Daily Devotional | The Hills Are Clothed

Poet Luci Shaw, in “Spring song, very early morning,” rejoiced: “All the field’s a hymn! All / dandelions give glory, gold / and silver. All trilliums unfold / white flames above their trinities / of leaves. All wild strawberries / and massed wood violets reflect the skies’ / clean blue and white.” The poem continues, with various plants giving glory to the Creator, “holding up / to this kind morning’s heat / their silver sacrifice.”

Shaw’s poem follows in the footsteps of the natural imagery of the psalms, including Psalm 65. This psalm praises the Lord for His attributes and His blessings. The first section (vv. 1–4) gives praise for the spiritual truths that God answers prayer, forgives, and blesses us with good things, especially His presence.

In the second section (vv. 5–8), the praise focuses on God’s attributes and especially on His power. God’s power is exercised on behalf of His people. He responds to our need with “awesome and righteous deeds.” For this reason, He is “the hope of all the ends of the earth.” God’s power is also seen in His sovereign control over creation and people. He made the mountains and can still the seas as easily as He stills the nations. We are called to respond to these truths with joy, awe, and worship.

In the third section (vv. 9–13), the psalmist paints a picture of God’s blessings, exemplified in creation at harvest time. God has provided a bountiful harvest, thereby blessing the people with food. The conclusion or climax calls all nature to participate with the congregation in rejoicing before the Lord. The hills are “clothed with gladness,” indicating both rich vegetation and a response of delight (v. 12). Similarly, the valleys are “mantled with grain,” covered like a cloak with the coming harvest; “they shout for joy and sing” (v. 13).