Daily Word of Grace # 239 (May 12, 2021)
One of the psalms frequently read during the “Morning Prayer” service in The Book of Common Prayer is the “Jubilate” (Psalm 100): “O be joyful in the Lord all ye lands; serve the Lord with gladness and come before his presence with a song. Be ye sure that the Lord he is God; it is he who hath made us and not we ourselves; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture. O go your way into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise; be thankful unto him and speak good of his Name. For the Lord is gracious; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth from generation to generation” (45). This is a joyful and theologically loaded psalm that reminds us that we did not make ourselves, but have been made by God—every heartbeat, every breath a gift. And as the sheep of God’s pasture we are also cared for by the Lord our shepherd (Psalm 23; John 10), who is indeed “gracious.” God’s mercy is not temporary but eternal, and indeed “his mercy is everlasting.” In a world of lies, God’s truth—the truth of the gospel that you are fully known, fully forgiven, fully loved by God—indeed never ends but “endureth from generation to generation.” Who God is and what God has done (and continues to do) for us enables us to be joyful, and to respond with singing, thanksgiving, and praise.
Love and Prayers,
Dave