The verses of Psalm 39, today proposed as a reflective, prayerful response to the first reading from the letter to Hebrews, are a prayer of Jesus Himself. He surely was familiar with these words, and would have recited this psalm as a prayer. Beyond the intention or purpose of the original writer of the psalm, the words are really about Jesus and His saving mission; they are also words which are (so to speak) put into Jesus' mouth by the psalmist. "Here am I, Lord, I come to do your will" expresses the total offering and sacrifice that Jesus offered as high-priest on behalf of us all. In its perfection, it is a once-for-all offering and surrender. But how does each one of us take part in or share this offering ? How does it "cover" each of us, in such a way that there is no other sufficient worship offering that we can make? How do we make it truly "our own"? Because it's Jesus' prayer this psalm is also really ours: we are His body, and His voice and His actions in our time and place. So let these words become our own, through a deep meditation on them. Let them touch our hearts as we learn to appreciate their power. Let us pray for our ears to be open to obedience, and for our delight really to be in doing God's will, and for His law to be in our hearts, to give witness to His justice and thus glorify Him. In short, to be able to say in complete simplicity and sincerity: