Clap Your Hands, All You Nations.

On Thursday evening 28th of May the weekly ritual of people gathering on their doorsteps to clap in appreciation of the NHS and other keyworkers came to a stop. Annemarie Plas from London who organised this from the beginning suggested that perhaps it should finish to avoid becoming a political statement, that it would be better to end whilst still at its peak. This abrupt stop will leave most of us I am sure with a memory of how hand clapping has impacted our  society, it has not been allowed to dwindle out; instead we will remember the crescendo of noise that started out with hand clapping and ended up orchestrated with banging on saucepans, blowing of whistles and all sorts.

Today I was at my place of work looking across an open space to a line of well established broad-leafed trees that border a field. In a gentle breeze the leaves were giving a rustling sound as if they were chatting. Yes, trees can speak and because I am admiring these trees across this beautiful countryside every day I can witness the different sounds that come from their midst depending on the weather. A stormy day can cause the trees to more than just chatter, branches and limbs can bang, rub against each other and creek, all audible if you happen to be close by. While I was pondering on the thought of trees and the sounds that come from them I recalled this bible scripture:

Isaiah 55 v 12 NIV

You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

The photo below is a picture of where I work. You may not be able to see all the detail if viewing from a mobile phone so I will describe the setting here. I work on a road construction site, the light green porta cabins are where I spend a lot of my time and from the entrances of the cabins I can look directly across to the trees that border farm land with majestic hills in the background, the hills and the trees of the field fitting exactly the description as in the text of Isaiah 55.

Whilst meditating over the trees and the hills a deep spiritual revelation came to me as if the very voice of God. My heart and soul was telling me that God's creation speaks out in praise to Him constantly but what about His people, have they forgotten to Praise His name? Praise for the Lord Almighty in this nation has been dwindling for many years, this is the time when we should be doing the opposite and Praising God's name more, recognising that in Him we should place our trust, giving Him praise in every situation. My appeal please is to encourage yourselves, friends and family to pray to our heavenly Father, clap your hands unto Him, bow the knee and pray for the protection of our NHS staff and other keyworkers and our population as a whole, both in the UK and throughout all nations worldwide.

Psalm 47 v 1- 2 NIV

Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. For the Lord Most High is awesome, the great King over all the earth.


The Trees of the Field - music video by The Gaithers.