May he grant you your heart's desire, and fulfill all your plans. (Psalm 20:4)

For the psalmists God was a very present and practical force. The afterlife was a concept that largely emerged after the psalms were written. A spiritual life was valued, but was not differentiated from daily life.

In the psalms God will cause the rain to fall (or not), will vanquish enemies (or not), will bless believers with wealth and health (or not). To discern God's will and to do it was a pragmatic path to success.

I seek to discern the will of God. I perceive that within that will is a way of wholeness and fulfillment. Discernment points to a path that must be walked, and it is in my walking the path that God's will is brought into the world (or not).

Today many churches remember the life and teachings of Teresa of Avila. She wrote:

Christ has no body now but yours;
No hands, no feet on earth but yours;
Yours are the eyes through which He looks compassion on this world;
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

More information on Teresa of Avila is available at Wikipedia