you sea monsters

Friday (April 22, 2016): Psalm 148; Daniel 7:13-14; Revelation 11:15

Psalm 148:7  Praise the Lord from the earth,   you sea monsters and all deeps,

It strikes me that today's daily lectionary reading has a very interesting selection, being Earth Day. But the emphasis is not so much on praising the earth.  It is about all the earth praising it's creator God.
I admit, I am not a person that gets excited about Earth Day.  That being said, I could get a lot more excited if the emphasis was on God the creator of the earth.  That is why we should care for it.  That is why we should have awe and reverence for it.  Not because it is the earth, but because it is a creation of God.
What appeals to me about the verse I selected is that is calls on the sea monsters and all the deep.  To me that is not the pretty little flowers and trees in the garden, but the mighty, scary, and mysterious parts of creation as well.  Usually we attribute those parts to evil.   We talk about them when we have discussion about evil in the world and we lament our hopelessness to control our environment, be it a hurricane or global warming. But here even they are exhorted to praise God.  Even they are part of his creation.  We are often quite hypocritical, not only in how we deal with different cultures but how we even see our own earthly home.  We are quick to identify what we don't like as a problem that needs to be eliminated or even exploited.
Yes, I want to see the sea monsters praise God.  I want to know that God not only created everything but He is still in charge of it.  It kind of reminds me when Peter would not eat what the Lord commanded him to because he called it unclean.  God says do not call what I have given you unclean.

Heavenly Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to see the beauty and value of people and the earth and all creation, not only because of what they are, but because you created them for your glory.  Amen.