The Earth Sings for Joy

There's an item on Yahoo News this morning about earth's mysterious hum. It seems that the earth itself emits a low frequency sound that humans cannot hear and only special equipment can detect.

Scientists are puzzled.

They should read the Bible.

What we think of as inanimate objects are described as "singing" for joy before the Lord. The book of Job tells us that the stars "sang together" at creation (38:7).

When David appointed Asaph and his associates as musicians, he gave them a psalm of thanks that included these commands:
"Sing to the Lord, all the earth;"
"Tremble before him, all the earth!"
"Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;"
"Let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them!"
"Then the trees of the forest will sing, they will sing for joy before the LORD" (1 Cor. 16:23-33).

Many of the same phrases are echoed in verses of Psalm 96:
"Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth" (v. 1);
"tremble before him, all the earth" (v. 9);
"Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it" (v. 11);
"let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy" (v. 12);
"they will sing before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth" (v. 13).

And the book of Isaiah includes these phrases:
"Sing to the LORD a new song...you islands, and all who live in them" (42:10);
"Let the desert and its towns raise their voices" (42:11);
"Sing for joy, O heavens...shout aloud, O earth beneath. Burst into song, you mountains, you forests and all your trees" (44:23).

I freely acknowledge that these commands for inanimate objects to rejoice and sing appear in the context of God's gracious dealings with His covenant people and their responsibility to rejoice in His faithfulness and forgiveness.

But it seems clear that not only the earth's inhabitants are expected to praise God, but also the earth itself, its fields, its islands, its deserts, its mountains, its forests, its trees, the sea, the heavens, and the stars are expected to praise God.

So all the scientists have to do is read the Bible.

That mysterious hum? It's the earth singing for joy before the Lord.