Morning Prayer: "Show the splendor of your right hand and arm" (Sirach)

 


When Sirach says “show the splendor of your right hand and arm,” it’s tapping into one of the oldest symbolic languages in the ancient Near East — a language that isn’t about anatomy at all, but about power, fidelity, and decisive action.

✨ What “splendor” means here

Splendor in this context isn’t glitter or radiance. It’s the visible manifestation of God’s capacity to act — to intervene, to defend, to restore, to set things right. Think of it as:

  • Strength made visible

  • Justice made active

  • Mercy made concrete

  • Presence made unmistakable

When Sirach asks God to “show” that splendor, it’s a plea for God to step into history again, the way God did in the Exodus, the way God does in moments of rescue, clarity, or transformation.

It’s not “show off your muscles.” It’s “make your saving power unmistakable.”

💪 Why the right hand and arm?

Ancient cultures — Hebrew, Greek, Roman, Egyptian — all used the right side as shorthand for:

  • Authority

  • Skill

  • Strength

  • Favor

  • Legitimacy

Not because the left side was inferior, but because most people were right-handed, so the right hand naturally became the symbol of the hand that does things, protects, fights, blesses, creates, signs covenants, raises up, heals.

The right hand is the hand of action.

The left hand is the hand of support.

In Hebrew poetry, the right hand is the hand that:

  • Parts seas

  • Strikes down injustice

  • Lifts up the fallen

  • Blesses children

  • Seals promises

  • Holds fast to the beloved

So, when Jesus “sits at the right hand of the Father,” it means He sits in the place of authority, intimacy, and shared action, not that someone else is stuck on the left.

🪑 But what about the left side — is someone there?

In Jewish and early Christian imagery, the “right hand” is symbolic, not spatial. God is not a being sitting in a chair with Jesus on one side and an empty seat on the other. “Right hand” means the place where God’s decisive work is done.

If you wanted to express “the place of support, mystery, or hiddenness,” you might use left-hand imagery — but Scripture rarely does, because the right-hand metaphor was already deeply established.

There are moments where the left hand appears symbolically:

  • “A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand” (Psalm 91) — meaning overwhelming protection.

  • “His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me” (Song of Songs) — meaning tenderness and support.

So, the left hand isn’t absent, It’s simply not the symbol for public, decisive action.

🕊️ What’s the purpose of asking God to show this splendor?

Three things:

1. To ask for intervention

“Show your right hand” means: Act again. Step in. Do what only you can do.

2. To ask for reassurance

It’s a way of saying: Let us see that you are still with us, still powerful, still faithful.

3. To ask for transformation

Not just rescue from danger, but renewal of hearts, communities, nations.

It’s a prayer for God to make the invisible visible.

Sirach isn’t asking God to flex divine muscles. He’s asking for something far deeper: the visible, unmistakable arrival of God’s power to act — to restore, to defend, to set things right. So, when we pray for God to show the splendor of the right hand, we’re asking for intervention, reassurance, and transformation. We’re asking God to make the invisible visible — to let divine strength break into our ordinary days in ways we can see, feel, and trust.

And maybe that’s the heart of the prayer: Show us your action. Show us your presence. Show us your power to make things new.


Read more Morning Prayer posts: MSI Press Blog

Note about Morning Prayer: Each morning prayer post reflects on one phrase from the Morning Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours. which can be found in the iBreviary (a downloadable app), Universalis (website) or Divine Office (publication and website). Post may be assisted by AI in image generation and content (research and/or wording).


Morning Prayer posts inspired by Being Catholic in Troubled Times (Dennis Ortman)


Book Description:

These are times that try our souls. This book is addressed to all, not just Catholics, who search for deeper meaning in tough times. Our age is marked by division and alienation. We long for some message that will bring peace to our world and our hearts.

This book suggests that the Catholic faith can provide strength in these troubled times. The word "catholic" means "all-embracing, universal." Nothing is excluded in the catholic mind. The truth that sets us free can be found everywhere, especially in unexpected places. It is often hidden in plain sight. In our darkest moments, we find new light and life. When we are most despairing, a ray of hope shines through.



Dr. Dennis Ortman, former priest and current psychologist, is the author of Anger Anonymous, Anxiety Anonymous, Depression Anonymous, Being Catholic in Troubled Times, and Life, Liberty, and COVID-19.


For more posts by and about Dennis and his award-winning books, click HERE.



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