February 21st - Psalm 98:7-9

Psalm 98:7-9 Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise! Let the earth and all living things join in. Let the rivers clap their hands in glee! Let the hills sing out their songs of joy before the LORD, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with justice, and the nations with fairness. When we think about praising God, we naturally think of people joining together in chapels, churches and cathedrals around the world every Sunday. It’s inspiring to think of millions of people every week sharing in acts of worship. However, the psalmist doesn’t want us to think that this is the sum total of worship, because he sees the whole of creation involved in praising God. Nothing is left out! Even the sea joins in praising God. The rivers clap their hands in glee! It is beautiful poetic language because he is straining to remind us that absolutely everything is bound to be part of the chorus of praise because God is so great. He wants to blast open every attempt that we make to limit the scale and importance of worship. In our praise, we often think about his greatness as creator and saviour. Here, the psalmist instead declares that this great outburst of praise to God happens because he is coming to be the world’s judge, and we can be certain that he will do his judging work with justice and fairness. There is a very deep craving in all of us for justice. It is always painful to see unfairness in the world. You don’t have to spend long reflecting on the life chances of children brought up in poverty, those who have been forced to flee their homeland or those who have been born in a war zone, to realise that we live in a world where justice and fairness are a distant dream for many people. When we join with creation in praising God we are worshipping a God who loves justice, so it is with excitement that we sing our hymns and songs. We acknowledge that he alone is the one who can set our world free. As we worship him, we are being actively recruited by the living God to work for the justice and fairness that he loves so much. Question In what ways is God calling you to work for justice in your community? Prayer Lord God, I am happy that I join with all creation in singing your praises. I thank you that you are a God of justice and ask you to show me how I can live justly today. Amen