It was a great day for our annual Church Motto Text when, in its first month, it was the (lone) Scripture quoted in the new American President's inaugural address.
He chose it for much the same reason, I imagine, as we chose it: looking ahead from within the reality of weeping to a future joy.
As we continue reflecting on the Psalms in Lent it is worth noticing a correction I made when (on my sole preaching Sunday of 2021 so far) in the opening service in January I indicated that this is part of a two part verse.
What (for brevity) we chose not to put on our card - and which for secular purposes Joe Biden probably never considered quoting - is the other, qualifying part of the poetic stanza:
For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favour lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
but joy comes in the morning.
Ah, there is God after all.
It is not some anti-gravitational life force that pulls human hope up out of weeping. It is the grace, the favour of God.
Nor, it should be added, is weeping an unforeseen problem foisted on a victim God and his human creation. It is a consequence perhaps of judgment, perhaps of withdrawn favour (which is similar but not quite the same).
Put another way, our Motto Text is not a lot of use unless we also see God there. And so we pray . . .
