"Every Breathing Thing"

Another vivid proof of Jehovah's creative power lies in the abundance of animal life on the earth. Psalm 148 lists many of the things that praise Jehovah, and verse 10 includes "you wild animals and all you domestic animals," to show why man should be in awe of the Creator, Jehovah once spoke to Job about such animals as the lion, zebra, the wild bull, Behemoth (or hippopotamus), and Leviathan (evidently the crocodile). The point? If man stands in awe of these mighty, fearsome and untamable creatures, how should he feel about their Creator? -Job, chapters 38-41.

Psalm 148:10 also mentions "winged birds." Just think of the varieties! Jehovah told Job of the ostrich, which "laughs at the horse and its rider." Indeed, this eight-foot tall bird may be flightless, but it can run 40 miles per hour, covering up to 15 feet in a single stride! (Job 39:13, 18) On the other hand, the albatross spends most of its life in the air over the seas. A natural glider, this bird has a wingspan of some 11 feet. It may soar for hours at a stretch without flapping its wings. By way of contrast, at only two inches in length, the bee hummingbird is the smallest bird in the world. It may flap its wings up to 80 times in a second! Hummingbirds, glittering like little winged gems, can hover like helicopters and even fly backward.

Psalm 148:7 says that even the "sea monsters" praise Jehovah. Consider what is often thought to be the larges animal ever to live on this planet, the blue whale. this "monster" of the deep may reach a length of a 100 feet or more. It may weigh as much as a herd of 30 adult elephants. Its tongue alone weighs as much as one elephant. It heart is the size of a small car. This huge organ beats only 9 times per minute-in contrast with the hummingbird's heart, which may beat at some 1,200 times per minute. At least one of the blues whale's blood vessels is so large that a child could crawl inside it. Surely our hearts move us to echo the exhortation that concludes the book of Psalms: "Every breathing Thing-let it praise Jah." -Psalm 150:6.

Next time: Learning From Jehovah's Creative Power

Draw Close To Jehovah, 2002