The New New Orientation

 

Over the last few days, we have returned to the framework of orientation (Psalm 1 or 127 or 131 or 133 or 145) to times when the old order collapsed, and you feel like you cannot determine where you are.  All feels like chaos!  These are psalms of lament like Psalm 22 or 77 or 139-143.  But then, there are psalms of reorientation and new order!  This is not a return to what was, but a new creation of what God is doing now.   One example is the final psalm 150:

 ^1-6 Hallelujah!
Praise God in his holy house of worship,
    praise him under the open skies;
Praise him for his acts of power,
    praise him for his magnificent greatness;
Praise with a blast on the trumpet,
    praise by strumming soft strings;
Praise him with castanets and dance,
    praise him with banjo and flute;
Praise him with cymbals and a big bass drum,
    praise him with fiddles and mandolin.
Let every living, breathing creature praise God!
    Hallelujah!

Augustine once said, “A Christian should be hallelujah from head to foot!”.  Note also that are not many external reasons given for the reason to let loose with praise to God.  When you read the words above it isn’t a long list of proof or evidence.  We don’t get specifics here!  As scholars say, this is a psalm when we are unfettered and lost in wonder, love and praise.  When was the last time you were lost in God’s grace, goodness, peace, and presence?  What if this doesn’t need to depend on the external scoreboard of life?  What if God’s goodness is always the current of life, but we have become adjusted to human’s way of living?  How do you or I or we get caught in a flow of faith that takes us in new directions we never saw coming?  How can hallelujah be the first word on your lip in the morning, the destination/direction throughout the day, and the last word you say before you close your eyes?  May these questions percolate and propel your life this day and in the days to come.