Join in Praise

 Our view of the Creation puts us in the center position.  Or, to put it another way, we mostly see our place within the Creation as being in the spotlight on center stage.  In other words, our view of the Creation is all about us.  It exists for us.  Or, to be more specific, we might even say it exists for me.  After all it gives me food, it gives me air, it gives me the physical materials needed for all my important stuff, a shelf full of natural resources, and underground reservoirs full of water ready for me to access by turning on the faucet.  Maybe all of this is on the exaggerated side, but the reality is that there is enough truth within it for most of us to feel just a tad bit of discomfort.   

The last few chapters of the Psalms open up a brand new window for most of us to see the Creation.  Once we see the view provided by those chapters, we cannot look at the world around us the same anymore.  Oh, we may go back to our old view, but once we see and understand what those chapters are telling us, the word has already been spoken and cannot be unspoken.  We can no longer live as if we do not know.    

What the Word tells us, particularly in the 148th Psalm is simple and profound.  If the last human couple on earth breathed their last and there were no more,  God would continue to receive praise from the Creation.  "Praise Him, soon and moon; praise Him, all you shining stars...Let them praise the name of the Lord for He commanded and they were created..."  (Psalm 148:5-6)  This world in which we live exists not just for us.  He exist to bless its Creator and to bring praise constantly before Him.  When we offer our own voices in praise to God, our Creator and the Creator of the universe, we are simply joining in that stream of praise which has always been and will always be.  And so, with every other living thing and with every thing that is, let us say, "Praise the Lord!"