How Long?

A Reflection on the Psalm for September 8th, 2019:
Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Psalm 90

R. Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.

You turn man back to dust, and say, “Turn back, you children of Adam.” For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past, or like a watch in the night. R.

You sweep them away; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning; in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers. R.

So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart. Turn, O Lord! How long? Have compassion on your servants! R.

Satisfy us in the morning with your stead-fast love, so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Let the favour of the Lord our God be upon us, and prosper for us the work of our hands. R.

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On the day of our wedding, my husband and I had an unusual request for music. Before I tell you, you need to know as someone who was a paid soloist for wedding Masses, I am a total snob about people’s choices. What music is and isn’t appropriate for Mass matters a great deal to me. Style isn’t an issue (I loves me some praise and worship), but the lyrics were of the utmost importance. If your wedding song included the word troubadour, I am judging you. Now that you know what a terrible person I am, I will confess that my husband and I selected a very non-traditional song for our own wedding Mass: 40 by U2. Now before you stone me for my hypocrisy, the lyrics were, in their entirety, extracted from Psalm 40.


The reason I mention that is because my favourite verse from both Psalm 40 and this selection from Psalm 90 is the plea, “How long?”. The longing for the Lord so perfectly expressed in those two words speak to the core of my being as a Christian. Even on one of the most joyful days of our lives, we knew that this life is leading to something. We are waiting on the Lord – and not always patiently. We are keeping our watch, day and night for the Lord, not because we fear His returning, but rather because it is what we most desire.

"We are keeping our watch, day and night for the Lord, not because we fear His returning, but rather because it is what we most desire." 

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This life, this beautiful, messy, incredible life that my husband, children and I share is a precious foretaste of what is awaiting us. We have been given so many moments when the veil between Heaven and Earth has been lifted and we were able to glimpse the purity of God’s immense love for us. When we were married, when we’ve reunited after times of travel and sickness, when our children were born: I felt so full of what I most longed for – unconditional love and grace – that I thought I would burst. And yet I know that these are just a taste of what Heaven will be. I have tasted and seen the steadfast love of our God in all the blessings He continues to pour out in my life, and so I cry out “how long” until we experience the fullness of Him?


I will rejoice in His steadfast love as it greets me every morning and I will continue, without shame, to sing of my delight and desire for the Lord. How long, Lord?


​Stephanie Potter

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