Earth Song

"Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord all the earth…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. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy; they will sing before the Lord, for He comes, He comes to judge the earth." (Ps. 96:1, 11-13)

"Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out and blood toucheth blood. Therefore shall the land mourn…" (Hosea 4:1-3)

"How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein?" (Jeremiah 12:4)

"For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up , and their course is evil, and their force is not right." (Jeremiah 23:10)

We may not understand completely the link between man and the earth, and between God and His creation, including man and the earth; but we cannot deny from biblical passages such as these that there is a link.

It has always been true that one man's actions do not touch him alone; there is always someone else touched by those actions at some point…whether for good if the actions are good, or for bad if the actions are evil. But now we must carry it even further. Now, we see that man's actions touch even the earth and all that is in it.

By the actions of one human being (Adam) the earth began mourning. By the actions of another (Jesus: the second Adam) the earth looks forward to its day of rejoicing. Praise the Lord!

I believe God doesn't waste His actions. He created man out of the dust of the earth for a reason. He linked them together forever by that action. What impacts man impacts the earth; just as what impacts the earth, impacts man. This is an important thing for us to understand…so that we can better guard our own actions, knowing what impact they have not only on ourselves and others around us, but also the earth.

And all of this touches this awesome God that we serve, the One who transcends (is far above) His creation ("Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool." Isaiah 66:1) and yet who unendingly cherishes and guards His creation; the One who has great plans ahead for His creation. It touches the Lord who has already redeemed and will soon restore man and the earth and all that is in it to their proper positions. But first He must purge it of all evil that chooses to continue to rebel against His goodness; evil which continues to cause the earth to mourn.

Psalm 104:32 tells us that "the earth trembles" under the scrutiny of the Lord; but the earth will also ultimately rejoice, just as we Christians, after the judgment, will also rejoice….we in our new immortal bodies, the earth clothed in its own new garments of immortality as well.

How glorious will that song of Psalm 96 be then…when the heavens and the earth and all that is in it will sing for joy before the Lord at the great works which He has done!