Sing God’s Praises

Psalm 148

Praise the Blessed One!

Give praise from the heavens,

            and from the ends of

                        the earth!

Give praise all you angels,

            angels of earth and of heaven!

 

Give praise, sun and moon,

            give praise, all you shining stars!

Give praise, all universes,

            the whole cosmos of Creation!

 

Praise the Blessed One!

            For through Love all was created

And firmly fixed for ever and ever;

            Yes, the pattern of creation

                        was established.

 

Give praise to the Beloved,

                        all the earth,

            all that swim in the deep,

And all the winged ones in the air!

 

Give praise all mountains and hills,

            all trees and all minerals!

Give praise all four-legged

            and all the creep on the ground!

 

Leaders of the nations and all peoples,

                        young and old,

Give praise! United together in all

                        your diversity,

            that peace and harmony might

                        flourish on earth!

 

Let all people praise the Beloved,

            who is exalted in heaven and

                        on earth;

            whose glory is above heaven

            and earth.

 

For all are called to be friends,

            companions to the true Friend,

            giving their lives joyfully as

                        co-creators and people

                                    of peace!

Praises be to the Blessed One,

            the very Breath of our breath,

                the very Heart of our heart.

From Psalms for Praying © 2007 Nan C. Merrill
Continuum International Publishing Group

Read these ancient words of life from Synesius of Cyrene, a bishop in the year 400:

When the dawn appears,

When the light grows,

When midday burns,

When has ceased the holy light,

When the clear night comes;

I sing your praises, O Father,

Healer of hearts,

Healer of bodies,

Giver of wisdom,

Remedy of evil.

Reflect for a moment on your day. When the sun rose, and you awakened and began to move into the day –

Did you sing God’s praises?

Did you feel God’s healing presence with you?

In the burning midday hours, with the sun hot, the water refreshing –

How was God with you, how was God healing your heart?

Did you turn toward the One Love with your broken heart? Did you rest in the love of this community, in this sacred space?

And now, as the night comes, is your heart full of gratitude and ready, with Synesius of Cyrene, to sing God’s praises?

Those words: Praise God – the exuberance, the wild abandon, the joyous acclaim!

This – singing God’s praises – is the response of someone who has seen the worst that life has to offer, and has been given a new way, a clean start – a release from the captivity of brokenness. Someone who has been healed, heart, body, soul, and knows in their gut what that gift means. Like the leper whose skin was healed, we turn to the Holy One who transforms us into whole and holy people – we turn to God with gratitude and praise.

Tomorrow, as you move through the grace-filled rhythms of the day, notice how God is healing you. Receive God’s wisdom. Yield to the glorious freedom from your false self into the True Self that God has created in you.

And as you feel – truly feel – what that salvation, redemption, liberation means, surely you will erupt with praise for God! Your life will embody that praise. I encourage you to find ways to praise God, and to joyfully share this Good News – this good, good news – with others, even as they share their stories of freedom and redemption with you.

When the dawn appears,

When the light grows,

When midday burns,

When has ceased the holy light,

When the clear night comes;

We sing your praises, O God,

Healer of hearts,

Healer of bodies,

Giver of wisdom,

Remedy of evil.

Prayer:

Teach us, O Holy One, what it means to be people of praise.

Heal our hearts –

Heal our bodies –

Give us wisdom –

And deliver us from evil –

That we may joyfully praise you as people who are free in your eternal and abundant love.