Fr Matthew Reese

1 May God be merciful to us and bless us, *
show us the light of his countenance and come to us.
2 Let your ways be known upon earth, *
your saving health among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise you, O God; *
let all the peoples praise you.
—Psalm 67:1-3

Dear Friends in Christ,

For the admirable few of you reading Morning Prayer before Eucharist this morning, you will encounter two beautiful psalms of praise: no. 66 (Jubilate Deo) which begins “Be joyful in God, all you lands,” and no. 67 (Deus misereatur), beginning “May God be merciful to us and bless us.”

The latter has, since the second English Prayerbook of 1552, been the alternate canticle to the Nunc dimittis (Luke 2:29-32), in which the aged Simeon beholds the Christ child in the temple and exclaims, “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace: according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation…”

The 1552 and subsequent Prayerbooks include this Psalm as the alternative to the Nunc (and Psalm 98 as the alternative to the Magnificat) because of Protestant anxieties about using New Testament verses as musical canticles. But you can see how beautifully the Reformers paired these texts. We hear Mary’s joy and praise in Psalm 98. The glorious light which pervades Simeon’s sight is here also, in the radiance of Psalm 67.

“May God be merciful to us and bless us, * show us the light of his countenance and come to us.”

What does it mean to have the light of God’s countenance shown to us?

How do we experience that light? In our private patterns of prayer? In our public worship? In our interactions with others? In our experience of God’s creation?

After the two fantastic thunderstorms early this week, I went out with wonder to watch both a stunning sunrise and sunset. This glorious golden light, so unusual and yet so natural. Dappling the clouds, great streaks of pink and purple and blue painted across the horizon. This is the image that came to mind when I imagined the “light of his countenance.”

This morning, especially if you are reading this at the early hour of 5:45am, I invite you to go outside to say your prayers. In this quiet moment, let us reflect on the majesty of God’s creation. Let us go into that glorious light.

Yours in Christ,

—Fr Matthew