The Rivers Clap Their Hands
When I read in the psalms that the rivers clap their hands and the hills sing, I hear echoes of the exuberant joy of creation in the beginning of time. Before creation was groaning, it was dancing. Before it was cursed, it was blessed.
Human beings received a blessing too. Be fruitful and multiply, God said. Fill the earth with the joyful noise of all humanity praising God their Creator. He blessed Adam and Eve with everything they needed for abundant life in the world. They were formed to desire life with God, to find their purpose and meaning wholly in him. In those early days, the humans, along with the rivers and hills, and the lambs and lions, knew peace with their Creator.
Yet with their choice to grasp for a different reality, Adam and Eve learned the difference between blessing and curse. Between abundance and scarcity. The story of their descendants unfolds in the shadow of sin’s curse. I imagine that longing for the lost blessing was strong in those early generations. They heard about the wonders of the peaceable kingdom of their forebears, but they lived by eking bread out of dust.
Until God in his tender mercy revealed his plan to restore his blessing, to save the world from sin and reverse the effects of the curse. When God told Abraham he would have more descendants than the stars in the heavens, it sounded a lot like, Be fruitful and multiply. It was a blessing and a promise: I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you…and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you (Gen. 12:2-3). But the story of Abraham’s descendants also unfolds in the shadow of sin’s curse. Their history makes clear that humanity cannot save itself from sin.
Yet God would keep his promise to bring blessing to the whole world through the people of Israel.
To fully understand much of the Old Testament, we should put on something like double-vision glasses. We need to see at least two timeframes at once in many passages. The prophets speak directly to Israel in their day, calling the people to repent from their sin and receive God’s blessing in their lives. At the same time, their prophesies point to a future salvation, the fulfillment of the promise of blessing for the whole world that God made to Abraham.
When this Promised One comes from the lineage of King David, he would inaugurate on earth a kingdom of peace as it was in the beginning (Isaiah 11:1-10). Even the clapping rivers and singing hills of the psalms are not only an echo of Eden, but also a celebration of joy anticipating the future salvation of the world, all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God (Ps. 98).
In Jesus, God’s promised blessing came to the world in a new way through himself. During Advent we anticipate the birth of Jesus as a child and yet a King. He has already come in Bethlehem, yet we still sing, Come thou long expected Jesus. Wearing our double-vision glasses, we look back to his birth that brought salvation to the world and forward to his coming again to restore all creation in his kingdom of peace.
Bless is the second category in our ABIDE acronym for spiritual practices at Trinity (along with Adore, Invite, Devote, Examine). We include kindness and simplicity as ways we are formed to practice blessing others as we have received the blessing of the gospel of Jesus. To help you engage with these practices, we invite you to spend time this week with the following reflection questions.
Reflection Questions
As followers of Jesus, we love and serve our neighbors with a generous kindness rooted in the greater kindness we’ve received in God’s great blessing, the gospel of salvation in Jesus. Read Titus 3:3-6 and reflect on God’s love and kindness. Prayerfully ask Jesus how you might actively love and serve others in need of receiving his love and kindness in this Advent season.
An attitude of simplicity reflects an inner spirit of trust in God’s provision, recognizing that everything we have comes from God and ultimately belongs to him. Read Phil. 4:11-13 & 19. Is this holiday season a time of anxiety, stress, or sorrow for you? Think about a time in your life when you were deeply aware of God meeting your needs (physical, emotional, or spiritual). Journal about how he met you and how you responded. Ask him for help again and tell him what you need. He hears your prayer, and he will provide.
Joy to the world, the Lord is come! And heaven and nature sing. In a lesser-known verse of that Christmas carol, we recognize the fulfillment of his promise of restoration, He makes His blessings flow, far as the curse is found. In the gospel of Jesus, blessing overcomes the curse of sin and makes all things new. Reflect on the lyrics and listen to the song, Joy to the World. Sit or take a walk in a favorite place in nature. Is it the rolling ocean waves, the pink-tipped clouds at sunset, or dawn rising over the mountains? Join your voice with his creation in praise of God and his salvation for the world in Jesus Christ.
