Glory in Despair

This morning I read Psalm 88 as part of Morning Prayer. It is a song of isolation, rejection, trouble, and - probably - depression. The psalmist cries to God and yet God stays hidden. He lists his troubles, and yet hears no answer; unlike many psalms, which end by stating God’s love and power, it ends in  the place of despair.

And then, at the end of reading it, the service of Morning Prayer directed me to say,

Glory to the Father, and the Son, and to the Holy Spirit
As it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be forever, Amen.

The disconnect between the two things was stark. Giving glory to God - and meaning it - from the depths of despair, feels almost impossible. It feels like hypocrisy, saying the words but not feeling them in our hearts.

And yet, that is one of the reasons why the ‘Glory be’ (as it used to begin in the olden days) is said after every psalm and canticle. It reminds us, whatever has happened, is happening or will happen, all glory belongs to God. It reminds us that he is there even in the darkness, as much as in the light. It reminds us that he  is still there, even if we feel rejected, and that he is hidden from us.