18 July 2022

Praying with the Psalms in Ordinary Time:
18 July 2022 (Psalm 145)

‘On the glorious splendour of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate’ (Psalm 145: 5) … butterflies in the village of Tsesmes near Rethymnon, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

It is four months today since I suffered a stroke and was rushed to Milton Keynes Hospital (18 March 2022). Ten days later, I was moved to the Neurology Department in the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. I continue to make progress, and I thank all involved in praying for me, caring for me and loving me through these four months:

I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name for ever and ever.
Every day I will bless you,
and praise your name for ever and ever (Psalm 145: 1-2).

In the Calendar of the Church, we are in Ordinary Time. The calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today (18 July 2022) commemorates Elizabeth Ferard, the first deaconess of the Church of England and founder of the Community of Saint Andrew (1883). Before today begins, I am taking some time this morning to continue my reflections drawing on the Psalms.

In my blog, I am reflecting each morning in this Prayer Diary in these ways:

1, Short reflections on a psalm or psalms;

2, reading the psalm or psalms;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

Psalm 145:

Psalm 145 is the eighth psalm in the final Davidic collection of psalms (Psalm 138 to Psalm 145) that are specifically attributed to David in their opening verses.

In the slightly different numbering system in the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate, this is Psalm 144. This psalm often serves as a prayer in times of distress. Its opening words in Latin are: Exaltabo te Deus meus rex.

Psalm 145 is only one of the 150 Psalms that actually identifies itself as a תְּהִלָה (tehillah), as a psalm (namely, a hymn of praise): ‘David’s Psalm of praise.’ This psalm is a hymn, summarising the characteristics of God. In this psalm, we are asked to look forward to a future in which all will bless God’s holy name for ever.

This psalm or song is written as an acrostic poem, each verse beginning in sequence with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, praising God for his blessings and his love, and hoping for a future in which all will bless God’s holy name for ever.

For this purpose, the usual Hebrew numbering of verse 1, which begins with the title, ‘A Psalm of David,’ is ignored in favour of the non-Hebrew numbering which treats verse 1 as beginning ארוממך (Aromimkha, ‘I will exalt you’).

However, it is a curiosity of this psalm that, despite its structure, there is no verse beginning with the letter nun (נ), which would come between verses 13 and 14. This missing verse has since been supplied through other sources, including the Vulgate and the Dead Sea Scrolls:

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations
. (NRSVA).

Psalm 145 is also the last of the nine acrostic Psalms (Psalms 9, 10, 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119 and 145). It has three groups of seven verses:

1, verses 1-7 are about God’s praise throughout the generations;

2, verses 8-14 depict God’s kingship and compassion;

3, verses 15-21 are about prayer and how God hears it.

The psalm is built on numerical structures (3, 7, 10) that closely resemble the creation narrative in Genesis 1: 1 to 2: 3.

To this have been added two verses from other psalms at the beginning, which use the word Ashrei (happy) three times, and at the end.

The former Chief Rabbi, the late Lord (Jonathan) Sacks, says Psalm 145 epitomises the Book of Psalms as a whole, which begins with the word Ashrei and ends with the word Halleleluyah.

The Jewish sages saw Psalm 145 as the paradigm of praise, firstly because it is constructed as an alphabetic acrostic of praise, thus praising God with all the letters of the alphabet; second because it contains the verse ‘You open your hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing’ (verse 16), encapsulating the idea that God not merely created the universe in the beginning, but also daily sustains it and the life it contains.

The phrase ‘Every day I will bless you’ (verse 2) in this psalm suggests that it be said daily. The Jewish sages specified that it should be said three times daily.

Towards the end of his life, Saint Francis of Assisi wrote ‘A Canticle of the Sun’ in 1225 based on Psalm 145 which William Henry Draper (1855-1933) adapted as ‘All Creatures of Our God and King’ (1919).

‘The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season’ (Psalm 145: 15) … seasonal fruits at breakfast in a café in Venice (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Psalm 145 (NRSVA):

Praise. Of David.

1 I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name for ever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless you,
and praise your name for ever and ever.
3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
his greatness is unsearchable.

4 One generation shall laud your works to another,
and shall declare your mighty acts.
5 On the glorious splendour of your majesty,
and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
6 The might of your awesome deeds shall be proclaimed,
and I will declare your greatness.
7 They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness,
and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

8 The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 The Lord is good to all,
and his compassion is over all that he has made.

10 All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,
and all your faithful shall bless you.
11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom,
and tell of your power,
12 to make known to all people your mighty deeds,
and the glorious splendour of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

The Lord is faithful in all his words,
and gracious in all his deeds.
14 The Lord upholds all who are falling,
and raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food in due season.
16 You open your hand,
satisfying the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is just in all his ways,
and kind in all his doings.
18 The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
19 He fulfils the desire of all who fear him;
he also hears their cry, and saves them.
20 The Lord watches over all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.

21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
and all flesh will bless his holy name for ever and ever.

Today’s Prayer:

The theme in the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) this week is ‘Turning Point,’ looking at the work of the Diocese of Kurunegala in the Church of Ceylon in Sri Lanka. This theme was introduced yesterday.

Monday 18 July 2022:

The USPG Prayer Diary invites us to pray today in these words:

Let us pray for the Church of Ceylon, which serves the people of Sri Lanka. May they be blessed and supported in all they do to care for communities.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

‘Grafton Street’s a wonderland,
There’s magic in the air’ … in
Dublin and in Milton Keynes

Grafton Street in Milton Keynes is 4,186 metres long (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

Grafton Street’s a wonderland,
There’s magic in the air,
There’s diamonds in the lady’s eyes,
And gold-dust in her hair.
And if you don’t believe me
Come and meet me there
In Dublin on a sunny Summer morning.


‘The Dublin Saunter,’ also known as ‘Dublin can be heaven,’ was written by Leo Maguire (1903-1985). It was originally recorded by Noel Purcell in the 1940s and later by Paddy Reilly and Maureen Potter.

Leo Maguire wrote over 100 songs, his most famous being ‘The Whistling Gypsy.’ Maguire worked for the national broadcaster RTÉ, presenting a weekly sponsored radio programme, ‘The Walton’s Show’ where he played ballads for 30 years.

Paddy Reilly, who made the song his own, became an overnight hit in 1982 when he recorded Pete St John’s song ‘The Fields Of Athenry.’

Grafton Street in Dublin is named after Charles FitzRoy (1683-1757), 2nd Duke of Grafton, who was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1720-1724. The title of Duke of Grafton was first given in 1675 by Charles II of England to Henry FitzRoy, his second illegitimate son by the Duchess of Cleveland. But the family seat is not in Grafton Regis – it is at Euston Hall in Suffolk, an 11,000-acre estate straddling the Norfolk-Suffolk border.

The most famous Duke of Grafton was probably his grandson, Augustus Henry FitzRoy (1735-1811), 3rd Duke of Grafton, who served as Prime Minister in 1768-1780. When he became Prime Minister in 1768 at the age of 33, he was the youngest person to hold that office until William Pitt the Younger 15 years later.

The Grafton in the titles of the Dukes of Grafton comes from the village of Grafton Regis in Northamptonshire, with a population of about 253 (2011) census. The village is about 13 km (8 miles) south of Northampton and 14 km (9 miles) north of Milton Keynes.

This explains the name of the V6 Grafton Street, a major road in Milton Keynes. It is 4,186 metres long, and its formal name is simply Grafton Street. The V6 designation is an urban planning name that indicates that it is the sixth north-south grid road in Milton Keynes.

This Grafton Street starts beside Wolverton railway station in the north of Milton Keynes, between Wolverton and New Bradwell, and extends as an unnumbered local rural road to Haversham and Castlethorpe.

Travelling south from here it passes the district and village of Bradwell before becoming a dual carriageway at the point that it crosses the A422. It remains a dual carriageway from here for about four miles until it meets the A421. During this time it crosses the A509 and passes through the Central Milton Keynes grid square where, for this short distance, it is named V6 Grafton Gate.

After crossing the A421, Grafton Street acts for one grid square as a spur of the A421, connecting it to the A5. After crossing the A5 at Redmoor Roundabout, Grafton Street once reverted to being a single carriageway, although it was widened in 2005. The V6 terminates at Granby in a three-direction roundabout with the H10 Bletcham Way and V4 Watling Street.

Due to its nature as a Milton Keynes grid road, Grafton Street has an unusual number of roundabouts along its short route, compared with other towns.

Grafton Street in Milton Keynes has an unusual number of roundabouts along its short route (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

I’ve been North and I’ve been South
I’ve been East and West
I’ve been just a rolling stone.
Yet there’s one place on this earth
I’ve always liked the best
Just a little town I call my own

For Dublin can be heaven
With coffee at eleven
And a stroll in Stephen’s Green.
There’s no need to hurry,
There’s no need to worry,
You’re a king and the lady’s a queen.

Grafton Street’s a wonderland,
There’s magic in the air,
There’s diamonds in the lady’s eyes,
And gold-dust in her hair.
And if you don’t believe me
Come and meet me there
In Dublin on a sunny Summer morning.

I’ve been here and I’ve been there,
I’ve sought the rainbow’s end,
But no crock of gold I’ve found.
Now I know that come what will,
Whatever fate may send,
Here my roots are deep in friendly ground

For Dublin can be heaven
With coffee at eleven
And a stroll in Stephen’s Green.
There’s no need to hurry,
There’s no need to worry,
You’re the king and the lady’s a queen.
Grafton Street’s a wonderland,
There’s magic in the air,
There’s diamonds in the lady’s eyes,
And gold-dust in her hair.
And if you don’t believe me
Come and meet me there
In Dublin on a sunny Summer morning.

And if you don’t believe me
Come and meet me there
In Dublin on a sunny Summer morning.

‘With coffee at eleven … Grafton Street’s a wonderland’ … Jim Fitzpatrick’s stained-glass window in Bewley’s of Grafton Street, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)