Notes from the Hours: Peace

In today's Office of Readings, we reflect on parts of Psalm 35. One line in particular stood out to me as I prayed this familiar psalm yet again: “Great is the Lord Who delights in the peace of His servant.”

How often do we think about that? God delights in our peace. The word for “peace” in Hebrew is shalom, and it refers not just to a lack of conflict but also to a completeness, a wholeness, a soundness, a sense that everything is in its place and everything is as it should be.

This peace is what God wants for us, and He is extremely pleased when we embrace it. Notice that I say “embrace” it, for we don't get this kind of peace on our own. No matter how hard we try, no matter how many self-help techniques we practice, no matter how much we long for this peace, we cannot achieve it by ourselves. This kind of peace is a gift from God, and we can only (and must) accept it.

Yet God delights when we accept the peace He longs to give us. When we become the kind of human beings He wants us to be, whole, complete, sound, orderly, attuned to the right things in the right ways, then God rejoices with us. And we cling to Him, well aware that He is the source of this deep peace that cannot be shaken by the changes this world continually throws at us.

Lord, grant us this peace that You may delight in us and we may truly delight in You all the way to eternity. Amen.