Bring ye to the Lord, O ye kindreds of the Gentiles, bring ye to the Lord glory and honour: (Psalm 95:7 DR)
In the previous passage the Psalmist exhorted the reader to confession and showed in this movement of penance the path to union with God. This theme is continued and expanded upon, for as holiness is the result of confession, so now the fruits of this conversion of heart are set forth.
The Psalmist elsewhere notes this dynamic in which the sacrifices that we bring to the Lord are prepared, as it were, by this conversion of heart. He states:
For if thou hadst desired sacrifice, I would indeed have given it: with burnt offerings thou wilt not be delighted. A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit: a contrite and humbled heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. Deal favourably, O Lord, in thy good will with Sion; that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up. Then shalt thou accept the sacrifice of justice, oblations and whole burnt offerings: then shall they lay calves upon thy altar. (Psalm 50:18-21 DR)
It is after the affliction of heart in confession and penance that the Lord will accept the other sacrifices, for now the heart is turned to offer them in sincerity and out of charity towards God. The acceptance of the contrition and humility of our hearts is unconditional—God will not despise it—and this allows us to bring to the Lord worthy offerings.
This is no better illustrated than in the Psalmist calling the Gentiles to bring to the Lord this glory and honor, for they were not part of the covenant and thus could not properly bring the sacrifices as required in the Law. The Psalmist thus prophetically looks forward to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ who will break down this wall of division (cf. Ephesians 2:14) and allow the Gentiles to bring their offerings and sacrifices to the Lord.
The glory and honor of this phrase is linked to the praise and beauty and holiness and majesty of the previous passage, and this in a sense piggy-backs on the thought already expressed, so that what is true for God’s people in the Old Covenant will be true for the Gentiles in the New, although to an even greater extent:
He had already prophesied that the knowledge of God would be preached to all nations, through the coming of Christ; and he now predicts that all nations will be converted, and will glorify God. And, as he predicted the former by way of exhortation, saying, “Declare his glory among the gentiles,” he now predicts the latter in the same form, saying, “Bring to the Lord, O ye kindreds of the gentiles;” ye families of gentiles scattered all over the world, so soon as the glory of the Lord, who descended from heaven, and, after having accomplished your redemption, returned again in glory to heaven, shall have been announced to you, be not incredulous, nor slow in acting thereon, but run in all haste to the tabernacle of the Lord, and bring to him glory and honor, by glorifying and honoring God and his holy name in your actions and in your words. (St. Robert Bellarmine, A Commentary on the Book of the Psalms, 95, 7.)
St. Augustine draws a parallel between this passage and Baptism, seeing in this bringing of glory and honor the translation from death to life that occurs in the sacrament and which configures man to God’s honor which redounds to God’s glory:
He now says to the heathen themselves, “Ascribe unto the Lord, O you kindreds of the people: ascribe unto the Lord worship and honour.” Ascribe them not unto yourselves: because they also who have declared it unto you, have not declared their own, but His honour. Do ye then “ascribe unto the Lord worship and honour;” and say, “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us: but unto Your Name give the praise.” Put not your trust in man. If each of you is baptized, let him say: He baptizes me, of whom the friend of the Bridegroom said, “He baptizes with the Holy Ghost.” For when you say this, you ascribe unto the Lord worship and honour: Ascribe unto the Lord worship and honour. (St. Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms, 95, 8.)
When we are baptized we are incorporated into the Body of Christ, and thus the honor belongs to Christ alone. And as St. Bellarmine noted, this bringing of honor and glory is manifest in the transformation of heart as evidenced in one’s actions and words. Yet even this is not of ourselves but of the grace of God working in and through us as we cooperate with that grace, so that all our merits are ultimately the crowning of God’s gifts to us. In this respect all the honor and glory that we bring unto God is our rendering back to God what He has already graciously given unto us.
Like the parent who gives his child money so the child can buy the parent a present for Christmas, the glory and honor that we bring to God in the renovation of our souls—and the actions that accompany that—are enabled by His gracious assistance:
He calls upon them to come in kindreds or families, in allusion to the Jewish custom of families coming by themselves on the several festival days to worship in Jerusalem; and the Holy Ghost gives us here to understand that such custom was to serve as a model for Christians, whose families should unite in coming to the Church to give glory and honor to God for all the wonderful things he accomplished in the redemption of man; for it was not by our own industry, or by our merits, that we have come to grace, and to be the adopted children of God, but through God’s mercy, to whom, therefore, is due all honor and glory. (St. Robert Bellarmine, A Commentary on the Book of the Psalms, 95, 7.)
For this animation I kept it pretty simple, opting for some ascending triangles which I created with one shape layer triangle with a Repeater added. I then spaced them appropriately and looped the animation. I created another instance and modified the rate and size so that it would move at a different speed for the side instances. I liked how the negative space creates a bit of an optical illusion of other triangle pointing down but still rising up.
I added in an image of a mountain and some various textures plus some color correction to complete this.
Enjoy.
Bring ye to the Lord, O ye kindreds of the Gentiles, bring ye to the Lord glory and honour:
(Psalm 95:7 DR)
View a higher quality version of this gif here:
