This morning’s Psalms...

...included “whoso offereth praise glorifieth me” (50:23). Of course the motto of Bach that he closed off every composition with was Soli Deo Gloria. It occurred to me as I prayed those words at Matins that our exclamations of praise are always the mark of ENJOYING God’s good creation and our pilgrimage in this world and His mighty saving acts in Christ Jesus. And with that, the remembrance of whence it all comes, and to Whom belongs the praise. This is already an act that glorifies the Giver of all good things. There’s a great line in Alice Walker’s The Color Purple about how the protagonist thinks it must frustrate (well, she said “pisses God off”) when folks walk by the color purple in nature and don’t even notice it! I’d add: Or pass by a hyacinth and not breathe deeply of its fragrance, or stand under an apple tree in full bloom and not rejoice to drink in the sweet odors. I think that’s profound and true. There’s so much beauty, so much goodness to celebrate and to refer all of it to the great Giver, and when we’re blind to whom we praise, that must be immensely “frustrating” to God. But when we remember that a big part of our vocation as Christians is to return the praise for ALL His goodness and so glorify Him on behalf of a blind world, as priests of God most high, the joy of life only increases more and more.