An Unexpected Source of Praise

Some look around at the Creation which surrounds them and only see rocks that have no voice, a sun and moon which simply exist as a part of the spinning universe, or dirt that is waiting on a covering of concrete to give it meaning.  The Scripture surely takes us in a different direction.  For some it is such a surprising direction that it seems like insanity to embrace it.  The 148th Psalm is one of those sections of Scripture which truly stretches the pragmatic mind beyond anything which is acceptable.  To consider the possibility that the inanimate can offer praise to God as surely as can the human tongue is simply too much.     

Yet, in that Psalm we read such words as, "Praise Him, sun and moon; praise Him, all you shining stars; Praise Him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens."   (Psalm 148:3-4)  What the Word appears to be doing is directing the inanimate to praise God.  Surely, such is not possible for what has no tongue, nor a breath to exhale in praise to the Creator.  But, the Creator of these things of Creation is actually speaking to them calling them to give praise to the One whose hands shaped them and put them in their place in the world.  

If such is true, then when we enter into acts of praise to our God, we are only entering into, or joining in a stream of praise which not only exists in the present moment, but has existed since the beginning days of Creation.  It is indeed something which challenges the mind so content with its lesser and more logical pursuits.  It makes us wonder if we have been missing something so much a part of the Creation.  Are we deaf and unseeing?  Are we so out of step that we are unable to entertain as possibility what is holy reality?  Perhaps, we are not really paying attention to the praise rising all around us.