"And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place ... and it was so. ... and the gathering together of the waters He called seas." (Genesis 1:9-10) "He gathered the waters of the sea together as a heap; He laid up the depths in storehouses." (Psalm 33:7) "Who shut up the sea with doors when it broke forth. ... When I established my decree upon it, and set bars and doors, And said, Hitherto shall you come, but no further, and here shall your proud waves be stayed?" (Job 38:8,10-11) "He gave to the sea His decree that the waters should not pass His commandment." (Proverbs 8:29) "[He has] placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree that it cannot pass it, and though the waters thereof toss themselves, yet they cannot prevail; though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it." (Jeremiah 5:22) "And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that has life. ... And God created great whales, and every living creature that moves, which the waters brought forth abundantly. ... And God blessed them and said, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas." (Genesis 1:20-22) "O Lord, how manifold are your works! in wisdom You have made them all, the earth is full of your riches. So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great great beasts. There go the ships: there is that leviathan whom You have made to play therein. These wait all upon You, that You may give them their meat in due season. That which You give them they gather, You open your hand, they are filled with good." (Psalm 104:24-28) "They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in the great waters; These see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. For He commands and raises up the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves thereof. They mount up to heaven, they go down again to the depths. ... He makes the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still." (Psalm 107:23-25,29) "The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea." (Psalm 93:4) "You rule the raging of the sea; when the waves thereof arise, You still them." (Psalm 89:9)
As the holiday season is here again, many of you are looking joyfully forward to your yearly visit to the seaside. Here you will see "the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep." (Psalm 107:24)
No doubt the beach will be the most attractive place to you, where you will spend most of your time, digging in the sand and hunting for pretty shells and jelly fish and other such treasures with which to fill your little pails.
Perhaps you will notice what it is that makes the beach, that part of the shore that is washed by the sea. It is the tide, which you may see all day either "coming in," or "going out." The beach is the strip of land between high water and low water marks, so that when the tide is at its height the beach is quite covered with water.
In some places where the shore slopes very gently, there is a very wide beach, and at high tide boats can sail where a short time before you have been able to walk. But where the coast is very steep and formed by high cliffs, there is no beach, but the tide only causes the water to rise and fall.
The tide comes in regularly every twelve hours. It is six hours coming in and six hours going out, but if you stay some little time at the seaside you will notice that it does not come in at exactly the same time every day. Yet we can always find out beforehand when it will be "high tide" and "low tide."
This is because there is a close connection between the tide and the movements of the sun, moon, and earth. At the times of the new and full moon the tide rises higher than usual; this is called the "spring tide." The lowest tide, called the "neap tide," is at the second and fourth quarters of the moon.
This earth, which seems to us so large, is but a tiny portion of God's great universe. And God himself fills all the things that He has made.
"Through all created things thrills one pulse of life from the great heart of God."--Ellen G. White, Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, p. 96.
There is one life in all things, the life of God, and this is why all move together in perfect harmony. He who "appointed the moon for seasons," (Psalm 104:19) and makes the sun to know "his going down," (Psalm 104:19) has also given "to the waters His decree." (Proverbs 8:29)
It is the powerful word of God which does all His work. He says, "It shall accomplish that which I please." (Isaiah 55:11)
Jesus says that the Word is "Spirit and life." (John 6:63) By filling all things with God's life, His living Word works His will in all His works. So as you watch the constant movement of the waters, you can see the Word of God working, the "Spirit of God moving upon the face of the waters," (Genesis 1:2) and keeping them in the place appointed by God, drawing them backwards and forwards according to His will. The waters of the ocean are full of life. In the beginning God said, "Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that has life." (Genesis 1:20)
This is why we find in the "great and wide sea ... things creeping innumerable." (Psalm 104:25)
At low tide, you will find on the beach different kinds of shell fish and other tiny living creatures which, by the going out of the tide; are left out of the water. Some of these could not live if they were kept out of the water or in the water all the time. But by the coming in and going out of the tide they are kept a part of the time in the water, and a part of the time out of the water. In this we see how that in all His great works, our Creator is working for the good of the tiniest of His creatures. "The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works." (Psalm 145:9) "You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all things that are therein, the seas and all that is in them, and You preserve them all." (Nehemiah 9:6)--Present Truth, July 7, 1898--A children's companion to: The Everlasting Gospel, Chapter 3, "Power and Wisdom".