Recently I got to take an intensive course on poetry and prayer. The friar teaching my course expressed how meaningful the psalms can be when we take on the lens of poetry or storytelling. The psalms can tell and portray many things and in a like manner, there are many ways to pray and have relationship with God. We can consider the psalm that is used today to be a prayer of appreciation and praise.
We Were like Men Dreaming
The Lord protected the Israelites during their exile. He never abandoned them in the darkness of their trials. When they were finally delivered, the people of Zion may have experienced a kind of disbelief. After so many years of suffering, it must have felt like a dream, almost unreal to have relief.
How often do we, too, go through trials and forget that God is already at work even in our pits of doubt, suffering, and disbelief? The hope and relief the Israelites experienced reveals something essential about the nature of God. His designs are always at work. He seeks us out, draws near, and desires to encounter and embrace us. In that encounter, through the abundance of His love and grace, joy begins to take root. And not just any joy, but a joy that overflows, a contagious joy that spreads. We see this in scripture! Even in our despair and disbelief, He invites us to imagine, to dream, and to be in awe.
Our Mouth Was filled with Laughter
I long to take part in the laughter and joy of the people in the Gospel and the joy of the saints. I want to become more deeply aware of God’s providential hand in my life, and to grow in reverent awe.
Through simple, intentional efforts to acknowledge God in my daily life, I have found myself filled with gratitude and wonder. In some seasons, I am better at this than others. On gloomy or mundane days, I often ask my coworkers or family, “What made you laugh or smile today?” More often than not, this question stumps people. But for me, it is a small way of planting seeds of joy to cultivate the kind of contagious laughter that our faith makes possible. I want to hear the “glory stories” of others. I want to witness the joy that bubbles up from a joke, a humble moment, or a moment of grace. I want to marvel at someone smile and eyes light up as they share these accounts with me knowing deep in my heart that God is the source.
The LORD Has Done Great Things for Us
To me, this psalm speaks profoundly about a community that suffers together and rejoices together. It reminds me to reflect on the presence of God. After all, what would this psalm be without the Israelites acknowledging God’s presence? We can learn from this reading that God is true, and that His love and power, though often unexplainable, can bring us together in joy, imagination, and awe.
