When Psalms of Praise Fall Short...

Psalm 84:1-6

Yesterday in church, we had a discussion on Psalm 84:1-6. The person leading the reflection asked us two questions: “What do we appreciate about the passage? And what gets under our skin?” I truthfully stated that the whole passage got under my skin. You see, I wasn’t in a particularly praising God mood that day. In fact, for the past few days, weeks, maybe even months I’ve been feeling extremely frustrated: with God, with humanity, and with the Institutional Church.  

My frustration lies in the fact that we as humans embody this Taylor Swift lyric: “I have this thing where I get older, but just never wiser.” In humanity’s case, in the 21st century, many of us have access to a vast wealth of knowledge and while some are using that knowledge to create a more just and equitable world, many of us, especially those in positions of power, seem intent on continuing the cycle of violence and oppression. 

 Over the last few months, with the continued rise of fascism and the far right I have wanted to yell, “didn’t we try this before? It went horribly wrong and led to misery and death for millions! Why are we doing the same things again?” 

Not to mention inflation, and more and more people struggling to pay for food and shelter, while recognizing that the US does have the resources to care for the most vulnerable. But that would require us to let go of our thirst for war and cut our bloated military budget and ensure that multibillion-dollar corporations paid their fair share of taxes.  

Yet politicians and a significant chunk of the American population seem to be content with continuing to choose war over the care and safety of their fellow citizens and they are more intent on ensuring multibillion-dollar corporations can continue to pay their CEOS an obscene amount of money, then with ensuring that their fellow citizens can be housed, take care of their children, and have food.

And don’t get me started on the institutional church. With the continued rise of Christian nationalism on the right, the belittling of Black and brown liberation theologies, and the seemingly out of touchiness of the predominantly white Mainline Church, my patience with the institutional church is at an all-time low. 

As a result, I really was not feeling Psalm 84:1-6 and its tone of praise. Instead of telling God:  

“How dear to me is your dwelling, O Lord of hosts! * 
My soul has a desire and longing for the courts of the Lord; 
my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God”  

I wanted to say, “God, right now, talking to you or being near you is the last thing I want to do.” These past few days and weeks I have been resonating with the psalms of anger and lamentations rather than that of praise.  

But even when I’d rather skip over passages such as Psalm 84, reading them can still be useful for two reasons:

1) It reminds me that my current emotional state will pass. It gets so easy for me to think that my current mood is indicative of how I will always feel. When I am in a season of sadness, I forget what it’s like to be happy. But Psalm 84 reminds me that this season will pass, (and come back again and pass). I may not currently relate to psalms of praise, but I have in the past and I know I will again in the future.  

2) Psalms of praise can be reminders of hope. Verse 5 in particular stands out to me:  

Those who go through the desolate valley will find it a place of springs, * 
for the early rains have covered it with pools of water. 

Part of me reads that verse and is like, “psh yeah right.” But part of me is also reminded of past experiences where things have been tough and yet I could still see glimpses of God. The desolate valley that I had been inhibiting in, where I had been drowning in because of the heavy rains, suddenly became a place of beauty. The heavy rains created springs and pools of nourishment and life.  

Listen, I personally think that on a national and global scale, things will become much worse before they get better. Just call me Cassandra. So it will become even harder to relate to psalms of praise and yet instead of just skipping over them, I urge us to reflect on them, even briefly. No, not to try and force ourselves to feel better or because we worship an egotistical God who needs a praise fix.

But because these psalms of praise serve as a reminder that we can and have experienced joy before and we will again. They also point us toward hope. Even in the midst of our sorrow and anguish, there will be glimpses of joy and hope. Psalms of praise help us to hold onto that reality.  

Image: Person outside, facing the sunset, with arms raised: Psalms of praise serve as a reminder that we can and have experienced joy before and we will again. They also point us toward hope. Even in the midst of our sorrow and anguish, there will be glimpses of joy and hope. Psalms of praise help us to hold onto that reality.