A hymn of joyful praise (encore)

About this episode

The episode reflects on Psalm 19 and the beauty of God's creation through a familiar hymn.

Psalm 19: 1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Psalm 19 is the inspiration for a familiar hymn, “For the Beauty of the Earth.” The lyrics begin: For the beauty of the earth, for the beauty of the skies For the love which from our birth Over and around us lies Lord of all, to thee we raise This our joyful hymn of praise. These words from the hymn are familiar to many of us. They express wonder and awe at God’s creation. We all have sunrise and sunset moments of awe, seasonal moments of awe, and weather moments of awe. But in these dissonant times, more often I find myself turning inward and seeking messages of certainty and validation through my friends on social media and texts. I forget that we humans are a microcosm in time, and that we exist in a world created by God, a world of oxygen that allows me to breathe in and out, a world of gravity that allows me to move in predictable ways, a world of taste, touch, sight, sound, and smell. I live in a senior community, and all our residents are blessed to receive a daily email from a neighbor, Bob. Bob is a man of science who seeks beauty in the natural world and photographs it. Over the…

People in this episode

Hosts: Jim Stovall, Greta Smith

Topics covered

• praise
• creation
• hymn
• awe
• spiritual reflection

Keywords

• Psalm 19
• hymn
• beauty of the earth
• spirituality
• awe
• nature

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: First United Methodist Church

Places: Maryville, TN

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