Psalms 92:4

On the ten-stringed psaltery with a song upon the harp. For you have delighted me, O Lord, in your making, and in the works of your hands I will exult. This cannot be said except by a learned man, one who knows that by the providence of God each single thing has been created; who is not scandalized by the work of creation, but understanding the reason of each individual thing, glorifies the Creator and says, "For you have delighted me, O Lord, in your making, and in the works of your hands I will exult." Hear, O Manichaean, hear, O Marcion, Valentinus, and the rest of you heretics, who dare to disparage the Creator, and see that in the very thing over which you will suffer scandal, the prophet is delighted and exults in the works of the Creator, knowing that if anything should seem to be flawed, it has come not from nature, but from the will.

"For Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through Thy works; and I will rejoice in giving praise for the operations of Thy hands" [Psalm 92:4]. Ye see what he saith. Thou hast made me living well, Thou hast formed me: if by chance I do aught of good, I will rejoice in the work of Thy hands: as the Apostle saith, "For we are His workmanship, created unto good works." For unless He formed thee to good works, thou wouldest not know any works but evil. ...Because thou canst not have truth from thy own self, it remains that thou drink it thence, whence it floweth: as if thou hast gone back from the light, thou art in darkness: as a stone glows not with its own heat, but either from the sun or fire, and if thou withdraw it from the heat, it cools: there it appears, that the heat was not its own; for it became heated either by the sun or by fire: thus thou also, if thou withdraw from God, wilt become cold; if thou approach God, thou wilt warm: as the Apostle saith "fervent in spirit." Also what saith he of the light? If thou approach Him, thou wilt be in light; therefore saith the Psalm, "Look upon Him, and be lightened; and your faces shall not be ashamed." Because therefore thou canst do no good, unless lightened by the light of God, and warmed by the spirit of God; when thou shalt see thyself working well, confess unto God, and say what the Apostle saith; say unto thyself, that thou be not puffed up, "For what hast thou that thou didst not receive?" ...

For you have delighted me, O Lord, in your making, and in the works of your hands I will exult. A Christian, whatever he sees, is always built up. Nothing tears down a monk except sin. Whatever you look upon is your own edifice. You see the sky, you see the sun, you see the stars, you see the moon: this builds you up. For you ought to think and say: If the sun and the moon and the sky and the stars serve God, why should I not serve? You see the earth, you see the animals and all the things that are upon the earth: bring this too to bear upon your soul, and build yourself up, and say to your soul: All things run in their own season; consider indeed spring and summer, autumn and winter — do these seasons ever change? No, according to the ordinance of God all things serve. The sky serves, and the earth serves: and I, unhappy man, do not serve. Let us come to the little animals: I leave aside now the elephants, I leave aside the lions, I leave aside the various animals, I come to the little animals. Look at the bee, look at the ant: see the body, and search out the wisdom. The wisdom is greater than the size of the body. Bees and ants consider that winter is coming: and the monk and the Christian do not consider that judgment is coming. Those creatures consider that they may be endangered by hunger, if they have not labored in the summer to have something to live on in the winter: we do not consider that without work we will be tormented in hell. Why have I said all this? Because it is now written, For you have delighted me, O Lord, in your making. Whatever I look upon delights me: for I understand the maker, and I bless God. And in the works of your hands I will exult. I see a tree, and I consider how the bark of the tree is, as it were, clothed like a tunic, how it grows green like a bud. Then I see how there is, as it were, a blossom, how the blossom falls, and the blossom itself turns into fruit. I see nature little by little, through each single day and into each single season, working for me and growing into my food. I see how God in all things labors for me, so that nothing may be lacking to me: and therefore I exult in you, O Lord.