“Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy. Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.”
Psalms 96:11-13 NIV
All created inanimate objects are called upon to join in the worship of the Creator. He is Lord over the heavens, the earth, the sea and all that is in it, the field, the crops, and the forest. It is beautiful figurative language of all creation bowing and worshipping God. The roar of the ocean waves along a beach is praise to God. The wind rustling through the leaves of a forest is a song of praise to God. I like the idea of the earth and the sea and the field and the woods all being aware and happy that the Lord is coming. The idea of being happy about being judged isn't something that we usually encounter in our everyday lives. Often, judgement is something that we are afraid of, or that we attempt in a broken way so that we offend people and leave a mess behind. But the abundant joy in these verses isn't for our broken kind of judgement or even mostly for a scary judgement that we would like to run from. I believe this is something that we all want at our cores. For the world to be just and whole. For the corruption to be gone. To be able to love and trust without fear of being used or swindled. We want to be able to support leaders who are good. We want to know that our children can play without fearing them being harmed or kidnapped. I even think that for the most part we want the bad part of ourselves to be gone, even if we aren't sure how to go about it, or it seems impossible or too painful right now. And I think that is why the earth and the sea and all the rest are rejoicing. Because God's judgement offers us freedom from all the bad things. God will judge us with truth. Today, let's remember the joy of God's judgement and let's start getting ready for our place in that better world by cleaning up our lives, and getting rid of the things that we don't want anyone to see in our hearts and our minds. It will be a time when He will correct the injustices of the world. He will set right that which is now full of disharmony and disarray, suffering and anguish and violence. Our God reigns. Oh how we need Him to come, soon!!!
Father thank You for this day and thank you for your majestic power that is controlled by your great love and mercy shown toward me in Jesus Christ. Lord give my friend and family Your abundant blessings today. Lord give us a heart controlled by Your Spirit so we can become more like You today. Lord use us to comfort and encourage those who are hurting and struggling. Lord thank You for the many brothers and sisters you have given us and the encouragement and the help they give us every day. Lord use my friend to be the touch of Your love to all that need it today. Daddy we love you amen. Be a blessing. Love you !
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