; 37:23; Eccl 3:11).
Job 5:9 Who does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number.
We cannot help but grieve deeply at the ignorance of mankind and praise the infinite wisdom of our God every time we look upon the sky and consider the greatness of His creation. God once scolded Job, “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” (Job 38:2). Job 26:14 also states, “Behold, these are the fringes of His ways; and how faint a word we hear of Him! But his mighty thunder, who can understand?” Mankind is so lowly that we cannot handle a faint word we hear of God even with all the knowledge of the world. What would happen then, if they hear a voice like great thunder? The psalmist exclaimed, “O LORD, how many are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your possessions” (Ps 104:24).
The work of God cannot be understood by the shallow wisdom of man, and it is naturally impossible for man to judge His works (Eccl 8:17; 1 Cor 1:21). All we can do is give thanks and praise God for His providence that rules over the vast universe and keeps it in order day by day (Ps 136).
3. God Who Upholds All
(1) God who governs the galaxy
Man on the earth is traveling through the universe along with the earth at a great speed of the earth’s rotation of about 0.46 km/s (0.29 mi/s, twice the speed of a passenger airplane), plus the speed of its revolution around the sun at about 30 km/s (18.6 mi/s, 3 times the speed of the fastest missile), plus the speed of the movement of our solar system around the galaxy at about 220 km/s (136.7 mi/s).
It is also known that the rotation of our galaxy around its center takes approximately 200 million years (1 cosmic year). The central hub of our rotating galaxy is an enormous black hole, an area of space with a gravitational field so intense that interstellar matters collapse together and are endlessly condensed. The black hole in our galaxy is approximately four million times larger than the sun and rotates at a speed close to the speed of light, causing space to rotate with it.
All of these phenomena are examples of how God “upholds all things by the Word of His power and preserves His creation” (Heb 1:3). “Preserving” is God’s continuing work of maintaining all that He has created. Hence, the word uphold
(2) The grand symphony of the stars in the universe
The report on the Cassini-Huygens Mission put out by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) reveals the existence of sound waves collected from the planet Saturn and its vicinity. Sound waves are produced when an object rotates at a fast rate. Unimaginably deafening sounds must resound between the infinite number of stars that rotate and move about at the tip of God’s fingers. The sound, however, is not a thundering noise but a harmonious song in God’s ears (Job 38:7). Thus, the universe is a symphony of billions of sounds and instruments of the Great Sovereign.
Because man can only hear sounds within a limited range, we cannot hear the great symphony of the universe now. However, we will be able to praise the Lord accompanied by this cosmic symphony in the heavenly world (Rev 4:10–11; 5:11–14; 14:3).
The psalmist describes this symphony of the universe in Psalm 19:2, “Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.” The verb pours forth in this verse is