Thank You

The other night, John read this Psalm after supper and we laughed as he coughed and burped and hiccuped through it. I guess he had just had a very satisfying supper. The combination of all of this reminded me of this poem by W.S. Merwin which is included here after the Psalm.

1 Thank you! Everything in me says "Thank you!" Angels listen as I sing my thanks.

2 I kneel in worship facing your holy temple and say it again: "Thank you!" Thank you for your love, thank you for your faithfulness; Most holy is your name, most holy is your Word.

3 The moment I called out, you stepped in; you made my life large with strength.

4 When they hear what you have to say, God, all earth's kings will say "Thank you."

5 They'll sing of what you've done: "How great the glory of God!"

6 And here's why: God, high above, sees far below; no matter the distance, he knows everything about us.

7 When I walk into the thick of trouble, keep me alive in the angry turmoil. With one hand strike my foes, With your other hand save me.

8 Finish what you started in me, God. Your love is eternal - don't quit on me now.

Psalm 138, The Message


Listen
with the night falling we are saying thank you
we are stopping on the bridge to bow from the railings
we are running out of the glass rooms
with our mouths full of food to look at the sky
and say thank you
we are standing by the water looking out
in different directions

back from a series of hospitals back from a mugging
after funerals we are saying thank you
after the news of the dead
whether or not we knew them we are saying thank you
in a culture up to its chin in shame
living in the stench it has chosen we are saying thank you

over telephones we are saying thank you
in doorways and in the backs of cars and in elevators
remembering wars and the police at the back door
and the beatings on stairs we are saying thank you
in the banks that use us we are saying thank you
with the crooks in office with the rich and fashionable
unchanged we go on saying thank you thank you

with all the animals dying around us
our lost feelings we are saying thank you
with the forests falling faster than the minutes
of our lives we are saying thank you
with the words going out like cells of a brain
with the cities growing over us like the earth
we are saying thank you faster and faster
with nobody listening we are saying thank you
we are saying thank you and waving
dark though it is

~ W. S. Merwin