So far this Lent, we’ve seen a lot of prayers that try to frame and shape our perspective on life, from the narrative reset of ‘the normal beginning’ to the call to start the (liturgical) day in community and worship. There’s clearly a lot of care in the tradition on making a good beginning. We see that continue today in the prayer that directly follows ‘Come Let Us Worship’, Psalm 104, known colloquially by its first line, “Bless the Lord, O My Soul.”
This is a fascinating text. It’s a hymn in praise of God’s creation, reshaping earlier creation myths through the lens of the Wisdom tradition. It starts like this:
Bless the LORD, O my soul.
O LORD my God, you are very great.
You are clothed with honour and majesty,
wrapped in light as with a garment.
You stretch out the heavens like a tent,
you set the beams of your
chambers on the waters,
you make the clouds your chariot,
you ride on the wings of the wind,
you make the winds your messengers,
fire and flame your ministers. (Psalm 104.1-4)
It goes on to describe all the various kinds of geography and life God made, from oceans and mountains, to trees and grasses, to animals like cattle and lions. Even the humble mountain hyrax gets a mention.
When the text is sung rather than simply read at Great Vespers (served Saturday evening as the start of liturgical Sunday), the refrain is taken from verse 24: “O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all!”
This choice of refrain reveals why this Psalm is placed here towards the start of Vespers. The tradition once again is shaping our mental space at the start of the day: First the narrative reset of praise of our good and loving God, then the call to worship together, and now a reminder of the goodness and wisdom inherent in creation. Despite all appearances, no matter what may be happening in the world, behind all the human nonsense, there is order and wisdom at the heart of things. The sun rises in the East and sets in the West, the mountain snows feed rivers that flow out into the sea, grass grows, and birds and animals go about their business.
It seems basic, but I know I need to remember that sometimes. Even if nothing is ‘okay’, at the heart of things, deep down, “It is very good.”
“O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all!”
Amen.
Matthew Root 