Soli Dio Gloria

A Reflection on the Psalm for Sunday, January 28th, 2024:
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Psalm 95 

​R. O that today you would listen to the voice of the Lord. Do not harden your hearts!

O come, let us sing to the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

​R. O that today you would listen to the voice of the Lord. Do not harden your hearts!

O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. 

​R. O that today you would listen to the voice of the Lord. Do not harden your hearts!

O that today you would listen to his voice! Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your ancestors tested me, and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. 

​R. O that today you would listen to the voice of the Lord. Do not harden your hearts!

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

Psalm 95 opens Morning Prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours. All priests and religious are expected to pray this specific psalm each morning, and laypersons are encouraged to pray it as well. Bible scholars note that this Psalm was chosen deliberately, as it properly orients the faithful to the day, beginning with exultant praise to God. In the Psalm for this Sunday two additional verses are also offered: first, a reminder to bow down and kneel before Him for He is Lord of all, and we are His sheep; and, second, a caution against hardening our hearts to His voice and testing the Lord, with a reminder about the Israelites who trusted God and went into the wilderness but then grew complacent and turned from Him and his Lordship.  

While only three of the verses in Psalm 95 were chosen for this Sunday’s Psalm, the full Psalm for Morning Prayer includes five verses. The second verse reminds us that our Lord is a mighty God, the great king over all the gods, who by His hand created the entire universe, its seas, mountains, and “dry land.” The final verse warns the Israelites to respond to His grace and not harden their hearts, else they face the consequences of God’s anger.

In retirement, I returned enthusiastically to painting, setting up a makeshift space in our large and oddly shaped basement bathroom with its availability of windows for natural light. Behind my easel, there is a chaotic bulletin board with photos, colour palettes and technique ideas. But it is the quote from Michelangelo posted at the centre of it all that I love best: “Only God creates. The rest of us just copy.” This gives me pause to acknowledge the glory of God as the ultimate creator – of me, of you and of the universe. It’s a reminder that all created human art, realism and abstract alike, is truly available to us only with overt or subconscious acknowledgement of the ultimate Creator. 

An artist I follow closely on Instagram signs the back of all her paintings “Soli Dio Gloria,” which means “Glory to God Alone.” She was inspired by Bach, who signed every one of his compositions after his final musical note with this very exaltation or simply with the abbreviation “S.D.G.” It reminds us that every part of our day, whether seemingly important or insignificant, is really only for God’s glory.

So, over the next few mornings, see if you can wake up with Psalm 95, shouting for joy and praising God! And, at day’s end, as you review and reflect on all you’ve experienced in the past 24 hours, acknowledge the Lord of Psalm 95, your Maker, and try whispering into the darkness as you close your eyes:

“Soli Dio Gloria.”


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Patty Viscount

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