It was cold as Mandie (my friend’s dog) and I walked down the path to the river. About halfway there I heard a loud, unusual clapping sound; it stopped and started several times. Now, I’ve been living in this area for several years and never noticed this particular sound before, so as we rounded past the obstacles, I gazed curiously at the length of the river. There floating in the river were several magnificent white swans hoping to catch some supper. As one took off in flight I heard the clapping noise I hadn’t recognized.
Immediately, a scripture came to mind where the stones cry out praise (Luke ) and where it says, “Let everything he has made give praise to him.” Ps. 148:5 TLB The whole psalm is about nature praising God, and certainly swans are part of that everything … so are we. To me, it seemed like the swans were clapping praise to God, after all, clapping and shouting are part of acceptable praise to our God. (Ps. 47:1- O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph. KJV) We do it in church all the time. While sometimes it is in appreciation for a person who does a special song, or to welcome someone, when we clap during worship it is in praise to our Lord. For the swans the ‘clapping’ is an automatic response to their desire to reach a new destination. For us, clapping can be a response of our desire to worship our King and reach a new level in His presence; and that is worth more than, well, anything. The clapping ‘praise’ of the swans reminded me that we have something in common with the rest of creation, and the psalmist reminds us all,
Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.
Ps. 150:6 KJV