TO GOD BE THE GLORY –

The pilgrims did not arrive in the Holy City and stand in the holy sanctuary without having struggled to get there. Each one could tell a story about lengthy hot days and long cold nights; about hunger and thirst; about aches and pains; and about obstacles they met and had to cope with along the way. So now it was time to lift up their hands before the LORD and exalt Him for bringing them through; giving them the privilege of standing on holy ground to worship the King of Heaven. So the compilers of the Psalter chose a psalm written by David after all his struggles and trials to be finally crowned King of all Israel. David’s prayer was not some hollow “Thank you” to God just to be courteous and impress others, but a heartfelt and deeply moving expression of gratitude for God’s amazing grace in helping him to remain strong and resolute to be what God wanted him to be.

“My heart bursts with joy when I worship You; yes, in the presence of angels I sing songs of praise to You as I lift my head in Your holy sanctuary; I worship You because of Your unfailing love and faithfulness. For You made Yourself famous for being One who carries out His promises, more than anything else. You’ve never failed to respond when I’ve call out to You; this gave me the inner strength to carry on. Someday the kings of the earth will worship You, O LORD Eternal, once they listen to what You have to say; yes, they will sing songs about how the LORD Eternal works His miracles, for when You do them they are spectacular. Not only that, but even though the LORD Eternal is so highly honored, He still pays attention to the down and out, and remains constantly in touch with them. Even though I’ve encountered stressful situations, You have always kept me strong when facing difficulties by reaching out Your arm and letting Your right hand pull me through. Now I believe the LORD Eternal will finish what He’s has started in my life. O LORD Eternal, Your unfailing love is never ending, that’s why I trust You to never abandon me, because I am Your prized possession.” Psalm 138:1-8

Reflection: To her dismay, CT scans and tests proved that Sister Aileen Murray’s illness was in fact cancer. To some degree, Aileen was relieved to know that the specialists at the oncology unit in Brighton, England had finally identified what made her feel so bad. Notwithstanding the disappointment, she decided to carry on her life and leave whatever happened in God’s hands. In other words, she chose not to ask the Lord for any particular outcome, but trusted Him to do what was best for Him and for her, and to do it His way. So she decided to go on a retreat at St. Mary’s Convent in the small town of Wantage, near Oxford, England, and serve as a lay minister while there. During that time one of the nuns asked her if she planned to carry on in the ministry given to her, or was she ready for the Lord to do something really special through her life. Aileen told the nun that she needed to pray about that. Later, while having her devotions she turned to Psalm 138, and after reading the last two verses she decided to trust God not to give up on her until He was finished with what He had started. So she agreed to launch out into new waters, and after leaving the convent went on to become even busier than before by going around and sharing the power of prayer and the strength that comes from holding on to God’s unchanging hand. What testimonies we have here from both the psalmist and Sister Aileen to the truth that God always carries through on His plans for our lives. Sometimes plans seem to go awry because we decide to take over, or we refuse to do our part in making sure God’s will prevails in our lives. Often that’s because we don’t see things turning out the way we want them to, or we believe we know better than God what’s best for us. The psalmist did not operate under any such illusions. He wanted to be what God designed him to be, no matter what. We all can be sure of one thing: God will never leave His work unfinished, and He certainly won’t turn it over to us to finish because He can’t get it done. Although we may not be what we want to be, let’s thank God we’re not what we once were. Furthermore, to keep on believing that He desires to continue His work in us, transforming us into what He intends us to become. The only question that remains is this: are we, like Sister Aileen and the psalmist, willing to let Him have His way with us until He’s finished.