Let All Creation Give Thanks

 

 

Scripture

Psalm 104

Bless the Lord, O my soul!

O Lord my God, You are very great:
You are clothed with honor and majesty,
² Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment,
Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain.

³ He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters,
Who makes the clouds His chariot,
Who walks on the wings of the wind,
⁴ Who makes His angels spirits,
His ministers a flame of fire.

⁵ You who laid the foundations of the earth,
So that it should not be moved forever,
⁶ You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
The waters stood above the mountains.
⁷ At Your rebuke they fled;
At the voice of Your thunder they hastened away.
⁸ They went up over the mountains;
They went down into the valleys,
To the place which You founded for them.
⁹ You have set a boundary that they may not pass over,
That they may not return to cover the earth.

¹⁰ He sends the springs into the valleys;
They flow among the hills.
¹¹ They give drink to every beast of the field;
The wild donkeys quench their thirst.
¹² By them the birds of the heavens have their home;
They sing among the branches.
¹³ He waters the hills from His upper chambers;
The earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your works.

¹⁴ He causes the grass to grow for the cattle,
And vegetation for the service of man,
That he may bring forth food from the earth,
¹⁵ And wine that makes glad the heart of man,
Oil to make his face shine,
And bread which strengthens man’s heart.
¹⁶ The trees of the Lord are full of sap,
The cedars of Lebanon which He planted,
¹⁷ Where the birds make their nests;
The stork has her home in the fir trees.
¹⁸ The high hills are for the wild goats;
The cliffs are a refuge for the rock badgers.

¹⁹ He appointed the moon for seasons;
The sun knows its going down.
²⁰ You make darkness, and it is night,
In which all the beasts of the forest creep about.
²¹ The young lions roar after their prey,
And seek their food from God.
²² When the sun rises, they gather together
And lie down in their dens.
²³ Man goes out to his work
And to his labor until the evening.

²⁴ O Lord, how manifold are Your works!
In wisdom You have made them all.
The earth is full of Your possessions—
²⁵ This great and wide sea,
In which are innumerable teeming things,
Living things both small and great.
²⁶ There the ships sail about;
There is that Leviathan
Which You have made to play there.

²⁷ These all wait for You,
That You may give them their food in due season.
²⁸ What You give them they gather in;
You open Your hand, they are filled with good.
²⁹ You hide Your face, they are troubled;
You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
³⁰ You send forth Your Spirit, they are created;
And You renew the face of the earth.

³¹ May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
May the Lord rejoice in His works.
³² He looks on the earth, and it trembles;
He touches the hills, and they smoke.

³³ I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
³⁴ May my meditation be sweet to Him;
I will be glad in the Lord.
³⁵ May sinners be consumed from the earth,
And the wicked be no more.

Bless the Lord, O my soul!
Praise the Lord!

Devotion

 Perhaps you are the type of person who seeks to connect with God by connection to the Creation.  If so, Psalm 104 is the scripture for you.  The psalmist describes how God's greatness is displayed throughout the natural world.  It is God who stretched the sky above us like a great curtain and who built the earth beneath our feet.  It is God who created the sun and the moon and set them on their daily courses across the sky  It is God who walks on the wings of the wind.  Most importantly, it is God who constantly cares for all living things.

The psalmist refers to an extensive list of animals that rely upon God to take care of them.  Nesting birds and mountain goats. Young lions and humans.  Whales (leviathan) and tiny sea creatures.  Animals that are awake during the day and those that slumber only come out at night.  All of these creatures experience God's constant care and protection.  All of them rely entirely upon God for their lives.  And as members of Creation, we are intrinsically bound to all of them.  As the psalmist writes:

²⁷ These all wait for You,
That You may give them their food in due season.
²⁸ What You give them they gather in;
You open Your hand, they are filled with good.
²⁹ You hide Your face, they are troubled;
You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
³⁰ You send forth Your Spirit, they are created;
And You renew the face of the earth.

Caught up as we are in the drama of our daily lives, how often do we take time to reflect upon the vastness of a God who loves and constantly protects all that lives and breathes upon the earth?   I'll admit that often fail to do so.  And yet, there are moments when we get unexpected glimpses of God's glory.

I had one such moment at the park last week.  I was briskly walking down a path and had my eyes focused on the birds in a nearby tree.  Then, out of the blue, something compelled me to look down.  When I did so, I was startled to find a small snail making its slow way across the path.  Two more steps, and I would have crushed its delicate shell underfoot.  It felt like the Holy Spirit was asking me to not just avoid stepping on it but to actually move it off the busy path.

As I picked up the snail, I couldn't help but marvel at how intricately this tiny creature--so different from myself--was made. From the pattern on its shell to its delicate eye-stalks, my little gastropod friend was created by the Living God just as I was.  Even more amazing was that God loved it enough to save it from big lumbering bipeds like me.  This realization made me reflect upon how small I am in the grand scheme of things.  For a brief moment, I felt like I could truly appreciate the fact that the same God who hung the stars and built up the mountains protects and care for someone as relatively insignificant as me.  "What wondrous love is this?" I thought.

Beloved, if we truly stop and pay attention, the Holy Spirit can use even the tiniest of things to remind us God's wondrous and steadfast love.  If almost stepping on an snail can fill me with awe, just imagine how God can speak to you.  So let us each take time to hit pause once and a while and look to Creation for signs of God's loving kindness.  And when such moments come upon us without warning, let's take the time to truly appreciate them.  

The heavens are telling the glory of God.  Let us sing to the Lord as long as we live, for in him we--and all Creation--have our being. 

 

 Today's song is a Psalm 104:1-5 sung in Ancient Hebrew.

Prayer

Loving Creator, in your wisdom, you made the Earth itself and gave life to all that lives and breathes upon this wondrous planet.  May your Spirit inspire us to see signs of your constant care and protection throughout your good Creation.  Renew the face of the Earth and teach us to honor it.  May we never forget that, apart from you, we are nothing...but that, through you, we are connected with every creature that walks, swims, flies, crawls, or glides its way though the world.  Amen.