“In the daylight, the Holy One sends their kindness, and by night a song, a prayer from my living God” (Psalm 42.8).
We were watching a random one-hit wonder countdown the other night, and, afterward, Leanne took it to task because of how these “one-hit” wonders are defined.
She’s right, since the term is rather misleading. Plenty of bands with one “hit” here in the States fill arenas elsewhere or have been putting out music to faithful audiences for ages. Even so, many of these “hits” came about through timing. Perhaps it was the mood of the country or what was happening in our collective life. Any other moment any one of these “hits” would have been overlooked, ignored, and have failed to touch anyone. So much depended upon the moment.
The moment is what strikes me in this line from the Psalms. By day the Divine sends, literally commands kindness and goodness upon them. All of which, after the sun sets, turns into song. One, as I read it, that is all about the day that has passed, about the moment in which the Psalmist has found themselves.
Too often, I find myself reaching the end of the day with no idea what happened in the preceding hours. Heaven only knows the songs that have left unsung because I’d been everywhere mentally and spiritually except where I was physically. Who knows what words might have found their way into this world through me if only I’d paid attention to the day that surrounded me. There’s no telling what I might have sung. Even if it’d only been a single wonder.
Holy One, help me be present in the moments of the day.