When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?I must perform my vows to you, O God;
I will render thank offerings to you.
For you have delivered my soul from death,
yes, my feet from falling,
that I may walk before God in the light of life.
That was Psalm 56:3-4,12-13. When I read verses three and four, I am immediately yanked back about 15 years in the past, where one night before Stephanie was born, Rachel and I were at home while Christi was going to night school to complete her bachelor's degree. There was a really bad storm coming. One of those where they advise you to take cover in the center of the house, etc.
We had this videotape with Steve Green on it, I think it was called "Kids Sing Praise." It was one of Rachel's favorites, one of those that we watched countless times. One of the songs was the text of Psalm 56:3-4 in a slightly different version than this (which, by the way, when I quote Psalms at the beginning of my journal, is my favorite version, the English Standard Version), but very close.
Well, on that stormy night, Rachel and I sat in the hallway of our house with some pillows, prayed for Christi to be safe coming home, and sang the words to that Psalm, "When I am afraid, I will trust in you, I will trust in you, I will trust in you. When I am afraid, I will trust in you, in God whose word I praise."
Excuse me, I have to go get a Kleenex...
Psalm 145
In this psalm, almost every verse has a form of "all" or "every" in it. The theme seems to be God's goodness to "all." To "everyone." And at a most basic level, God is, in fact, good to "all" people. The very fact that he provides air to breathe for every creature on the planet is because of his goodness to all.
And thinking about this, "all," includes, well, "all." It's not like some passages where it's necessary to define "all" as the elect, or something like that...these verses mean every created being. God is good...all the time...o everyone and everything.
Some critics would whine..."well what about so-and-so and such-and-such." God would nail their lips shut by reminding them that even when people suffer, God is ultimately being good to them on a daily basis. He might even say, "I beg your pardon...I never promised you a rose garden..." Hopefully not, but he might.
There are several verses that describe God's goodness. I especially like verse 9: "God is good to one and all; everything he does is suffused with grace." Everything he does is suffused with grace!
When I see passages like this, I am ashamed that I ever had a word of criticism about anything that God ever did. What right do we have? We are recipients of God's goodness and grace, no matter what is happening in our lives right now!
Even when I slap him in the face with my daily sin, he is good to me and provides me with necessities to live. "Everything he does is suffused with grace."
God, I am so thankful to you for your goodness and grace. You show mercy every single day when you don't just wipe out the entire human race for our massive stupidity. We flaunt ourselves in your face daily. We think we can get along fine without you, yet you keep on providing. You keep gravity working so we don't fly off into space. Basic necessities for life are provided for all creatures every day.
I thank you that "everything you do is suffused with grace." At a basic level, you show love to all, even to those who will never love you back. Ultimately, they will face your wrath, but for now, you are kind to us all. And that kindness is what leads us to repentance.
God, forgive me for ever taking your grace for granted. Forgive me when I question you. I have no right. No right at all.
I lift my hands to you in praise, because you are God and you are good.
Remember...
"Everything he does is suffused with grace."
Also remember...he loves you.
Grace and peace, friends.