Restored in Praise

A Reflection on the Psalm for June 14th, 2020:
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

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Psalm 147

R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.

Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your children within you. 

R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.

He grants peace within your borders; he fills you with the finest of wheat. He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly. 

R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.

He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and ordinances to Israel. He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his ordinances.

R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.

Pause. Pray.

And then read more...

 
The heading for Psalm 147 in my bible* is, “God’s Word Restores Jerusalem”. In its commentary, there is a note that the hymn has three distinct sections with themes of praise. The portion of the psalm we sing this week is the third section, which is an exhortation to the holy city, Jerusalem. The note says it is a call to “recognize that [Jerusalem] has been re-created and made the place of disclosure for God’s word, a word as life-giving as water”.

When we encounter “Jerusalem” in scripture, it does not always refer exclusively to the physical city. These words of awakening and recognition would have been spoken to all the Jewish people, and in light of the New Testament we can also receive these words as the Church and the whole People of God.

The Church is the universal sacrament of salvation – we are meant to be outward signs of the hidden reality that God is alive and active. This truth we believe – that Christ is the life-giving Word of God – is what we are called to share so that the world may be healed and saved by God himself. Personally, I struggle to remember this identity and mission, and to live it out in my daily life – even though I believe it in my heart to be true and though I desire to fulfill God’s desire.

However, this struggle is partly because I am weak in my habit of praise – the action the Holy Spirit is calling out to us to engage in within this very psalm.

“Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!”

The psalmist speaks to my heart, telling me: Remember the strength He has offered you. Remember how He has blessed you, as a child, and called you His own. Recognize the peace He has brought you, the nourishment He has provided you, and how quickly He runs to your cries. Recall the Word He has given you, and His unique mission for you.

And the Lord invites and awaits my response.

I invite you to join me as I reflect on how well I have received, been transformed by, and shared God’s word… and to ask what is the next step for me, so that I can grow and become who I am.




Kendra L.
 
* Blessed Is She Catholic Journaling Bible (NAB translation)

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

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