Rejoicing in the Lord

Psalm 104:24-25, 33-34

24 Lord, you have done so many things!

    You made them all so wisely!

The earth is full of your creations!

25 And then there’s the sea, wide and deep,

    with its countless creatures—

    living things both small and large.

33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;

    I will sing praises to my God while I’m still alive.

34 Let my praise be pleasing to him;

    I’m rejoicing in the Lord!

 

Psalm 104 is a celebration of the God of creation.  The writer celebrates all the glory of this wonderful earth. The writer ends with “I am rejoicing in the Lord! “ That rejoicing, it would seem, is tied to being aware of and in awe of all that God has done in Creation.  It is also, I believe, a challenge to do what we can to keep this world as wonderful and amazing as we can.  

I don’t know about you, but I sometimes take creation and its beauty for granted.  We went out for a drive recently with our youngest daughter.  As we drove along a mountain parkway, she kept wanting to stop and take pictures.  She kept exclaiming about how beautiful it was.  She lives near the coast, so she never sees mountains on a day to day basis.  Her joy and enthusiasm made me realize that I had begun to take them, a bit, for granted.  Yes I would think they are pretty,  I would exclaim when the fall colors did their magic, but on an October day, I wasn’t rejoicing, like she was.  It caused me to pause and thank God for this wonderful creation.  

In so many ways we can become numb to things that are around us.  We take them for granted, whether that be the mountains on our skyline, or heaven forbid, the love that others share with us.  If our praise is to be pleasing to God, we must this day and every day rejoice in our life and our world.  And when it comes to creation, we should be standing with the earth and trying to do all we can to protect it for future generations.  

Care for the earth should not be a contentious political position.  It should be a stance of all people for, after all, don’t we want our great-great-great grandchildren to have something to rejoice in?

Let us Pray: 

Loving God, we confess that at times we take this wonderful creation for granted.  We also confess that we have not always been good stewards of it. Forgive us. Help us to pause each day and rejoice in all that you have created, in all that you give us. And help us to be mindful of what we do knowing that we have a legacy to pass on. AMEN.

This devotion was written by Bill Green and read by Jim Stovall.

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