"The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing" (Psalm 65:13).

This is the concluding verse of the beautiful 65th Psalm, climaxing a remarkable series of testimonies about God's providential care of His creation. In this final figure, the lands are pictured as clothed in beautiful, living garments -- garments which shout and sing in joyful praise to their Maker.

The figure would be better appreciated in Biblical times, or in certain lands (e.g., New Zealand) today where flocks of sheep are so abundant that they literally seem to cover the pasture lands in wool. The flocks first provide a metaphorical garment for the pastures, then literal clothing for men and women. Similarly, the fertile valleys are everywhere arrayed in golden grain, which later provides food for both the animals and human beings.

And "the sounds of the earth are like music," as the song so eloquently expresses it. For those with ears to hear and eyes to see, praise is everywhere being offered up to our great Creator and faithful Sustainer, by the very creation itself.

Jesus also spoke of the beautiful garments of creation: "And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?" (Matthew 6:28-30).

The verses following our text, therefore, appropriately exhort: "Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands: . . . All the earth shall worship thee" (Psalm 66:1,4). HMM