The Joyful Singing of the Trees

“Let fields with gladness sing; the joyful singing of the trees shall make the forests ring.” Psalm 96:2b

“Ascribe unto the LORD,

All families of earth,

Ascribe unto the LORD His strength

And His most glorious worth.

Ascribe unto the LORD

The glory of His name;

Come, make your way into His courts,

And bring an offering.”

—Psalm 96:7-8 (Book of Psalms for Worship, 96D)

The Lord commands all the peoples to come, to yield themselves to his kingship, and to worship him. In particular, I pray that the Lord will bring about a great revival in the small European nation of Latvia. Why Latvia, one of the three Baltic states, a little nation in northern Europe?

Like the vast majority of Americans, my heritage comes from outside the United States. My dad’s family is from Latvia, and I’ve had the chance to visit there several times. During my last visit, all my close family members were together at Baltcepures—my grandparents’ farm—honoring my grandparents, and my dad read Psalm 96 aloud. (Back in 1944, Vectēvs, my grandfather, had read Psalm 96 aloud before he and my Omamma fled the Soviet re-invasion. They left, but had hoped to return to Baltcepures after World War II. However, the Lord had different plans for them. They ended up settling in Colorado Springs after seven years in various displaced persons camps in Germany. But again, that’s another story.)

Whenever I have the chance to sing Psalm 96, I recall my visits to Baltcepures, especially memories from that last visit: the mist rising from the fields at twilight, the darkness of the edge of the forest darkening as the sun set, the rich smell of the soil as the farmland settled into the night’s rest. David’s poetry in Psalm 96 evokes these memories, and the psalm reminds me to meditate on the precious, inspired, inviolable promises also declared in this psalm:

  • With justice He’ll judge all

  • Woods and trees will shout for joy and sing before the LORD

  • He will come to judge the earth in righteousness

The corporate singing of this Psalm. . .the memories of my trips to Latvia. . .God’s faithfulness to his people while Gentile nations rage. . .they stir my heart obey the exhortation of Psalm 96:10a:

“To nations speak this word: ‘The LORD reigns over all!’ ”

(All the Scripture references in this blog article come from The Book of Psalms for Worship.)

Krista W.Comment