Let the Whole Creation Cry -- Stopford A. Brooke

 

This Irishman knew and wrote verse. That would be a quick summary of Stopford Augustus Brooke’s life, and this was a trait that he would share in a handful of hymns in the 19^th Century, including “Let the Whole Creation Cry”. Stopford knew not only how to write poetry, but also what good poetry by others should be appreciated, as he must have done when he drew upon an anonymous psalmist’s call for all creation to applaud its Maker. Surely creation was crying out God’s praises especially in the Garden of Eden (see it depicted here in this artwork The Garden of Eden by Thomas Cole in 1828), one of the many pieces of evidence of His creative nature that should make us pause. The psalmist began his praise not with mankind in mind, but with a reminder that everything surrounding humanity speaks loudly of Him. Stopford’s first lines and his title words echo that. We should too.  

 

Suppose there had been no occupants of Eden, no first man to herald His image among the creation. Maybe that was what moved Stopford initially. Though he doesn’t really say what motivated his poetry in 1881, this veteran of verse – he’d already won honors for his writing and published several literary works – evidently did not think of himself so highly that he ignored the contributions of others. He was one of God’s image-bearers, but the other parts of God’s creation spoke to him first, as it did to the psalmist to whom Stopford looked for a model of praise. Psalm 148’s author is unknown, but that did not inhibit Stopford’s enthusiasm for what this anonymous poet had to say. The psalmist’s first 10 verses of Psalm 148 see all of His creative genius in everything besides humanity, an attitude that was not lost on Stopford when he began his own version of this outlook with his hymn’s title, and then calling out for all ‘heaven’ and ‘earth’ (v.1) to utter their exaltation. Verse 2 continues with ‘all ye hosts above’, and the ‘sun and moon’, ‘night and stars’ joining in this celebration of Him. Stopford took some other cues from the psalmist, including the ‘warriors’ (v.3) that could have been an echo of the ‘armies of heaven’ (Psalm 148, v.2) who joined in the acclaim of Him. ‘Kings of knowledge and…law’ (v.4) sounds like the psalmist beckoning the ‘kings…rulers and judges’ (Psalm 148, v. 11) to join their voices to the rest of creation already engaged in His magnification. ‘Men and women…children’s happy hearts’ are not left out in Stopford’s lyrical energy, probably because the psalmist also mentions them (v.12 of Psalm 148). Stopford does add one group, perhaps to coax himself and others like him, that ‘those to whom the arts belong’ (v.3) are also here to offer Him tribute. So, if you want to be creative in whatever you do – and who of us doesn’t want that? – it behooves you to stay connected to the Creator.

 

It doesn’t matter who you are or where you live, or even whether you’re a living being, Stopford repeated from Psalm 148’s words. You can offer Him what He deserves. Stopford must have at one time or another read how Jesus responded to critics when they remonstrated Him for the praise He was hearing upon entering Jerusalem (Luke 19:40). If you think the stones exclaim well enough for all of us, how do you feel about others of your common humanity lifting voices to Him? Can someone else do this enough for you? Did those Pharisees think He was just wasn’t worthy, or did jealousy cloud their vision? Surely, they had seen enough to know He was quite different from anyone else they had ever seen before. That is rather like what the psalmist and Stopford also acknowledged. Who else could create all of this – this planet where we live, the stars and heavenly bodies we see in the universe, all of us humans in all the wondrous physicality that is a marvel to scientists – and not be the One whom we should praise for who He is, and what He’s still planning to do? If you’re not ready to say a praise, are you really looking?   

 

Read about the author here: Stopford Augustus Brooke  and here: Stopford Brooke (chaplain) - Wikipedia

 

See the original six verses here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/l/e/t/t/letthewc.htm

 

See here for information on the image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thomas_Cole_-_The_Garden_of_Eden_(1828).jpg …The author died in 1848, so this work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1931. …found inside this document -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_of_Eden