MARCH 19, 2012
The Wonder Of Wilderness
Read: Psalm 98
Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises. —Psalm 98:4
The psalmists had an advantage in praise because of their
closer tie to the natural world. David began life outdoors as a
shepherd, then spent years hiding in the rocky terrain of Israel.
Not surprisingly, a great love, even reverence, for the natural
world shines through many of his poems. The psalms present a
world that fits together as a whole, with everything upheld by
a personal God watching over it.
Wilderness announces to our senses the splendor of an
invisible, untamable God. How can we not offer praise to
the One who dreamed up porcupines and elk, who s
plashed bright-green aspen trees across hillsides of gray rock,
who transforms the same landscape into a work of
art with every blizzard?
The world, in the psalmist’s imagination, cannot contain the
delight God inspires. “Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth;
break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises” (Ps. 98:4). Nature
itself joins in: “Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills
be joyful together before theLord” (v.8).
The psalms wonderfully solve the problem of a praise-deficient
culture by providing the necessary words. We merely need to
enter into those words, letting God use the psalms to realign
our inner attitudes.
All creatures of our God and King,
Lift up your voice and with us sing, Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou burning sun with golden beam, Thou silver moon
with softer gleam! O praise Him! —St. Francis of Assisi
In praise, the creature happily acknowledges that everything
good comes from the Creator.
Source: Our Daily Bread 2012
