I give you all the credit, God - you got me out of that mess, you didn't let my foes gloat. God, my God, I yelled for help and you put me together. God, you pulled me out of the grave, gave me another chance at life when I was down-and-out. All you saints! Sing your hearts out to God! Thank him to his face! He gets angry once in a while, but across a lifetime there is only love. The nights of crying your eyes out give way to days of laughter. When things were going great I crowed, "I've got it made. I'm God's favorite. He made me king of the mountain." Then you looked the other way and I fell to pieces. I called out to you, God; I laid my case before you: "Can you sell me for a profit when I'm dead? auction me off at a cemetery yard sale? When I'm 'dust to dust' my songs and stories of you won't sell. So listen! and be kind! Help me out of this!" You did it: you changed wild lament into whirling dance; You ripped off my black mourning band and decked me with wildflowers. I'm about to burst with song; I can't keep quiet about you. God, my God, I can't thank you enough. (Psalm 30 The Message Version)
A Belated Happy Fourth of July to you, Friend! I trust you found time to rest and reflect on the significance of the day and to thank God for the freedoms we have in Him and in this nation. I pray you prayed for the men and women of our armed forces and all they do to keep the freedoms we have. I ask prayers for Nellie and me as we travel to Corpus Christi this Sunday where I will preach at the two worship services of St. Lukes UMC. They have a 9 am Contemporary worship service and an 11 am traditional.
The psalms being the prayer book of the Bible include prayers we have prayed over and over again. Our prayer book would probably read, "I needed help, so I called out to God and God helped me." Or, "I found myself in a jam, and God pulled me out of it." Or even, "I found that my heart had been shattered into a million pieces, and God put me back together." The psalm reaffirms our faith that God is our God of second chances. And it calls us to sing God's praises in response to God's goodness towards us. It really is a call for us to go and worship "God face to face."
The takeaway for this psalm is this verse, "across a lifetime there is only love." What a realization for us, that though we may have setbacks and challenges, overriding those is God's love. We may not sense it or see it at the time, but once we settle down in our prayers and study we realize it. "I didn't see it at the time, but God was there, loving and holding me." "The nights of crying your eyes out give way to days of laughter." During our times of good fortune and great blessings we may say as the psalmist, "I've got it made. I'm God's favorite. He made me king of the mountain." And just as easily, things could crumble and we might again say, "Help me, God!" And He did (again and again!).
My prayer is, dear reader, that whatever is troubling you may give way to blessings. I pray your nights of crying end right now, and you would be filled instead with laughter. But through it realize that God's love is great and with you all the time.
PRAYER: Awesome Lord, You know my story and my needs. In Your loving hands I place myself, my loved ones, and all that has been challenging me. Be glorified in me. This I pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Be a song of praise for someone today!
Blessings of love,
Eradio Valverde
