Psalm 89 Commentary by Dr Noel Donnelly
On the 28th weekend of the Year B, the liturgy invites us to sing the final 6 verses of this 17-versed psalm.
The whole psalm does two things: firstly the whole psalm reflects on the brevity of life; but also and importantly, using the perfect number, it mentions seven times God’s loving faithfulness.
While the psalm is a reflection on the brevity of life, the verses we use today (12-17) give us a positive purpose for doing so; “Make us know the shortness of life so that we may gain wisdom of heart!” Yes, it’s not a matter of any grim head-wisdom but it involves wisdom of the loving heart, and that is a cheering aspect of this brevity: “Fill us with your love AND WE SHALL REJOICE ALL OUR DAYS!” Each and every day is a gift, so the psalmist, starting with a Morning Prayer, asks that we use it well: he (or she) sings, “In the morning, fill us with your love. Give success to the work of our hands!”
The psalmist’s prayer for wisdom of heart very aptly follows the furst reading from the Book of Wisdom: “I prayed and understanding was given to me and the spirit of Wisdom came to me!” It leads nicely to the wise answer to the man’s question to Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
The psalm’s response can happily buoy us up during the following day as we repeat, “Fill us with your love so that we may rejoice!”
Ps 89: words and music (c) Noel Donnelly. Recorded by Gerry Fitzpatrick. Graphic (c) Netta Ewing.
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Ps 89: words (c) The Grail, England. Music (c) Gerry Fitzpatrick. Recorded by Grace Buckley.
