Yesterday, I paused, wondering if God was trying to show me something. A theme was emerging from the Bible passages, and I turned again to revisit the three chapters I had previously read:
Psalm 93:3-4~
The seas have lifted up, O LORD,
the seas have lifted up their voice;
the seas have lifted up their pounding waves.
Mightier than the thunder of the great waters,
mightier than the breakers of the sea—
the LORD on high is mighty.
The seas having a voice lifted up to God really captured my imagination, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. The seas have a voice? Always before, I had just thought of it as noise. This new perspective boggled my mind!
Then, a few chapters later…
Psalm 96:11-13 ~
Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
let the sea resound, and all that is in it;
let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy;
they will sing before the LORD,
Again, I was in AWE! And again, I read…
Psalm 97:1-6 ~
The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad;
let the distant shores rejoice.
Clouds and thick darkness surround him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
Fire goes before him
and consumes his foes on every side.
His lightning lights up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
before the Lord of all the earth.
The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
and all the peoples see his glory.
And yet, still another chapter…
Psalm 98:4, 7-9 ~
Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth…
Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it.
Let the rivers clap their hands,
Let the mountains sing together for joy;
let them sing before the LORD.
Have you ever thought of creation like this? Have you ever considered that nature itself sings? I sure hadn’t! But it makes sense. Everything God created has a purpose, and every part of His creation has a purpose. The wind, trees, grass, and water are actually designed to give praise and glory to God. Now I am listening to life around me in a whole new way. It is no longer merely noise. I’m listening to music being lifted up to the Creator.
Here’s something else I discovered:
In verses like Psalm 98:4, it really means “all the earth“!
In Hebrew, the definition for “earth” is as follows…
eh’-rets: from an unused root probably meaning to be firm; the earth (at large, or partitively a land):–common, country, earth, field, ground, land, nations, way, wilderness, world.
I had always thought “earth” was directed to people. But in this instance, it is clearly referring to the whole of creation. What a fascinating discovery!
Indeed, the Lord reigns forever. Let the whole earth rejoice!
(Originally written on Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009)
