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O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever! Let Israel say, ‘His steadfast love endures for ever.’ Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we beseech you,O Lord! O Lord, we beseech you, give us success! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord. The Lord is God, and he has given us light. Bind the festal procession with branches up to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God, I will extol you. O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures for ever. (Psalm 118: 12, 19-29)
Sometimes God leads us to do something that may mean little to nothing now, or we do not understand why we are doing it. Days, weeks, months, even years later, we come to realize why it was that this or that happened,, and the role that earlier event played in the bigger picture. The psalmist was led to write these words, and while they may have had their meaning to him at that point or time of his life, that Palm Sunday event came to symbolize the true reason of his having written such poetic and powerful lines. Some of what he wrote are eternal truths: God deserves our thanks always because God is good and God's steadfast love endures for ever. And as he wrote the words of the "gates of righteousness," he was writing about that day and what it would come to mean to us all; Jesus entering the Holy City for the start of that last week and all that He would endure and suffer for us. Jesus would come to be the cornerstone of God's plans for His people; in God we would find that which would make us rejoice and be glad; our salvation from sin and death. True occasions for rejoicing and praising God.
May it be so in our hearts right now and as we enter God's house on Sunday may it be even more so; God is good an deserves our worship and praise for all God has done through His Son, Jesus our Lord.
PRAYER: Loving God, we praise and worship You! You are always worthy of our praise. For events we have endured today, You know the good and eternal things they will mean to us later. In the meantime, give us strength, joy, and patience. For indeed Your name is worthy of our praise. Truly open wide the doors of righteousness so that we may enter in and live! We pray this in Christ Jesus' precious name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
Prayer Update: Thank you for praying and asking about little Teddy. He underwent his surgery but he still is in a lot of pain and his fever continues. He may undergo yet another surgery and so our prayers continue for God to bring healing to this little three year old. Again, our thanks for praying for him.
