Today’s reflection comes from Barry Land – thank you, Barry.
Praise the God of Creation
Over Easter I watched a couple of television programmes called ‘Heavenly Gardens’ with Alexander Armstrong visiting gardens that caused him to contemplate broadly the Easter message. One of the gardens was in a Benedictine monastery and he quoted from the Rule of St Benedict (I think) “Nature is the second scripture that draws us to God”.
I’ve also recently read a booklet about the God of creation and Psalm 113 which is also associated with Easter because it is one of the psalms traditionally read or sung as part of the Passover.
Psalm 113 1-3 Hallelujah! You who serve God, praise God! Just to speak his name is praise! Just to remember God is a blessing—now and tomorrow and always. From east to west, from dawn to dusk, keep lifting all your praises to God!
4-6 God is higher than anything and anyone, outshining everything you can see in the skies. Who can compare with God, our God, so majestically enthroned,
surveying his magnificent heavens and earth? (The Message)
Praise is different from thanksgiving. We have a lot for which to give God our thanks. But even if we hadn’t we are still encouraged to praise God. We praise the Lord because the Lord is the Lord over all creation. The whole earth is the Lord’s, from east to west. God alone sits over it all.
We sometimes think that praising the God of creation is a luxury for those enjoying a beautiful garden or a stunning sunset or a walk in the bluebell woods, whereas we think those of us who are hard-pressed and up against the difficulties of the lockdown or fearful of the virus need to focus elsewhere – perhaps on God as the liberator of the oppressed or comforter of the needy.
But much creation-themed praise flourished in the Old Testament in the midst of difficulties – in Job and in Isaiah during the exile. God’s glory in creation is not a nice luxury – it is precisely God the creator who is powerful to deliver us in and from whatever troubles we experience.
So let’s keep our eyes focussed above, on the one majestically enthroned over it all, and bring him our praise. Perhaps you know a praise song you can sing (to yourself!) or can look one up on You Tube or similar. Or use your own words. The Lord deserves our praise because he is the Lord.
And he deserves our thanksgiving because he has done so much for us!
Take care and God bless.