God, It Is Good to Give Thanks to You
Psalm 92, this Sunday’s psalm, begins by addressing God, saying how good it is to give public thanks to God day and night. This liturgical psalm claims that the just will flourish to become as elegant as the palm trees, as strong as the cedars. This is not the promise that nothing will ever happen to them, but a recognition of the beauty of the life of truly good people and of the strength one acquires through faithful prayer and relationship with God. When we focus on gratitude and praise, our eyes are opened to the countless gifts of God and the wonders of creation. Blessed are we when we honestly call God our rock, when we have learned to get our strength from God’s unfailing love. Blessed will we be as we sing and pray this psalm together and accept its invitation to share our faith more deeply with one another.
It is good to give thanks to you, O God, to sing praise to your name, O Most High,
to proclaim your love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night.
The just will flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar of Lebanon.
They are planted in your holy house, they flourish in your courts, O God.
They still bring forth fruit in old age, they are ever full of sap and green,
to show that you are just; you are my rock, in you is no injustice.
[verses adapted from People’s Companion to the Breviary © 1997 by the Carmelites of Indianapolis]