I will bless the LORD at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the LORD;
Let the humble hear and be glad.
O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me,
and delivered me from all my fears.

When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears,
and rescues them from all their troubles.
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted,
And saves the crushed in spirit.

(Psalm 34:1-4, 17-18)

These last two verses are a great comfort these days. We are certainly brokenhearted and crushed in spirit because of the immense loss of life in our midst. And we do feel righteous indignation at the unprovoked attack on working civilians at the World Trade Center. We have the promise that God hears our cries and is near to us in our sorrow. Our mourning and outrage reflect the very heart of God.

It is this communion of feeling, this understanding of our inner being, that leads to the praise of the first verses of this psalm. In God we have a gladness that we call joy. That’s not the same as happiness, which is dependent on circumstances. It is grounded in experiential knowledge of a loving God, who has saved us from the consequences of our own failures and promised us eternal life in God’s presence. A God who can deliver in this way can also deliver us from the fears invading our thoughts now.