Martin Luther said that the Psalter “might well be called a little Bible.  In it is comprehended most beautifully and briefly everything that is in the entire Bible.”[1] 

In this “little Bible” of Psalms, we find examples of most of the many things that are said in the rest of the Bible about the creation and its relationship to God and to humanity as part of creation.

At least 27 psalms make direct reference to God’s creative activity, including Psalms 8, 18, 19, 24, 33, 65, 74, 78, 89, 90, 93-96, 100, 102, 104, 115, 119, 121, 124, 134, 136, 139, and 146-148.

Other psalms, such as Psalm 29, relate more indirectly to the issue of creation.

Their references are so varied that I will only scratch the surface by looking briefly at six psalms: 8, 24, 33, 104, 74, and 148. I invite you to have these psalms in front of you to read as I suggest how each of them relates to creation.

Psalm 8

Psalm 8 might be described as Genesis 1 in hymnic form. All of creation is God’s majestic work. Humans (male and female) are the royal images of the divine creator - called to have dominion.

Here then is the dangerous part of Psalm 8 that joins Genesis 1's divine commission to fill the earth and subdue it.  God’s commission leads to what is often spoken of as a dominion ethic.  The all-too-common reading of this divine proclamation goes something like this: “God has given us dominion over all the earth, therefore we can do anything with it that we please.  We can trample the earth and all creatures under our feet.”  Such sentiments, as we all know, have contributed heavily to ecological disaster such as climate change.  We Christians need to own that our own tradition bears much responsibility for this reality.

Perhaps the dominion image is thus too dangerous, and we should abandon it altogether. But rather than go that route, I'd like to suggest that if we say we are God's royalty, then we should know that the way God rules has a particular flavor and shape. 

Look, for example, at Psalm 97:1-2 which speak of “Righteousness and justice” as “the foundation of God’s throne.”  So also do psalms 89 and 99. The king's job description in Israel is precisely to serve the kingdom.  Not rule over, but rule justly - to rule on behalf of.  Ultimately to rule wearing a crown of thorns. Read in this way, Psalm 8 invites us as humans with untold power to serve all of creation justly and righteously.

Psalm 24

Psalm 24:1-2 declares that the earth and all that lives therein belongs to the Lord precisely because “the LORD has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers of the deep.” Water is not so much the chaotic enemy to be defeated as the solid foundation which will lead to blessing. The creation of the earth is described in such a way as to reflect the building of a temple.  The temple stands not only as the most important place in the earth; it, in fact, represents the earth.  Just as the earth and all that fills it belong to Yahweh, so also does the temple and those who enter there.

Then in verses 7-10, the very gates of the temple open, welcome, and praise the God of creation.  For me these temple gates call to mind the two verbs of Genesis 2:15 where God places the newly formed human in the garden in order “to till (serve) and to keep (guard, watch over) it.” The earth, our garden, is to be kept, watched over, and served in precisely the same manner as we are called to care for our place of worship.  Care of the earth is thus part of both our worship life and our life of obedience. 

Psalm 33

Psalm 33, alone among all of the psalms, speaks of God’s creation by word (v.6). This powerful image sets the rhetorical argument of the psalm.  This appeal of Psalm 33 to the nature and power of God's far‑reaching creative word and work accomplishes several rhetorical tasks: the Lord is praised for a justly ordered world while we (the audience, the readers, the supplicants) are instructed, comforted, encouraged, and finally given grounds to appeal ourselves to God’s steadfast love.

The metaphor of creation by word with its pattern of command and response suggests that the instruction of the Lord is rooted in the very plan of creation.  Obedience to instruction takes on cosmic proportions.  The reverse, however, is also true.  The cosmos is created according to the pattern of law which stands as a sign or guarantee of the stability of creation and of the promise inherent within creation.  This correspondence between law and creation is similarly apparent in two of the Torah psalms: Psalms 119:89‑90 and Psalm 19.

Creation by the upright word of God also ensures an intelligible world permeated and ordered by Yahweh's justice and compassion. The cosmic waters pose no threat but rather respond to God's word.  Within the created world, only human self‑deception, human reliance on earthly power and plans, poses a potential threat to God's total control. These puny distractions are nullified, thwarted, and dismissed as ineffectual.  Evil lacks real power or influence.  In Ps 33:19 even death lacks power. Psalm 33 proclaims an intelligently created world and a God worthy of reverence. 

Psalm 104

One of the most significant portraits of creation is found in Psalm 104. Rather than center on God’s relationship to humanity, Psalm 104 extols God as creator and sustainer of all creation.  We feel the delight of God who gives drink to wild animals (v.11), habitation for birds and goats (vv.12, 17), water for trees (v.16) and even prey for young lions (v.21). 

Humans are there in the midst of creation being fed and refreshed, working the fields and sailing ships, just one creature in the vast web of life (vv.15,23,26).

This part of our tradition invites us to see ourselves as intimately connected with all creation, as brothers and sisters with the whole of creation; all of us God's children together. Sadly we often neglect to remember this part of our tradition. We could learn a great deal by looking to the mystic tradition or the American Indian tradition or by rereading St. Francis’ hymn to the sun. There Francis praises God for the creation of the sun and moon, and of wind, water, fire and earth - addressing each as sister and brother.  Aversion of his prayer can by sung in ELW 835 “All Creatures, Worship God Most High.” By emphasizing our human place as only one part of a vast web of life, Psalm 104 contains our hubris and limits our tendencies to center creation only on ourselves.

Small wonder that we derive one of our basic table graces from this psalm (104:27-28) coupled with Psalm 145:15-16: The eyes of all wait upon you, O Lord, and you give them their meat in due season. You open your hand and satisfy the desire of all living things. 

Small wonder as well that we sing this psalm at Pentecost, given the four times repeated reference to God’s ru’ah, that is, God’s “wind,” “breathe,” and “spirit.” God rides the wings of the “wind” and sends for “winds” as messengers in verses 3 and 4.  Withdrawal of God’s “breathe” leads to death (104:29, as well as in 103:16).  And most importantly the presence of God’s “Spirit” leads to life (104:30).

Psalm 74

Psalm 74 is a stirring lament sung in response to the destruction of the temple.  The flesh and blood enemy had ransacked the temple, wreaking havoc (vv.4-11).

The psalmist responds with moving questions, typical of laments:

10 How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile your name forever?

11 Why do you hold back your hand; why do you keep your hand in your bosom?

Then, in the midst of this lament, in the midst of this description of destruction and devestation, the psalmist sings the central verses dealing with two aspects of creation.  The first of these verses (vv.12-15) invite us to remember that God is also a mighty warrior who, in primordial victory, defeated the waters and the chaos monsters within the waters. God divided the waters as well, reminding us also of the Red Sea in Exodus. That is, God changed the chaotic waters of death into life-giving streams.  This memory of creation becomes a promise that the future is not what it seems.

And then a second aspect of creation is highlighted:

16 Yours is the day, yours also the night; you established the luminaries and the sun.

17 You have fixed all the bounds of the earth; you made summer and winter.

Presumably these divine signs of creation are unable to be touched by the chaotic forces of human enemies.  Day and night, stars and sun, summer and winter, still remain standing even after the destruction of the temple, as a witness that God is still in charge.  The psalmist takes these unshakable aspects of creation as a sign of the promise that God’s will will be done.  No matter how dismal the circumstances or how mighty the enemy, creation itself stands as a sign that God will remember and prevail.  

These signs of God’s promise, seen in creation every day, lead the psalmist to a remarkable closing prayer:

19 Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild animals;

            do not forget the life of your poor forever.

21 Do not let the downtrodden be put to shame;

let the poor and needy praise your name.

Sometimes humans are the very wild animals who forget the poor and downtrodden and fail to deliver the soul of God’s dove.

Psalm 148

In Psalm 148 humans join all of creation in singing the praises of God; and the praise by all elements of creation is exuberant.   When we take part in the Easter Vigil, we march to the baptismal font singing, “All you works of the Lord, praise the Lord!”  The entire psalter moves toward a unified voice of praise.  In Scripture giving praise, giving glory is a weighty, a substantial matter.  One always gives glory with more than one’s voice.  We give glory with our lives. 

If we do not hear the voices of the earth and all her creatures alongside of us, then we should note how and why the instruments and chorus are out of tune and retune them.  We should, as Scripture invites us, sing with infinite layers of harmony.  So we come to Psalm 148, that glorious hymn of universal praise.  

In many ways, Psalm 148 is the culmination. It is composed of two symmetrical stanzas.

The first stanza (vv. 1-6) starts in the heavens with the angels, moves to the sun, moon and stars and the waters above.

  ⁵ Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created. 

  ⁶ He established them forever and ever; he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed. 

The second stanza (vv. 7-13) ascends from the depths of the sea to the elements of nature. It then moves from mountains and trees to animals and things that creep and fly. Then finally comes the praise of humanity including rulers and all peoples of whatever gender or age 

The conclusion summarizes the whole by reversing the order, saying: "His glory is above earth and heaven" (v. 13).

The picture painted by Psalm 148 inviting us to sing together with and alongside myriad aspects of the earth and all creatures stirs me beyond the mere words.  God is both conductor and listener, recipient of our harmony.  This is our gift to God.  To sing sweet praises, together with all the earth, to God our creator and giver of life abundant.  We should, I think, perform together as the good creation that we are. 

[1] Luther’s longer description is this: [The Psalter] “might well be called a little Bible.  In it is comprehended most beautifully and briefly everything that is in the entire Bible.  It is really a fine enchiridion or handbook.  In fact, I have a notion that the Holy Spirit wanted to take the trouble himself to compile a short Bible and book of examples of all Christendom or all saints, so that anyone who could not read the whole Bible would have anyway almost an entire summary of it, comprised in one little book.” Martin Luther (LW 35:254)