Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted– Isaiah 49:13
There is such a sight of God’s beauty and majesty in the grace that has been given, and promised to, God’s people that even the stars and the mountains are called to praise.
This is mercy of cosmic dimensions. God has comforted his people (as undeserving as they are) and he will have mercy on them in their affliction (even though they may have brought it on themselves).
Grace has for many people, even Christians, lost its “amazing”-ness. Rather than seeing ourselves, as John Newton famously saw himself, as a wretch who deserves nothing, we in the prosperous and spoiled West see ourselves as deserving anything and everything we wish from God.
But for the God who created the universe, spreading it out like you or I might set up a tent, to even take notice of our peppercorn-sized planet is an act of unspeakable condescension. And how much more so that he would take on flesh and die in our place in order to save us from the punishment we deserve!
Grace truly is objectively and uniquely amazing. And if even the inanimate creation is called to praise this revelation of God’s glorious character, how should we who are the receivers of his mercy respond?
