Read the Psalm

As we gaze upon God, our trust in His love deepens and matures. Our hearts move from seeking God for what we might receive from Him toward seeking God to join Him in His life. Take a moment and consider that the God who is enthroned in the heavens invites us into His life. 2 Peter 1:4 says that we are “partakers of the divine nature.” Another way to say this is that we are participants in the life of God! The invitation in this reality is to attentiveness.

Jesus describes this way of attentiveness to the Father in John 5:19-20 as He was questioned about healing on the Sabbath and calling God His Father:

“So, Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing.”

Do you see what Jesus models for us? His movements, His actions, and His words all flowed from reflecting what He saw God the Father doing. The underlying theological assumption here is that God is at work in this world. There is a flow of His love that we are invited to enter by responding to what we perceive Him doing. Our gaze moves from one of adoring His beauty to attentiveness to the ways that beauty is expressed in the world: love.

This is the prayer at the heart of Psalm 123. “Our eyes look the Lord our God.” How? As the eyes of a servant (male or female) look to the hand of the master. A servant watches to notice how the master is moving and what the master is doing. In many ways, a servant seeks to anticipate the master so they can walk in step with the needs and desires of the master. 

Of course, God is not like any earthly master. His ways are good and pure and kind. And, He does not force Himself upon us. He does not demand. He invites. Like a good Father, He desires His children to join Him. He longs to simply “be” with us and for us to be with Him. 

Our previous (old) ideas of God may have envisioned God as one to simply be pleased or obeyed but this image of watching the Father’s hand and how it moves is like Jesus’ “seeing” of the Father. We are invited to participate. Take a moment and think through what it would look like to join God relationally. Sit with that for a moment. 

As we look attentively at the hand of God, it transforms us from independent beings to dependent. We move as He moves. We speak as we sense what He is speaking. We go where we see Him going. As St. Ignatius wrote: “Undertake nothing without consulting God.” When we are living independently, we move where we think we should go and do things in our own power, wisdom, and understanding.

Our transformation from independent to dependent happens in the context of relationship. It is not through direct effort that we live in dependence but through attentiveness. Richard Foster describes this beautifully in his discussion on spiritual practices:

“We cannot by direct effort make ourselves into the kind of people who can live fully alive to God. Only God can accomplish this in us … We do not, for example, become humble merely by trying to become humble. Action on our own would make us all the more proud of our humility. No, we instead train with Spiritual Disciplines appropriate to our need … By an act of the will we choose to take up disciplines of the spiritual life that we can do. These disciplines are all actions of body, mind, and spirit that are within our power to do … Then the grace of God steps in, takes this simple offering of ourselves, and creates out of it the kind of person who embodies the goodness of God.”

Perhaps, close your eyes and imagine that you are sitting with Jesus. Together, you are watching for the hand of the Master. Stay in this place of attentiveness for as long as you would like.

Reflection questions: What stirs in you as you consider a life of attentiveness? participation in the life of God? What did you notice as you sit attentively with Jesus?

Prayer: Lord, to live a life of attentiveness to Your hand at work in me and in the world … that is my desire. May I deepen in my attentiveness to You. Amen.