Doxology in This Confusing World

“I will trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.” (Ps. 13:5-6)

At times like this, it is difficult to find the words to express our feelings. What can you say when things seem so unfair, when life is unkind, and when the pain is so real? How can we speak when the incongruence of what we believe and what experience is so strong? How do we respond to the disorientation that is so real in this confusing world?

All too often, we find ourselves caught somewhere in between the memories of God’s faithfulness in the past and our current confusion and do not know what words to utter. Our tongues are tied by our experiences, but we long to open our lips and say something. At these times in life, you can only move toward doxology. At these times you must end in praise.

This does not mean that we ignore the pain and confusion that we feel and experience. That would deny an important part of our relationship with God. Throughout the Psalms we are invited into an ongoing conversation with God, to share the words of the psalmists who live their lives in a continuous movement between orientation, disillusionment, and reorientation. In that way, the Psalms provide us the chance to share the journey of faith with the psalmists. They help give voice to our relationship with God. They give expression to the reality of disorientation, when everything in heaven and on earth seems to be skewed. They help voice our questions and complaints to God when we are bewildered and perplexed. But they also help us find our way to a new place, in which we are surprised by the grace of God.

Doxology is a compass that points our way on that journey. The praise of God is a lighthouse that protects us in the storm, the beacon that guides us steadily to a place of new hope, new possibilities, and new beginnings. It speaks to the seasons of life, reminding us that even in the darkest winters of life spring will come again. Through doxology we are reminded that in the midst of our pain God continues to bring a new hope to life, especially when it does not seem possible.

This praise does not simply guide us back to the place we were before, for we can never go back. We have been changed. Through our experiences and through our struggles with God in the midst of our disorientation, we become different people. Doxology ushers us to a new place of growth, a new fertile soil of possibility. When we find ourselves there, we will dance anew with the God who continually moves and responds to every step of our lives. There we will rediscover the grace of God, who intervenes in a world where death and destruction seem to have their way.

“Oh the depth of riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgements and how inscrutable his ways! For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory for ever. Amen.” (Rom. 11:33, 36)

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Let all the people say, ‘Amen!’ Praise the Lord.” (Ps. 106:48)