Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
let the field exult, and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
before the Lord; for he is coming, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with his truth.
✙ Ps 96:11-13
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Yesterday I meditated on the phrase in the adornment of holiness (Ps. 96:9), and how that probably isn't referring to all the trappings of liturgical worship, but rather adorning oneself with holiness as with finery. And now I see further evidence of it as Psalm 96 comes to a close. Jesus told me in the Sermon on the Mount to
consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field...
✙ Matthew 6:28b-30a
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And so from this, combined with Ps. 96:11-13, I might infer that the best way to praise God is to fulfill God's intention for me at creation. The glad heavens, the rejoicing earth, the roaring sea, the exulting field, and the joyful forest—these need no expensive regalia in order to praise their Creator. Neither do our hearts and hands and voices. Any notion I have that my sincere praise is insufficient has been placed in my mind not by redemption, but by the fall.
You have created me, Lord, and your love—perfectly expressed in your Son, and fully consummated on the cross—is all the finery I need. I wear it gladly in his Name who taught me to pray: Our Father...
