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.
(Psalm 9:1-2)
COVID-19 has stolen so much from us. I don’t need to list it out. You watch the news. You know the toll – in lives, in the economy, in freedom – there is no need to state them all. But amongst the newsworthy lists of things robbed from us by this pandemic you won’t the opening verses of Psalm 9. And yet this too has been taken from us.
“I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart.” Now, you may think “I can give thanks even in quarantine” – and you’d be right – but I’m not sure it can ever be whole-hearted gratitude. And that’s because in our hearts are people who, if are rejoicing about something, we want to be able to rejoice alongside. It’s like if you just found out you were going to receive an amazing reward. You hang up the phone congratulating you. What’s the first thing most of us want to do? Tell someone! Not because we’re arrogant or boastful, but because we want to share our joy around as broadly as possible. So, sadly, while we are apart, it is more difficult to “give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart.”
“I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.” Pretty much the same confounding situation as above. When we’re able to gather for in-person worship, being able to tell of God’s goodness is easy, a no-brainer even. But under stay-at-home orders (which continue through May 27), who are we to tell? Our family that we’re sequestered with (for those who are fortunate enough to have people with them)? Sure. Our dog? Absolutely! (Though Brutus tends to interpret my excited tone as an invitation to jump all over me and he’s 85-pounds, so I try to stay calm when speaking with him!). Again, though, it’s not the same without a gathered community.
We need not go on. The point is made. And I make this point because I want us to acknowledge and truly mourn what we’ve lost. We haven’t, to be clear, lost everything. God still loves us immensely even if our circumstances don’t permit us to experience and enact the fullness of this psalm. But there is still loss and we’d be spiritual unfaithful and emotionally immature if we just tried to suppress or deny this loss. Better to acknowledge it – with tears even – then ignore it. Ignored pains always do more damage.
But maybe there is one other thing we must begin to consider: A new way. I don’t like to use these devotionals for overly-specific calls-to-action – I think that cuts against the point of a devotion – but I’ll risk it here in order to open up a conversation about how we can be giving thanks, telling of God’s wonderful deeds, being glad, exulting, and singing… even when we’re apart. We need to find new ways to do these things since our former way is not here – and may not come back any time soon.
So, start journaling on God’s goodness with an eye to sharing what you write. Start finding ways to not just sing to the Lord, but to record and share that song. Use FPC Conversations (our Facebook Group) to share stories of God’s goodness. Take the time to intentionally read and respond to the stories others share. Write something for the upcoming Digital Pulpit and Pew. Record a video for the same. Find new ways that I haven’t thought of here and share those with me and others.
We’re in a season of loss. We must admit that. But our God is still providing new ways for us to practice these old spiritual habits of thanksgiving and rejoicing. Let us avail ourselves of them with gusto and zeal. Amen.
