Joining Creatures in Worship
Psalm 148
“Praise the Lord from the earth,
you sea monsters and all deeps,
fire and hail, snow and frost,
stormy wind fulfilling [the Lord’s] command!”
– Psalm 148:7 – 8, NRSVUE
Caring for creation is a fundamental responsibility for Christians. But what if creation care is only the beginning for us, not the end? What if human beings are called into a relationship with creation that has an even greater goal than “do no harm” or sustainability?
In Psalm 148, the psalmist issues an invocation to praise. This summons goes out not just to people, but to all of creation. Animals. Plants. Supernatural beings. Ocean waters. Land masses. Precipitation. Every atom, space, and entity of creation is beckoned to praise the Lord. Instead of presuming that humans alone are capable of praising God, the psalmist becomes an organizer for a creation-wide hymnsing to their divine maker.
The psalm illuminates a way of relating to creation that doesn’t center on either human “doing for” creation or human dependence upon creation. This relationship looks like collaboration among creaturely partners. In this collaboration, creation care takes on new meaning. It becomes a matter of preparation for worship.
What would it be like to have creation as our worship partner on our way to Christmas? How might such a partnership reshape both our worship and creation care?
Get the “Advent with the Earth” Devotional PDF
Credits
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version updated edition of the Bible
Image of snow-covered tree is by Ian Schneider on the Unsplash website
