Let all the world in every corner sing, my God and King!

1 The heavens are not too high, his praise may thither fly;
the earth is not too low, his praises there may grow.
Let all the world in every corner sing, my God and King! [Ant.]

2 The Church with psalms must shout, no door can keep them out;
but, above all, the heart must bear the longest part.
Let all the world in every corner sing, my God and King! [Ant.]
   George Herbert (1593-1633)

This glorious poem by George Herbert isn’t specifically an Easter text. But try to listen to the recording of the choir at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London singing this text to music by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) and not be filled with Easter gladness.

This unfettered joy is exactly right for the praise of Almighty God. It’s easy for us to make do with restrained, stiff-upper-lip praise. But is that even okay? After all, in Christ there is a new creation. Should not the whole creation be filled with praise?

Ah, you say, but what about the sorrows of this life? Should that not limit our praise? In answer of this dilemma, Baptist minister Robert Wadsworth Lowry (1826-1899) wrote a lovely poem, the first verse of which says:

My life flows on in endless song;
   Above earth’s lamentation,
I hear the sweet, tho’ far-off hymn
   That hails a new creation;
Thro’ all the tumult and the strife
   I hear the music ringing;
It finds an echo in my soul—
   How can I keep from singing?

Yes, we face the sorrow and grief of this life. Yes, we live in our present moment without denying the pain of our present time. But at the same time, especially during Eastertide, we remember that the universe has been claimed and transformed by the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. The empty tomb shows us that death, evil, and sin do not have the last word. Life, mercy, and grace have the last word. And that is worth celebrating.

Let all the world in every corner sing, my God and King!

Photo of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, by Luc Mercelis via Flickr.