Psalm 96: God of the Universe
Easter Thursday, April 25, 2019
A re-post from Easter Week 2012.
From commentary: “A hymn inviting all humanity to praise the glories of Israel’s God (1-3), who is the sole God (4-6). To the just ruler of all belongs worship (7-10), even inanimate creation is to offer praise (11-13). This psalm has numerous verbal and thematic contacts with Isaiah 44-55, as does Psalm 98. Another version of the Psalm is 1 Chronicles 16, 23-33”. (Senior 712)
During the Easter Octave the entire universe confirms that God is great, God is good. On this third day of Easter we will want to join our voice with all other voices in creation. The Psalms give us a special way to praise God and from the earliest days of the Church this pattern of public, daily prayer was established. We read the Book of Acts frequently during Eastertide as it tells us of the passion and awe the disciples felt as they began to understand the inversions in the resurrection story and the implications it had for God’s entire creation. In these verses we frequently hear that the disciples, inculcated in Jewish life, moved in a cycle of prayer. For example, we read: Now Peter and John were going up to the temple area for the three o’clock prayer. (Acts 3:1)
The Psalms played an important part in these prayers and centuries later the Christian Liturgy of the Hours continues to call both clergy and lay with these old patterns. Today, as we move through the Easter Octave celebrating the miracle of Easter, let us investigate these Psalms from a long-ago time that still have very modern application. These hymns of sorrow, praise, thanksgiving and petition are formed by ancient people but embody modern hope. They are songs of acclaim and appeal, great sadness and un-bounding joy. They are sacred poems traveling through time that together tell the marvelous story of our deliverance at God’s hand, and the limitless love that this God of the Universe has for us.
You may want to take some time today to read more about The Psalms on this blog at: www.thenoontimes.com/the-book-of-our-life/psalms-the-praises/, or Acts at:
Image from: http://tourinord.com/
Senior, Donald, ed. THE CATHOLIC STUDY BIBLE. New York, Oxford University Press, 1990.712. Print.
For a wonderfully accessible explanation of the Liturgy of the Hours and for a version that has universal appeal, look for the series by Tickle, Phyllis published by Doubleday.
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