Psalm 5

For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; 

evil will not sojourn with you. 

  

But I, through the abundance

of your steadfast love,

 will enter your house, 

I will bow down toward  

your holy temple in awe of you.

Psalm 5:4,7  

New Century Psalter 

   

Chapter 19 of the Rule is entitled, "The Discipline of Psalmody." I do not think I have ever heard the word used, but its definition is the singing of psalms in worship.  St. Benedict writes, "Let us consider then, how we ought to sing the psalms in such a way that our minds are in harmony with our voices." Sister Joan Chittister elaborates that the psalms can become a way of bringing our entire being into sync, setting us "free for deeper, richer, truer lives in which we become what we seek."  

     

We each must discern where our holy temple is.  St. Benedict was not one for dilly-dallying around. He believed in hell, but he also believed that divine presence was everywhere and that humans could live into that presence. Therefore, we learn to live more disciplined lives, not out of fear of hell, but for the love of God. We can become that love. This is our journey and our song.

  

Let all who take refuge in you rejoice: let them ever sing for joy (11).