VIII.
The Psalmist begins – “I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart …”

Whole-hearted thankfulness, whole-hearted praise – What does that look like? What does that sound like? What does that feel like?

Today spend time with this Psalm noticing how the Psalmist brings his “whole heart” to The Lord.

IX.
Psalm 9:1-12 (NRSV)

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.

I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

When my enemies turned back,
they stumbled and perished before you.

For you have maintained my just cause;
you have sat on the throne giving righteous judgment.

You have rebuked the nations, you have destroyed the wicked;
you have blotted out their name forever and ever.

The enemies have vanished in everlasting ruins;
their cities you have rooted out;
the very memory of them has perished.

But the Lord sits enthroned forever,
he has established his throne for judgment.

He judges the world with righteousness;
he judges the peoples with equity.

The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.

And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.

Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion.
Declare his deeds among the peoples.

For he who avenges blood is mindful of them;
he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.

X.
What “clues” did the Psalmist give us on what it might sound like to bring our whole heart to The Lord?

If we have been taught that praise and prayer must sound a certain way, be made up of certain words and phrases, what can prayer and praise be if those “prescribed” words and phrases do not arise from our whole heart?

Take time today to open your whole heart to yourself and to God and offer that in some way to God, remembering the Psalmist also told us, “… for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.”

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}