Over and above, around and about the natural order that we experience there is an otherworldly God who not only has created the known order, but also reveals Himself and gives meaning to life. This two story universe of Plato and the Philosophers differs only slightly from the two story universe revealed in the Scriptures. Man created in His image Philosophy seeks to determine the nature of truth by observing the realities of the natural order and coming to grips with a Supreme Being on the basis of what reason can entertain. By contrast, the Theology of the Scriptures insists that we can know nothing except that which God reveals to us. We may illustrate these two views by looking at the arrows drawn on our diagrams above.
Philosophy works from downstairs up and Theology works from upstairs down.
But, we must appreciate from the Christian position the absolute futility of the worldly philosophers. This futility is somehow sensed in the psalm set before us today which I have divided into two parts. The first nine verses which I feel demonstrates the earnest reflections of those downstairs while the second portion which we shall consider next week, demonstrates the wonder and beauty of the upstairs Gospel revelation recorded for our benefit. Let us briefly consider the situation downstairs where we have our mortal existence. In this first half of this psalm our psalmist is musing from the earthly side.