Hope in God, I will praise him even now, my Savior and my God
Dear Friends,
Why so much rage? Why so much rage in our culture? Why so much rage in our cities and towns? Why—if we’re honest—so much rage in our own hearts?
It seems to me that disappointment, unacknowledged and untreated, easily slides into bitterness. Bitterness, unacknowledged and untreated, tends to become resentment. And resentment, unacknowledged and untreated, gradually turns into rage.
What’s God’s cure for this destructive cycle? Hope, and praise. In Psalm 42, for example, the psalmist expresses extreme disappointment. He once led the people in procession to the temple, as they shouted and sang for joy. Now he is in exile, and the billows of outrageous fortune swamp him. He once felt God’s closeness. Now he asks the Lord, “Why have you forgotten me”?
In his suffering, the psalmist’s refrain offers an eternal lesson. He acknowledges his disappointment to God, and chooses something other than bitterness, resentment, and rage. “Hope in God,” he sings, “I will praise him even now, my Savior and my God.”
What (or who) disappoints me the most? What feels most unfair? What if I were to share that with the Lord, and, as I pour out my soul to him, what if I were to choose to hope in him and praise him even now, my Savior and my God?
And in that way, we will become praise to the living God, and offer a compelling witness to this world he loves so much.
God bless you,
Fr. John Pietropaoli
