Who Keeps Faith Forever

A Reflection on the Psalm for Sunday, December 11th, 2022:
Third Sunday of Advent

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Psalm 146

R. Lord, come and save us.

It is the Lord who keeps faith forever, who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free.

R. Lord, come and save us.

The Lord opens the eyes of the blind and lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous and watches over the strangers.

R. Lord, come and save us.

The Lord upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations.

R. Lord, come and save us.

“Alleluia!” Now that’s the way to open your eyes and start the day! 

This psalm was a traditional morning hymn of the early Jews, and it also reminds me of my morning prayer group. This gathering was born during the height of Covid by a sister in Christ who had been faithful to Morning Prayer in the chapel and who offered to continue praying Liturgy of the Hours over Zoom. To be honest, I joined because I was feeling a little cooped up. I longed for some sort of routine and needed to see faces other than my husband, David, our kids and the cats.  

At first these prayers, with their repetitions and unfamiliar cadence, felt awkward and strange. I was not very “good” at them and I stumbled around a bit, but persistence pays off and, in time, two unexpected things happened. First, I grew to love these three sisters; coming up on 3 years later, I still see their beautiful faces four mornings a week: 8:20am for Zoom coffee and then the Litany of Humility or Trust followed by the Morning Offering. We really care for one another. We laugh a fair amount, and we praise the Lord together. Second, I grew to love this ancient prayer with its strange order and beauty, especially in the selected psalms. Every morning the opening is the same: ‘‘Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will proclaim your praise.”

The “praise” we declare in this Sunday’s psalm is all for the absolute supremacy of God. He is perfectly sovereign in His care and His unfathomable love for the oppressed, the hungry, prisoners, the blind and bowed down, the stranger, orphans and widows. 

I confess, when reading this psalm for the first time, I “othered” myself from this list — I’m not hungry, in prison or bowed down, I’m not those other things — and I largely missed the main message.

But, of course, I am all of those things. I carry around a spiritual hunger. I'm imprisoned by pride, often blind to the needs of others right in front of me and bowed down with sin. And it is only the Lord who can lift us out of all those places, for He is faithful and just and will reign forever.

Declare first thing in the morning all that the Lord is and does, will do, and has done for generations.  Let this psalm be your morning prayer — in your heart or out loud.

Praise the Lord!
Praise Him! 
Alleluia!




Patty Viscount

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