The end result of our good earthkeeping is a flourishing and vibrant Creation praising and worshiping God. The authors of the Psalms knew this and by observing Creation they drew inspiration about God and wrote it down. 

Psalm 104 is an everyday testament and description of God sustaining the rhythm of life in Creation. Sunrise, noon, and night provide the setting and backdrop for the actions of wild creatures, domestic livestock, and people going about their farming. The writer praises God for these wonderful creatures and all of creation. This person was truly a patient and careful observer of the natural world. Can Psalm 104 lead you to your own verses or messages about God’s marvelous creation? What would you say? To whom would you say it? 

Psalm 67 has a beautiful progression of thoughts that seem like stepping stones across a river. Starting with the Aaronic blessing from Numbers 6:24, this is followed by petitions, each with an invitation of something longed for by the psalmist. “May your ways be known on earth ... .May the people praise you…. May the nations be glad…. May all the people praise you…” And then, at the end of these invitations, come the words: “Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us. God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him.” 

When God’s people have fulfilled all these things then the land will yield its bounty. The appearance of one is dependent, or better said, waits with expectation, on the other and everything leads to God, to the land, to God and the land, and finally to us. Through our obedience his blessing comes upon the land and then upon us. This challenges our ego-centric view of our place in Creation. Because here we learn that all of us are working to bring about something for the land; not the other way around, as is common in our everyday thinking.

As the Psalm 67 writer indicates, taking care of the land through proper earthkeeping requires knowing about the place and the environment that is there. With that in mind, I am reminded of one particular indicator that reveals a healthy natural environment. Years ago, I learned from Paraguayan ornithologists that when they were cataloging birds in a new area of rainforest they would be very encouraged if they heard a Bare-necked Bellbird. There were many birds that could indicate the “untouched” condition of the forest. The habitat of the Rufous-breasted Leaftosser, for example, was also affected by logging. However, being mostly silent, dark brown, shadow-dwelling birds, tossing leaves on the forest floor in search of food, they were challenging to find. The bellbird on the other hand lived in the highest canopy trees and had an unmistakable call, like a clear metallic “ping!....ping!....ping!”, which could be heard from at least a mile away. Upon hearing a bellbird, researchers could be fairly certain that the overall condition of the forest was still vibrant. Sort of an avian litmus test for the health of a forest community.

Lastly, in Psalm 104 we are invited to co-create with God from his Creation. “He makes grass grow for cattle, and plants for man to cultivate, bringing forth food from the earth” (v. 14). Grapes can be harvested and then pressed into wine; wheat can be milled into flour for bread (v. 15). Each of these is nature plus technology; this is where we can join with God in creating. However, we’re fallen people. Incapable of reaching for only the good, our minds and hearts are bent to selfishness, greed, and dominance. Joseph Sittler writes in Evocations of Grace that steel is nature and technology (iron, carbon, smelting, oxidizing, etc.). Steel itself has no good or bad in it, but what we do with it involves dimensions of nature and grace. In the present, we are exploring artificial intelligence, which, again, is nature and technology, and we need to ask ourselves how will this be used and in which directions will this lead us? 

When we are being God’s good earthkeepers and his good stewards, then his Creation - all the life that he has made, sustains, renews, and delights in all the time everywhere - moves closer and closer to that place, that moment, of shalom. If you were to write your own psalm of praise to God for his creation what place would you think about when writing? What words would mean the most to you as you express your praise? How would you use the psalm of praise in creation to help you or others understand God with greater depth and clarity?