Ordinary – Psalm 96:7-13

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. 

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

My attire consisted of layers of clothing designed to keep me warm and dry while motoring about a remote Canadian lake hunting Walleye, the prized catch of those waters. For me, this was worship.

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.

All my activities, both work and play, are worship since there is no place God is not; therefore his courts are everywhere my feet trod. Living intentionally with this in mind is worship. Worship reaches unique heights when his splendor and majesty are on display in the unspoiled wilds of remote forests and streams, where 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 attempted to grasp the pristine nature of all that was touching my five senses something even deeper was stirring. It was that part of me that remembers its shared origin with creation. In the wilderness deep calls unto deep, awakening the spirit in unique ways. This was the worship being prompted by 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 we were bobbing around on was only one of thousands like it created by glaciers from an ancient and icy era. From the Otter float plane serving as our ferry, we beheld this spectacle as far as the eye could see in every direction. It all spoke of the Ancient of Days. This was holy ground.

There is an odd feature to Psalm 96. 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.

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

                                                For all the gods of the peoples are idols

This ancient expanse of wilderness sang its song with an advantage over me. Being innocent of idolatry, it sang beautifully. Sadly, while nature is not culpable in man’s rebellion it still pays 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

Teaming with aquatic life, the lake’s hidden depths hinted of the existing and ever-expanding kingdom of God. I can’t always see the Kingdom as clearly as I would like but the spirit in me celebrates and eagerly awaits it nevertheless. The wilderness, freer from corruption than I, reminds me of what I was and what I am becoming in Christ.

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

Oh Father, to finally be free from selfish motives that obscure my vision! Thank you for the sudden shakings that change us as well as the powerful glacial action of your Spirit which is making us into reservoirs of living water. Establish us in perseverance that we might both experience and eagerly await this glorious consequence of belonging to you. Amen.