A text – Psalm 145:8-9, 14-21
145:8 The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
145:9 The LORD is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.
145:14 The LORD upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down.
145:15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.
145:16 You open your hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing.
145:17 The LORD is just in all his ways, and kind in all his doings.
145:18 The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
145:19 He fulfills the desire of all who fear him; he also hears their cry, and saves them.
145:20 The LORD watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.
145:21 My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, and all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.
A reflection:
These verses of Psalm 145 are filled with the praise of the Lord. They are a kind of hymn to the generosity of God. They show God’s universal love for humanity, upholding those who are falling, satisfying their desire and paying attention to everyone who fears or loves or calls on the Lord.
I have been struck with despair lately, watching the news, thinking of all those people injured and displaced by war and fire and flood, wondering how they are even surviving. I am moved by the misery they are enduring, sometimes at the hands of nature, sometimes at the hands of humans motivated by fear or greed or anger.
We reach out to help, but sometimes these many situations feel overwhelming, and the numbers of people in need are huge. But if we know, as the psalmist does, that the Lord uplifts us humans when we are falling and responds to our pleas, then God is surely working in the midst of all these trials. We see the horror of it on the news. And sometimes we see God sending helpers to comfort, to feed, to lift, and to rescue. God is always at work to create a trustworthy world.
Despair will never help us. Contributing whatever we can, praying whenever we can, and seeking the goodness of God as we live in the abundant hope God supplies to us may be our way of co-creating with God a trustworthy world. If our children and their children see us so engaged, we are proclaiming the kingdom of God coming near, as is our job in God’s great mission. Praise the Lord and bless God’s holy name.
A prayer:
Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for being ever faithful to humans, in peaceful times and in disasters of all sorts. Help us to praise your name and proclaim your kingdom coming near so that we are witnesses for the sake of the world you love. Amen.
Short Dwellings in the Word by Dr. Pat Taylor Ellison 