Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless His name; proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day. Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples. 

It would be my ambition this morning to proclaim the excellencies of my God, with my words serving as the lyrics to a new and fresh song of praise.

                   Worship the Lord in holy attire; tremble before Him, all the earth. 

This past week my holy attire consisted of layers of clothing designed to keep me warm and dry while motoring about a remote Canadian lake hunting the prized fish (and table fare) of those waters, the Walleye.  This, for me, was worship of a high order.

Splendor and majesty are before Him, strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory of His name; bring an offering and come into His courts.

I claim that all my activities, both work and play, are worship since there is no place that He is not. Everywhere my feet trod are His courts. Life lived unto Him is worship. But at the same time worship reaches a special place for me when His splendor and majesty are on display in the unspoiled wilds of remote forests and streams and His strength and beauty are being revealed in the mountains and the lakes.

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all it contains; Let the field exult, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the Lord…..

As I would attempt to grasp the pristine nature of all that was touching my five senses another faculty in me was stirred; it was that part of me (I believe) that knows from whence it came. I believe man was created in the image of God and that in the wilderness (in a unique way) deep calls unto deep awakening this part of me that I call spirit. In wonder and awe it joins the song that was being sung in the unsullied majesty of the Canadian outback.

Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns; Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.

The earth might not be moved but in Ontario it has been shoved around considerably. The massive lake that we were bobbing around on was only one of thousands like it that were created by glaciers from an ancient and icy era.  On our ride in and out on the Otter float plane we beheld this spectacle as far as the eye could see in every direction. It all spoke to me of my God who is the Ancient of Days. It all appeared as holy ground.

There is an odd feature to Psalm 96 (at least it seemed so in the early part of my meditation). It’s composer has woven the theme of judgement into his song.

 …. for He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness…. He will judge the peoples with equity.

But I think I understand why judgement is also on this singer’s mind; its our heart’s disorientation to God also know as idolatry.

                                                For all the gods of the peoples are idols

Yes, this ancient expanse of wilderness seemed to sing its song with some advantage over me. Being innocent of the idolatry I and my race have trafficked in, having not in itself conspired in rebellion against God it sang beautifully. And even though nature is not culpable in man’s rebellion it is paying a price.

For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for ouradoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. Romans 8:19-25

The lake itself with its depths hidden from our view, teaming with aquatic life, hinted of the existing and ever-expanding kingdom of God that is abundantly rich in Life. I can’t always see it as clear as I would like to but the spirit in me celebrates and eagerly awaits it nevertheless. The wilderness, freer from corruption than I, reminds me of what I was originally in un-fallen Adam and what I am (and will one day ultimately be) in Christ.

              For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. 

Oh Lord, to have an unsullied heart. Oh to be finally unimpaired by selfish motives! Thank you that the steady and powerful glacial action of Your Spirit has made (and is making) us into reservoirs of living waters.  Establish in us perseverance that we might experience and eagerly await this glorious and inevitable outcome. Amen.