by Tony Leman
How good is the outdoors! From access to fresh air, to diversity of plant and tree life, to soak in marvellous landscapes and observe all manner of insects and animals at work, the outdoors has a lot to offer!
In fact, as I write this article, a past Sabbath Bulletin (17th August) contained a News and Prophecy write-up titled, “Children Benefit from Time Outdoors.” This write-up highlighted the importance of spending time outside and illustrated the many benefits that it can bring in one’s life. Part of the article described how, “a 2022 study reported that ‘time outdoors can improve prosocial behaviours, including sharing, cooperating and comforting others.’ Research also suggests that spending time in God’s creation can be particularly helpful to children with adverse upbringing—those who come from poverty, violence, or abuse.”
Interestingly, God Himself encourages getting outdoors and learning more about Him through His creation. The Apostle Paul wrote the following in the book of Romans: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). The Apostle Paul on at least one Sabbath while in Philippi enjoyed spending time outside of the city and next to a river; “And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there” (Acts 16:13). No doubt, many went to the riverside on the Sabbath so that they could feel more connected with their Creator while being outside and more immersed in His creation. This positive riverside environment would have helped to facilitate free-flowing prayer and meditation.
Going back about a thousand years before the Apostle Paul, we find some admirable details about King Solomon and his connection with God’s creation. King Solomon was clearly far from perfect in his life, he was admirable in a number of ways, especially in his observation and understanding of God’s creation and his desire to share that knowledge and wisdom with others. We can read the following in the book of 1 Kings: “Thus Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men—than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were one thousand and five. Also, he spoke of trees, from the cedar tree of Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke also of animals, of birds, of creeping things, and of fish. And men of all nations, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom, came to hear the wisdom of Solomon” (1 Kings 4:30-34). Solomon knew much about the plant and tree life in addition to the insect and animal life. His profoundly rich knowledge based on God’s creation enabled him to teach others much about God’s creation and how it works. Clearly, we can conclude that King Solomon spent a lot of time outdoors and in study and observation of God’s creation.
Encouragingly for all mankind, King Solomon under inspiration of God shared some of his knowledge and wisdom of God’s creation throughout the book of Proverbs. We find many Proverbs where this is illustrated. We also see that King Solomon was able to generate profound ideas for his songs through his knowledge of God’s creation too. We see this in the Song of Solomon. What an incredible asset, Solomon was as a King in Israel to not only have a rich knowledge based on God’s creation that he could share with others, but to also provide such a variety and depth of music for his people to enjoy too! Would you like to be able to do similarly in your life?
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