Reflections from My Lanai

Fill us at daybreak with your kindness, that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days. (Psalm 90: 14)

The response to the first reading in today’s liturgy is Psalm 90, a communal lament that contrasts God’s eternity with the brevity of human life. The psalm is appropriate today as a reminder that whatever struggles we face now, God is here with us. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge. (v.1)

In her reflection on Psalm 90, Vinita Hampton Wright shares this: It is possible for people to learn how to use the time they are given to grow in wisdom. And daybreak, which happens over and over again, is one more opportunity to be filled with God’s kindness and to prosper in the work we do. (Give Us This Day, September 24, 2020)

Janet Sullivan Whitaker has set this psalm to music in her hymn, “In Every Age”, 1999. You can find a performance of this hymn by googling the title and composer.

In Every Age

1. Long before the mountains came to be

and the land and sea and stars of the night,

through the endless seasons of all time,

you have always been, you will always be.

In ev’ry age, O God, you have been our refuge.

In ev’ry age, O God, you have been our hope.

2. Destiny is cast, and at your silent word

we return to dust and scatter to the wind.

A thousand years are like a single moment gone,

as the light that fades at the end of day.

3. Teach us to make use of the time we have.

Teach us to be patient even as we wait.

Teach us to embrace our ev’ry joy and pain,

To sleep peacefully, and to rise up strong.