Thursday, October 21, 2021
Praise of Goodness
But truly God has listened . . .
There are so many times when we feel as though we are abandoned or that our petitions go unattended; yet we cannot know or understand the mind of God. This psalm is divided into two distinct sections: thanks for God’s power that has saved the nation, and an individual vow to thank God in a liturgical rite. The entire psalm focuses us on the necessity of thanking God properly because he has arrived as our savior – a foreshadowing of Jesus’ human presence among us. Footnotes connect us with Paul’s letter to the Romans 12:1 and 6:5-8 in which we read that we are to present ourselves as living sacrifices before God, just as Christ has done for us. (THE PSALMS 165) The psalmist here does not complain of the difficulties suffered; rather, he sees them as part of a required rite of passage, as a stage in his discipleship, as a badge of honor.
But truly God has listened . . .
Giving thanks – even for the difficulties we have just undergone – is our appropriate stance in all things. Paul reminds us through the Thessalonians, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Jesus Christ. Do not put out the spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold onto the good. Avoid every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:18-24)
It is not until a storm has been safely weathered that we can see where we have arrived. It is not until we have lost what we thought was ours that we understand what we fully have. It is not until we suffer that we become wholly understanding of the force of goodness; and it is not until we experience evil that we altogether understand the necessity for and the magnitude of God’s goodness in the world. While we are undergoing trial we can barely breathe and we can think of nothing but survival; but after crisis mode, we must always re-set our markers and look carefully at our new surroundings . . . otherwise we might miss the fact that truly God has listened . . .
THE PSALMS, NEW CATHOLIC VERSION. Saint Joseph Edition. New Jersey: Catholic Book Publishing Company, 2004. 165. Print.
A Favorite written on October 30, 2009.
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