Hopeful Rest

A Reflection on the Psalm for May 7th, 2023:
​Fifth Sunday of Easter

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Psalm 33

R. Let your love be upon us, Lord, even as we hope in you.

Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous. Praise befits the upright. Praise the Lord with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings. 

R. Let your love be upon us, Lord, even as we hope in you.

For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord. 

R. Let your love be upon us, Lord, even as we hope in you.

Truly the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.

R. Let your love be upon us, Lord, even as we hope in you.

I often find Psalms hard to pray. There’s no rhythm or rhyme, and they’re often filled with jubilant praise. I am particularly challenged at times when I’m not feeling so triumphant. And this is one of those times. Psalm 33 is leading my unwilling, lamenting heart to wrestle with what it means to hope in God.

I often get this concept of “hope” wrong. I regularly hope for lots of things, but as someone once said, hope is not a plan. Father Mike Schmitz defines hope as “faith extended into the future.” It is not optimism. It is not positivity. It is not an ignorance of suffering. It is faith in the Good that exists amidst the pain — the Good that will continue to exist in our future trials — that will, in fact, be the reason we conquer our future trials. Hope as a virtue matures through trials whereas optimism is a personality trait that lends folks to continually look to the positive.

I doubt anyone would ever accuse me of being an optimist. In my younger years, I was positively pessimistic. I lived with an expectation that all things would eventually turn out badly. My personality has maintained a melancholic and often stoic nature, but faith and hope, instituted in me through God’s great Love, have brought me through to joy, to rejoicing, to life — sometimes even within a time of suffering.

There is a subtle steadfastness that underlies all the turmoil happening within my emotions and my daily experiences. This is my faith in God. Whether I am angry with Him about the pain that is before me, or I am experiencing gratitude for all He has given me, faith, hope, and love are my supportive foundation, my security, and my life. They are not, however, effortlessly maintained. All of these virtues flow out of my relationship with the Holy Trinity, and relationships are hard work. Hope is an expression of trust and love, which are actions of the will. And the will is a thing to be trained (says the woefully willful woman).

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux says, “God gives me whatever I want because I want whatever He gives.”

This is the epitome of hope within an unmistakably loving relationship. She wants whatever He is offering her. She trusts Him that much. Her hope is secure in the One who gives only Good and gives it abundantly. This is the heart posture I aspire to. This is the joyful acceptance of all that befalls us because we hope in Him.

Let us Pray:

Loving Father, I turn my eyes now on the Secure Foundation that rests beneath my unrest. As I begin to feel stabilized by Your peace, I am reminded that all my hope rests in You.




Lori MacDonald
[​originally posted on May 6th, 2020]

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