An insomniac's Psalm 103: Verse 21

"Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers, who do his will!"

The circle of praise now expands, as the Psalm soars to a crescendo. In verse 18, we saw the human orienting his life and worship around God. Then it was the angels in verse 20, and now it is "all his hosts." The camera pulls back to reveal the panorama. In verses 15 and 16 I was sad to see the end of man's small ambitions. But a fairer view is now shown. The meaning of man is rescued, as it is situated in the grand plan of history.

Every character who has ever strutted across the stage now makes his final entrance on it, some to eternal life and others to eternal un-life. At the center of the scene is the throne room, the control tower of the universe, the beginning and the end of all things, the Alpha and Omega. It was always so, even when as a brute beast I didn't know it. The angels have been in the know, and the "hosts," and someday every knee will bow and "thy kingdom come thy will be done" will no longer be an operative prayer. All longing will be fulfillment.

God is "the Lord of hosts" (Psalm 46). He is a military man, with armies flanking him and captives in tow. And I am one of his happy captives. "You gotta serve somebody," Dylan sang. Let the time that is past suffice for my hard service to the hater of my soul, who lied to me about everything and then chortled when his ways brought me disaster. But "whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin" (1 Peter 4:1), glory to God! Let me no longer be put to shame by any old angel or host. Let me also be one of his "ministers, who do his will."

To read "Verse 22," click here.

To hear commentaries by Andrée Seu, click here.