The Bidding of Birdsong
Friends, I have a weighty question for you this morning: When was the last time you stopped and listened to the birds sing? When was the last time you really paid attention and steeped yourself in birdsong — that wonderful harmony of the heavens? At this time of year, their music never stops. And in their ceaseless singing, the birds are constantly calling us to enter into the joy of our Maker.
We see this in Psalm 104, where the poet meditates on the wonders of God’s world. He marvels at the sun and moon, he’s awed by trees and grass, stunned by mountains and streams and valleys. And then verse 12: ‘[Amidst the hills] the birds of the heavens dwell; they sing among the branches.’ The psalmist delights in birdsong. God orchestrates their music, harmonizes their voices, inspires their avian art. And why does he do all this? Because the birds express God’s pleasure in his creation. As the psalmist puts it, the Lord rejoices in his works (Psalm 104:31).
Divine Delight
Saints, do you ever consider God’s joy in creation? He is happy with his work. He takes pleasure in his world. And how could it be otherwise? God is no idolator, and so God is foremost in the affections of God. From all eternity, the Father and Son have perfectly enjoyed one another by the Spirit. This eternal abundance of life and love, beauty and joy is God’s glory — his Trinitarian fullness.
Creation externally expresses God’s internal fullness. Everything that is not God makes God visible (Romans 1:20). The birdsong declares the glory. Now if God loves himself perfectly (he does), how could he not take pleasure in this bright mirror of creation? And we can be even more specific about the particular kinds of pleasure God takes in his work.
God delights in creation as an artist. He designs, erects, cultivates, paints, chisels, tunes, sculpts, molds, fills, finishes, and crafts all things to showcase his triune beauty. When the divine Artist proclaimed his work “very good,” he declared his aesthetic approval and artistic pleasure in all he made.
God delights in creation as an architect. Just like this building reveals the genius of its builder, the cathedral of creation shows God’s wisdom and power. Job tells us the divine Architect “laid the foundations of the earth” and “determined its dimensions.” He sunk the cornerstones of the cosmos, set the pillars of the world, and leveled the land. He circumscribed the sea and hand-crafted the doors of the deep (Job 38:1–11).
God delights in creation as an author. When Macbeth says life is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, he’s partially correct. Reality is a story, but a perfect narrator tells it, full of music and joy. And because creation captures the story of his glory, because the tale ends in the happily ever after, he takes divine delight in the telling. He is the Author of joy (Hebrews 12:2).
A Happy Father
Perhaps, the sweetest delight God takes in creation is that of a happy father. Our God is no miser, hoarding his happiness away. No! He loves to share his joy with his kids, those united to his Son, because that’s the kind of father he is. Saints, “it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). All of it, including the bird song!
And here is the truly wonderful thing, because creation displays God’s fullness, when he shares his world with us, he gives us something of himself. In Psalm 104, after 33 verses of reveling in creation, the poet concludes, “May my meditation be pleasing to [God] for I rejoice in the LORD ” (Psalm 104:34). By rightly delighting in made things, he enjoys the Maker. God’s purpose in creation is sharing his fullness with creatures for their ever-increasing joy in him. In inviting us to delight in creation, God gives us God.
Birdsong Bliss
So, friends, I repeat my question, When was the last time you listened to birdsong? Or watched the wind dance through the trees? Or stopped and smelled the peonies?
My exhortation to you this morning is: pay attention. Wake up to God’s world. Assume a posture of wonder. Because in creation, everywhere and in everything, our triune God bids us, ‘Enter into the joy of your Maker. You are not yet nearly as happy in me as I mean you to be.’
And this reminds us of our need to confess:
Father, we say with the psalmist, You are very great! We are stunned by the goodness of your world that you lavish on us. We rejoice that because of your Son you have given us your Spirit to enable us to rightly delight in all that you have made. And yet so often, we are inattentive, blind and bored. Forgive us and wake us up in this time of silent confession…