In the fourth century, Rabbi Eleazar ben Abina said that anyone who recited Psalm 145 three times a day would certainly have a place in the world to come.
How fitting, then, that we would sing and pray this Psalm here in the middle of this season of Advent, as we wait and watch for the time when Jesus Christ will return to make God’s reign a final reality throughout the universe.
The promise of Advent, as we wait for God’s coming among us, rests on the nature of God, spelled out for us in the book of Exodus, and quoted by the Psalmist.
“The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.”
Our gracious God loves us in spite of the fact we that spend a great deal of time being distracted by the cares and sorrows of this life, and caught up in ourselves, forgetting God’s compassion for us and for all of creation.
Our merciful God loves us in spite of our hardheartedness and our resulting separation from one another and from creation itself.
Our God, abounding in steadfast love, pours out love on us even as we ration out our small bits of love in miserly and judgmental portions only to those we deem deserving.
And so one of the disciplines of this Advent season, as we wait on the Lord, is to meditate on the nature of our gracious God and to long for and to strive to be, in every moment of our small lives, more gracious, merciful, patient, loving, and compassionate; and in doing so, to catch a glimpse, and to experience, even if only in fragments, the light of eternal life, here and now.
Richard Benson, who founded the Society of St John the Evangelist, reminds us that “eternity is the manifestation of the marvelous unification of life.”
Having eternity in sight, we no longer live for ourselves, but we long for and strive for the well-being of all, just as God is good to all and God’s compassion covers all of God ‘s magnificent creation.
Benson says that “The life of heaven is a self-communicating life; it is the life of God. And as the Father gives the fullness of life to the Son, and the Father and the Son give the fullness of their life to the Holy Spirit, so each one of us dwelling in the power of the same Spirit must be continually giving forth that life.”
Having eternity in sight, we can live in and share God’s abounding love with one another and with all of creation, for in the revelation of the Spirit, Benson says, “all are perfectly one; one undivided act of love thrilling through all.”
As God’s love thrills through all of creation, and we draw closer to God by growing in love during in this season of Advent, praise to God becomes our eternal work.
In the Jewish synagogue, Psalm 145 is recited daily, three times a day.
As we grow into this eternal work of praise, may the words of this psalm become our unending prayer as “we join with saints and angels in the chorus of praise that rings through eternity.”
“I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you, and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; God’s greatness is unsearchable.”
Amen
Resources
The HarperCollins Bible Commentary, James L. Mays, General Editor. Harper San Francisco, 2000.
Love Came Down: Anglican Readings for Advent and Christmas, compiled by Christopher L. Webber. Morehouse Publishing, 2002.
Enriching our Worship 1, Church Publishing Incorporated, NY, 1997.