Thursday, March 26, 2015
Psalm 131
Here we have a short but moving Psalm, again from the collection of Psalms of Ascents, ones that were probably recited or sung while traveling to Jerusalem. The humility expressed in the Psalm is striking. While people were making their way to Jerusalem to join with others to observe a great festival, the message of the Psalm challenges that tendency toward uncritical group-motivated excitement. The reader/pilgrim is reminded that even in sacred spaces it is God who takes the initiative in revelation, not us.
In our Christian liturgy we speak about lifting up our hearts, at the outset of the Eucharistic prayer. The message of that prayer and this Psalm is different in one sense: in the Eucharistic prayer we lift up our hearts, while the Psalmist dares not be so brazen. In another sense the two are on the same wavelength, though. Christ who comes to us in the Eucharist doesn’t do so because of our magic words or secret handshakes (or other manual actions). The lifting up of our hearts is our humble and obedient response of thanksgiving for a God who came to live with and as one of us.
- Matthew Kieswetter
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