What? Prayer not to be subjected to God's law in LOH?

[ceedre]

The text from one of the Psalm-Prayers in today’s liturgy of the hours states,
“May our faith prove we are not slaves, but sons, not so much subjected to your law as sharing in your power.”

This prayer seems like bad theology to me. Why don’t we want to be subject to the law of a just, all-loving God? Certainly God made the law for a reason!
Any what’s up with the dichotomy of either subject to the law or sharing in power? As if our obedience to God’s law takes power from us. Our relationship with God isn’t about gaining power, anyway.

If I’m interpreting this prayer wrong, please, correct me! I just can’t pray this prayer as I’m interpreting it.

 

[PhilotheaZ]

I think those prayers in Liturgy of the Hours are optional. If they don’t work for you, skip over them. Some religious congregations don’t use them when they pray together. Some of them don’t make a lot of sense to me.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

I would suggest that slaves obey laws; sons willingly do the will of the Father, knowing it is right, so do not regard it as compulsion.

 

[porthos11]

The text from one of the Psalm-Prayers in today’s liturgy of the hours states,
“May our faith prove we are not slaves, but sons, not so much subjected to your law as sharing in your power.”

This prayer seems like bad theology to me. Why don’t we want to be subject to the law of a just, all-loving God? Certainly God made the law for a reason!
Any what’s up with the dichotomy of either subject to the law or sharing in power? As if our obedience to God’s law takes power from us. Our relationship with God isn’t about gaining power, anyway.

If I’m interpreting this prayer wrong, please, correct me! I just can’t pray this prayer as I’m interpreting it.

It does not say we are not subject to God’s law. In English, the phrase “not so much as…as…” is not a denial, but rather, it is an affirmation of a truth, but that there is a more important truth than that still. In the psalm-prayer, it deemphasizes the subjection in favor of our adoption, and that is indeed orthodox Catholic theology. We are indeed subject to God’s law but we do so because of love, not fear.

That said, I only read the psalm-prayers silently, and not always, as they are optional and are not part of the original Latin editio typica. Even the British edition of the Divine Office does not have them.