Cosmic Praise

I recently bought Sara a new Steve Green CD, "The Mission," which is one of my favorite albums of his. It was an album that Evan and I owned when we were in high school, and there is a song on there that I have loved for years.

It's called "Symphony of Praise." When I told Sara as we were listening, "This is my favorite song on the CD," her response was, "No kidding." I tend to be fairly predictable in my delight of what I call "cosmic praise" songs and psalms.

From "Symphony of Praise:"

The composer and conductor of the universe
Steps before the orchestra of God
Creation lifts their finely crafted instruments
As all in heaven wildly applaudThe seasons well rehearsed begin with His downbeat
And on his cue the sun trumpets the dawn
The whirling winds swell in a mighty crescendo
With each commanding sweep of His baton
The oceans pound the shore in march to His cadence
The galaxies all revolve in cosmic rhyme
The fall of raindrops all in wild syncopation
As lightning strikes and thunder claps in time.
Chorus: The symphony of praise
Conducted by the Ancient of Days
May each creation great or small
Lift their voices one and all
In the symphony of praise
Heaven waits in hushed anticipation
The great I AM then turns to mortal men
A massive chorus robed in spotless garments
Offer up their song of praise to Him
The glories of God explode in full orchestration
As all creation joins the thunderous refrain
"Worthy, Worthy, WORTHY IS THE LAMB THAT WAS SLAIN."

For similar reasons, my favorite Psalm is 148:

Alleluia! Praise Yahweh from the heavens, praise him in the heights.
Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his host!
Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all shining stars,
praise him, highest heavens, praise him, waters above the heavens.
Let them praise the name of Yahweh at whose command they were made;
he established them for ever and ever by an unchanging decree.
Praise Yahweh from the earth, sea monsters and all the depths,
fire and hail, snow and mist, storm winds that obey his word,
mountains and every hill, orchards and every cedar,
wild animals and all cattle, reptiles and winged birds,
kings of the earth and all nations, princes and all judges on earth,
young men and girls, old people and children together.
Let them praise the name of Yahweh, for his name alone is sublime, his splendour transcends earth and heaven.
For he heightens the strength of his people, to the praise of all his faithful, the children of Israel, the people close to him.

I like Madeleine L'Engle's book "A Swiftly Tilting Planet," the third in the Time Quartet, for the same reason. The poem that runs through the whole book recognizes that creation has a part to play in the cosmic battle:

In this fateful hour
All Heaven with its power
The sun with its brightness
The snow with its whiteness
The fire with all the strength it hath
The lightning with its rapid wrath
The winds with their swiftness
The sea with its deepness
The rocks with their steepness
The earth with its starkness
All these I place
By God's almighty help and grace
Between myself and the powers of darkness.

If this inspires you the same way it does me, let me also suggest Job 38-41, where God demonstrates His mastery over all of nature, from the frost to the ostrich to the Chaos Monster Leviathan itself.

Let all creation praise Him!

--DJ