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A Reflection on the Psalm for February 10th, 2019:
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

PSALM 138
R. (1c) In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple
and give thanks to your name.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
Because of your kindness and your truth;
for you have made great above all things
your name and your promise.
When I called, you answered me;
you built up strength within me.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
All the kings of the earth shall give thanks to you, O LORD,
when they hear the words of your mouth;
and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD:
"Great is the glory of the LORD."
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
Your right hand saves me.
The LORD will complete what he has done for me;
your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.

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What does it mean to sing God’s praise?

First and foremost, praise is a form of prayer where we acknowledge that God is God (CCC 2639). This is important for me, as I forget on a daily, sometimes hourly, basis that it is God, not I, who is God. Affirming the truth of who He is, and expressing our gratitude for what He does, begins the process of orienting ourselves towards Him in right relationship.

Becoming comfortable with praise takes practice, just as expressing our love for any person does. It can be even more uncomfortable for those of us who grew up in a culture where any kind of acknowledgement of inequality seems wrong. But we are not equal to God, and to erroneously believe that we are is a detriment to our well-being. Knowing who God is and who we are allows us to live in freedom. This should fill us with wonder and awe — the One who is, has been and always will be has created us out of nothingness to become someone. Someone in His image and likeness, who can become like Him.

"Knowing who God is and who we are allows us to live in freedom." 

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We are different from the angels, who are also persons who were made to praise God. At their creation, with one act of the will, the angels chose to praise and serve God for all eternity (or not). But as human persons, we can make this free choice to love and serve multiple times throughout our life. Not only this, but our expression of our “yes” to God is both corporeal and spiritual — we can sing His praises with our vocal chords, express our openness by extending our hands, lift our eyes upward to focus on a crucifix or towards the heavens, and all this outward expression reveals the inward disposition of our souls.

This week, I want to challenge myself to sing praise and take it to a whole new level. I invite you to do the same. Let us take this psalm with us to a quiet, secluded room and really /sing/ it. You don’t need to know a melody off-hand, but make one as you go along. Sing it once through. Now, sing it a second time, but this time chose to act in ways that reflect what the psalmist is saying — join him in his action. Express thanks with your hands; literally bow down before God; call out to Him with more volume; put your hands to your ears to listen; stretch out your hand just as He stretches out His hand to you. With your imagination, let the prayer of this psalm come alive in your mind and in your whole self.

I pray that God reveals Himself to each of us more through this expression of praise, and in turn, reveals us to ourselves. Amen.
​
​Kendra Chisholm

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