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O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. Yonder is the sea, great and wide,creeping things innumerable are there, living things both small and great. There go the ships, and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it. These all look to you to give them their food in due season; when you give to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground. May the glory of the Lord endure for ever; may the Lord rejoice in his works— who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke. I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord. Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Praise the Lord! (Psalm 104:24-34, 35b)
Happy Thursday, dear Friend! I pray God's rich and wonderful blessings upon you and your day today and all days. I thank you for your prayers for my dear friend, Rev. Thom Elliott. Yesterday morning about 11:30 he was called home. I know he's in Glory and rejoicing with the Lord and those whom he loved and loved him. It's sad for many of us who loved and appreciated Thom and his sense of humor, serious, deep poetic prayers and thoughts, and his smile. Thank you, Lord, for sharing people like Thom in our lives.
This is a Pentecost psalm that sums up almost every aspect of life. It's a psalm of praise, thanking God for all God has made; and for the limited understanding we have about creation even now, but sufficient to say, "God, You are awesome!" I marveled at how the psalmist wrote about the deep, thinking, "How did he know about the Leviathan if he was not a scuba diver?" And I answered my own question, duh, I've seen a whale come up for air and disappear as quickly as it appeared; surely the psalmist made a trip or two to the Mediterranean sea! But, the verses that I love are the ones directly tied to the power of God's Holy Spirit: "When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground." Even among the dry bones in a dry desert, as we studied yesterday, God can bring life. And it is new life. As winter ended, so did the dryness and brown earth on my drive from home to work; as spring arrived, the dryness was replaced by the lush greenness of new life in the grass, trees, flowers, plants! Yes, it made me want to sing praises to the Lord. May we have the spirit and joy of this writer, who desired nothing more than to sing and praise God for God's goodness, dedicating all he did to the glory of God. May it be the same for you, dear one and me!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, for Your goodness and beauty we are so thankful. For the renewal of the earth by Your Spirit we are constantly needful. Bring forth newness of spirit and life in me, and let me have the spirit that sings Your praises always and everywhere; for You are worthy of my praise. Bless us to be a blessing to others. In Christ Jesus we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Dear Reader, be renewed in your heart in a joyful way today!
Eradio Valverde
