Psalm 65 (have a recycling bin outside, cloth bag, water bottle)
As you have already heard, this weekend the children of our two congregations have been focusing on our role as caretakers of God’s creation. First and foremost, we have been reminded that it is GOD’S creation. Take a few moments to look around you. The green of growing plants, the cool breeze on your face, the movement of the trees, the voices of the birds. God’s creation is given to us as a gift—we are entrusted with its care, and we depend upon it for life. Without the clean water to drink and air to breathe, without healthy soil to enrich our food and the sun which gives us light, we would be unable to survive. When we don’t care for creation well, we endanger our fellow creatures and ourselves.
It is God’s creation, and God has placed the earth in our hands. The psalmist has shaped the beauty of this world we inhabit into poetry, creating a communal hymn of praise. It is a hymn anyone can sing—anyone who sees God’s hand in the mountains and the valleys, in the rain showers, or in the smell of freshly plowed fields. Just as the hymn we sang earlier, “How Great Thou Art”, describes God as the creator of stars, rolling thunder, woods, birds, mountains, streams and gentle breezes, the psalmist praises God for the creation he can see all around him. Whether in the words of ancient Hebrew poetry or a beloved 70 year old hymn or a simple prayer song, the natural response to all this beauty and wonder created by God is PRAISE. wonderment and gratitude to God for this gift.
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