There is no doubt that Genesis reveals human beings as the crown of creation. 'So God created man in his own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.' [Genesis 1:27]
Time and again, though, the Bible demonstrates that they are not the totality of creation. Take, for example, these verses from Psalm 104:
8
The mountains rose, the valleys sank down
to the place that you appointed for them.
9
You set a boundary that they may not pass,
so that they might not again cover the earth.
10
You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
they flow between the hills;
11
they give drink to every beast of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12
Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;
they sing among the branches.
13
From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.
14
You cause the grass to grow for the livestock
and plants for man to cultivate,
that he may bring forth food from the earth
and wine to gladden the heart of man,
15
oil to make his face shine
and bread to strengthen man's heart.
16
The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly,
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17
In them the birds build their nests;
the stork has her home in the fir trees.
18
The high mountains are for the wild goats;
the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.
The Lord Jesus references creation many times; most starkly on Palm Sunday when he tells the critics of praising children in Jerusalem that if they silence the children the very stones on the hillsides will begin praising instead.
So, a pandemic certainly appears to mute human praise on earth. Literally, because we cannot meet to sing and speak our praise - but perhaps also psychologically because we are emotionally and mentally reduced by the whole experience of lockdown and its attendant life inputs.
Yet we are but a part of creation.
And the rest of it seems to be having a much better time!
The Lord may weep with us but He has plenty of reason to smile with many of the creatures and plants he has also made as the streets clear, the air clears and nature finds her voice.
