When heaven and nature sing: The wonders of God’s love
OPINION:
At Christmastime, we’re surrounded by sights and sounds that remind us not only that God loves us but also all of his creation.
It was Psalm 98 that sent the English poet Isaac Watts to his desk in 1719 to pen one of the most beloved hymns of all time, “Joy to the World.”
The psalm begins with a celebration about singing to the Lord a “new song.”
Midway through, it says:
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth;
Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.
… Let the sea roar, and all its fullness,
The world and those who dwell in it.
Nature and humanity were instantly sanctified when God embodied himself as a baby born in Bethlehem to a Jewish virgin.
This was no esoteric outpouring of a personality-free “force.” It was a melding of heaven and earth, with heaven providing the light and love that make life worth living.
In “Joy to the World,” every living thing celebrates the birth of Christ, even “fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains” that “repeat the sounding joy.”
The opening verse exuberantly proclaims:
Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heav’n and nature sing,
And heav’n and nature sing,
And heav’n, and heav’n, and nature sing.
About 3,500 years ago, under divine direction, Moses wrote the Book of Genesis, explaining that nature and the universe were the creation of a God who wanted not only to become known to people but also to be worshipped.
To ancient humans, nature was often viewed as a strange mix of mystical forces that were sometimes useful and often dangerous. Because it is our bent to worship something, nature became an extension of various gods who, according to myth, capriciously interfaced with people.
Time and again, although blessed with direct revelation, including the Ten Commandments, God’s chosen people — the nation of Israel — succumbed to the pagan customs of the surrounding peoples, some of whom they had conquered.
When God had enough of their idol worship and child sacrifice, he smote them badly, only to forgive and restore them when they repented. It happened over and over, and it’s how God deals with us, letting our sins take us to self-imposed bad outcomes before we ask forgiveness and are restored.
But why does God require worship when God doesn’t need anything from us to run the universe?
Because the Lord is holy and gave us life, we do it out of love and gratitude. God also knows that if we don’t worship him, we will fall into worshipping idols of our own making: carved wooden figures, bank balances, iPhones, sports teams and movie stars.
We’re also tempted either to treat nature badly by draining it of any meaning beyond the material or to worship it instead of its maker.
Moderns like to make fun of the ancients, who saw mystical forces in the stars and clouds and heard voices in the roar of the seas. Having achieved so much through science and industry, we sometimes forget how little we know about reality and worlds yet to be glimpsed.
We forgo the poetry of creation at our own expense.
Infinite variety astounds us in both directions, from a million moving parts in each human cell to a cosmos full of galaxies millions of light-years away. A healthy, joyful appreciation of its mysteries as a springboard to spiritual insight into God’s love is what C.S. Lewis called “the deeper magic,” not to be confused with witchcraft or parlor tricks.
Behind it all is a God who obviously has a sense of humor since he created us. But God also exudes justice. He does not take sin lightly, having shown us better ways to live.
But God also has such a deep love for us that he sent part of himself — his only begotten Son Jesus — to live a brief, miraculous life 2,000 years ago before dying for the sins of the world.
After Isaac Watts wrote “Joy to the World,” music publisher Lowell Mason in Boston put it to music 117 years later, and it became one of the most beloved Christmas carols of all time.
The final verse is sublime:
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.
If you listen with an open heart, whether on a snowy city street or on a tropical path, you can feel the deeper magic.
And you might hear heaven and nature sing.
• Robert Knight is a columnist for The Washington Times. His website is roberthknight.com.
