This meditation on Psalm 149 was a part of Blog Action Day. This year's theme was the Environment.

Psalm 149

Praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD from the heavens,
 praise him in the heights above.
Praise him, all his angels,
praise him, all his heavenly hosts
Praise him, sun and moon,
praise him, all you shining stars
Praise him, you highest heavens
and you waters above the skies
Let them praise the name of the LORD,
for he commanded and they were created
He set them in place for ever and ever;
he gave a decree that will never pass away.
Praise the LORD from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
stormy winds that do his bidding,
you mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
wild animals and all cattle,
small creatures and flying birds,
kings of the earth and all nations,
you princes and all rulers on earth,
young men and maidens,
old men and children.
Let them praise the name of the LORD,
for his name alone is exalted;
his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.

Our prayers are what unite us with Earth and Heaven, whether for a friend in need, a family member who needs the touch of Christ, or the downtrodden and lonely. As Christ himself prayed, we are calling for the kingdom ''on earth as it is in heaven.''

The political and logical views we sometimes hold on the environment are secondary when compared to the grand calling Christ followed all the way to the Cross: God so loved the world that he gave his only Son....

As the body of Christ, our prayer should be with this world that Christ has died to save now and in the kingdom to come. We are all in this together. Only in Christ's kingdom can the psalmists absurd pairings ever make any sense:

small creatures and flying birds,
kings of the earth and all nations

This world is a place where kings and the powers of this world are fighting over ocean floors beneath the North Pole (Russia just planted their flag in the arctic silt to claim the territory). With little regard for the ''small'' people of this earth like orphans and widows---should we expect them to have any regard for the small creatures and flying birds? The kingdom vision of the messiah sets the world to rights, brings the world together again in a mighty salvific act, and lets the small creatures and the kings praise the mighty God of this world.

Our whole experience, in the poetry of faith, wraps itself around environmental motifs---new birth, baptism, creation, from darkness into light, lilies clapping their hands, doves signaling peace, restoration, and the Spirit---new heavens and new earth are what we seek, through the great redemption of our Lord. Let us pray that we seek to save this world and one day we will praise Him with the Leviathan and the mountains in a song of praise.