Sing a new song (Psalm 143)

Psalm 143:8 At dawn let me hear of your kindness, for in you I trust. 

David continued daily to search for God. No matter how bad the previous day ended, he always reached to God first in the morning, seeking his grace. 

In Psalm 30:5, we read, "At dusk weeping comes for the night; but at dawn there is rejoicing." Even in our darkest hour, we must know that dawn will come. Some days are hard. Though I try my best, I am not always reaching that goal. I try to show love throughout the day, but I'm not always good about it. God's love is always the same. It never changes. I need to continue to trust in his love. He will forgive my mistakes. I need to praise God each morning and listen for his answer. He will show me the path. 

Here is another of my favorite songs, Your Love Never Fails, that encompasses both these verses. 

Joy Comes in the Morning

Though the path is hard... (Psalm 142)

Psalm 142:3 My spirit is faint within me, but you know my path. 

How this verse reached out to me! My friend lost two pregnancies in 2019. One was right after Valentine's day. It was very tough for her, and her spirit suffered. She was tired and weary. She was unsure of her future, if she was meant to bear another child. Then, in October, she became pregnant once more.  We all prayed hard. We trusted in God, and the doctor's that God had chosen for her. Well, this past August 3rd, my friend welcomed her baby boy! 

David fought hard for God, yet he still struggled with human issues. He was not kept from stumbling blocks in his life. But he trusted that God knew the path for him. His faith in God kept him from just completely giving up when his enemies were tracking him. Jesus trusted in God's path for him, even though he knew he would suffer. Knowing that God is with me every step of my path helps me not to be as weary, even when I feel my cross is heavy. That path may be hard, maybe even dark, he will guide me 

Lord, thank you for guiding my way, even through the darkness of this life. We are unsure of our future path, but I know that you will open the door for us. I trust that you will continue to lead us on the path that you know is best. Thy will be done!

Psalm 141

Psalm 141:3 Set a guard, Lord, before my mouth, a gatekeeper at my lips. 

David wanted the Lord to help him keep his mouth shut. David understood that his mouth must be used for prayer and praise, not hate and lies. 

Do you struggle with gossip, complaining, lying, slander or swearing? I don't have trouble with gossip as I once did. My struggle now is with complaining. I do my best not to complain out loud. I try my best to accept this role that God has put me in (keeper of the house), and I remind my children often to be thankful that we have clothes to wash, dishes to dry, and floors to sweep. Because not everyone has that. However, I am human. I fail often. Especially after I have put everything to wash, and find another sock under the sofa. Or another cup to wash after the kitchen is complete. I try hard to take these things to God, and praise him for the people in my house. But then I find myself complaining out loud about the lack of respect for our house. This is a battle for me. 

Lord, I pray you guard my mouth. Be a gatekeeper at my lips. You see my work. You alone can show me the praise I need. And allow that praise to fill my heart. Remind me to shut my mouth and seek glory at your gates. 

Psalm 140

Psalm 140:4 Keep me, Lord, from the clutches of the wicked

David was a man used by God, he was the ancestor of Jesus. So we know God thought highly of him. But throughout Psalms, we read of him calling to God for help from the wicked. So we do know David was human. He made mistakes. He had to deal with evil things throughout his life. He had struggles. He had people who wanted to break him using their words. In other words, he was a lot like us. But David did not give up hope. He continued to seek God every day. 

Words can be knives to the heart. They are fire starters. People can use words out of jealousy to bring others down. I have been there. Hearing lies about yourself in a workplace can really bring you down, make you feel unwelcome. It did to me. After speaking with Christian coworkers, I just continued to do my job, do it correctly (as I always had) and trust in God. He had helped me get the job, so obviously I was meant to be there for some reason. I wouldn’t run away, because that would let the evil win. Pray for those who oppose you. It seems silly, but they need prayers. Something in their life is wrong, and they need prayers, and Jesus wants us to prayer for them. 

Psalm 139

There are so many wonderful things in this chapter today, it is hard to limit it to one verse. God is omnipotent, having unlimited power. He is ubiquitous, ever present. He is also omniscient, all knowing. This chapter focus is on God's omniscience. He knows every part of me. He know when I sit, stand, he understands my thoughts. He knows what I will do before I even do it. Yet he still allows me to make the choice. That is a fair God. As a parent, it is hard to see my kids make a mistake, knowing full well before hand that it would hurt. But I know that unless they make that mistake, they won't learn the lesson. (Side note, I WILL try to stop them from doing things that could seriously injure them.) I imagine God has done the "face-palm" motion many times after my actions thinking, "well, if you wouldn't have done that..."

We can't hide our mistakes from God. I remember my children, and even myself as a child, hiding in the bedroom when a mistake was made. I remember my brother trying to hide under the bed from my mom, and you could see his little socks barely sticking out the bottom. Enough for her to find him though! Our mistakes may happen in the dark so that no one is the wiser, but as this chapter reminds us, "darkness is not dark for you, and night shines as the day (v12)." It's never dark enough for God to find us. He does see our choices. Again, he knows what lays ahead of us. He won't stop us from making dumb choices. If he did, we wouldn't need this world to learn from. This reminds me of the story book, The Runaway Bunny. The young bunny wants to run away from the mother, and the mother reminds the young bunny that no matter where he goes, she will find him, because he is her baby. God is our fisherman. God is the wind that will sail us home.

Verse 13-16 are so beautiful. When you first feel your baby inside the womb start to move, you have a slight realization how magnificent God's plan is. To take a tiny lump of cells, and turn it into a human. How amazing is the human body? Have you really stopped to think about it? How our tendons work to pull muscles to move our arms to wave "hello?" God knew us before we were here on this earth. He knit us together in our mother's womb.  He helped mold those bones and tendons under our skin. He chose which characteristics from our parents DNA would show our parents through us. We are wonderfully made.

We are a precious design of our God's ultimate plan. He did not make a mistake when he made us. We each have a wonderful purpose on this earth. I love the Veggie Tales series, as I have pointed out many times before. They have one for that relates to this Psalm chapter, about Snoodlerella. It is similar to the Cinderella story, but the King tells her how special she is. That she is wonderfully made. Just as I am. Just as you are.

Psalm 138

Psalm 138:3 When I cried out, you answered; you strengthened my spirit.

David had many reasons to thank God, as God saved him many times. When David was weary, God strengthened his spirit. He became stronger against the enemy, not in just a physical way.

There have been several times where I knew what I was getting into was not where I should be. Have you ever been in a situation, and felt red flags all around you? I can’t say I walked blindly into these situations, but once I was in, I wasn’t sure how to get out. I felt the wrongness creeping in, and I cried out to God. And I felt him strengthen my spirit. I was able to see the evil I was about to do. I was able to say no! This is not right, and get out. It was a long walk I was on, but I got out. You can too. Trust in God’s love. Trust that he is with you. Call out to him. Praise his name. Let him strengthen you. He loves you,  no matter what mistakes you have made. You ARE a child of God.

Psalm 137

Psalm 137:1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat mourning and weeping when we remembered Zion.

The people had been taken into exile. They were not feeling the joy they had previously, and did not want to sing anymore.

The last time I felt this kind of despair was after hurricanes Katrina and Rita. I remember very vividly the news reports after Katrina, seeing all the devastation of the people of Orleans all the way to Mississippi. I cried for them. My dad couldn’t sleep, and all he wanted to do was get his fishing boat over there to help rescue people. We saw all the houses that we knew were gone or would have to be gone. We saw the people being rescued off their roofs. We heard the horrible stories about the Super Dome.

Then three weeks later, Rita hit our area, and caused very similar devastation. I remember again watching the news, but this time seeing reports of the water in my home town. Then seeing pictures my cousin took, while in his boat, of the water level against our house. I remember the weekend I drove home from college to help my family, and seeing all our personal belongings out on the front lawn covered in mud. Another cousin was there helping pull all the carpet out. There was a giant hole in the front wall in my sister’s bedroom (the one I shared with her for 16 years). The water was so rough when the tidal surge came, it carried pieces of wood from miles away and repeatedly hit the house, making the hole. Water surged through the house, to a level of 48”, and sat that way for a few days before water receded. That weekend, my dad began pulling the paneling down, to see how high from the ground they would need to repair. But the mold was already creeping up much higher than we could handle. It would all have to come down.

I remember taking loads to my aunt’s house in a neighboring town, and scrubbing pots, dishes, clothes, etc, trying to get the mud off. My mom’s curio cabinet had gently leaned over in the waters, so none of the demitasse cups broke. By the time we finished cleaning those delicate things, I wish they would have. I was so angry. This was my sister’s senior year of high school, and my senior year of college. We lost our home, and most things in it. Forty-eight inches put the water over the countertop level in the kitchen. Think about all that is in your bottom cabinets. My grandparents lived a pasture away. Then two sets of aunts and uncles on the same road. They lost everything too. I’ve never seen my grandfather cry before. He cried because he couldn’t help his children. That broke me. To see such a strong man cry.

We were in despair. We were hurting.  By this point, FEMA was run ragged from Katrina, and most provisions were gone. All they were able to provide our family for temporary shelter was a small pop-up trailer. My dad stayed in it at the old property because apparently things like this cause crazy people to wander in your yard and take things, or try to break in and steal wiring. But, despite all the sadness, people who didn’t have as much damage (though they still had plenty) started coming to help us remove things. Neighbors were helping neighbors.  I remember going with my mom to church a few months later, and as we sat in our lawn chairs (because the floor and pews had to be removed, and the pews hadn’t been replaced yet), and the priest reminded us of our strength that God has given us. Our unity as a community. Our love of each other. This was a tough time in which I stopped singing because I couldn’t understand why this had happened. But that little church and lawn chairs helped me remember a God is with us in the good times and in the bad.  He was there in the hearts of our neighbors and family and friends. And once again, our community began to sing again.

Psalm 136

136:1b God’s love endures forever. 

Endures is defined two ways. First as to suffer something difficult or painful patiently. Secondly, to remain in existence. The first definition is an interesting thought, but still just as important as the second. God’s love does remain in existences. And it also has suffered for us, through something difficult. All the times we have rejected his love, he endured. He loved us patiently while he let Jesus die on the cross for us.

God loved us from the beginning of time. He loved us so much he created the world for us. He loved us so much, he delivered us from Egypt. He continues to love us each time we fall or turn away from him. His love will never change. We can search the world over twice, and will not find a love that will not falter. This Psalm reminds us 26 times that God’s love endures. Only the love of God will endure, only his love will never let us go. His love will be with us until our last day.

Lord, I am so thankful that your love is faithful and everlasting. I am blessed that you never gave up on me, no matter how many times I screwed up at at this life you gave me. For all the times I didn’t hold you high enough, I am sorry. Your love has gotten me through some terrible times. I am so happy to know you are near, and I pray that you will always be by my side. Amen.

Psalm 135

Psalm 135:3 Praise the Lord; the Lord is good! Sing to God’s name, it is gracious!

We have so many things to praise God for, and this chapter shares several reasons from our biblical history we should be praising God. He brought the plagues to Egypt to get his people free. He struck down many nations that were against his people. He defended his people, and showed them mercy. He made the earth. He gave us life. What a blessing that is in itself! For that alone, we should praise his name every day.

Singing is wonderful to our souls. I love when I can sing with K-LOVE on the radio or in my shower. I turn it up loud enough that no one really hears how bad I sing, but I love to sing songs praising God.  I wish I could pick a favorite song, but this is the song in my head this morning after reading this chapter: At Your Name (Yahweh, Yahweh) by Phil  Wickham

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il-bJjeiOhY

Psalm 134

Psalm 134:1 Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord

Bless the Lord. Sing praise to the Lord. These are things that we can, and should, do anytime. We live in a free country and have the right to sing praise to our God whenever we want (for the most part). Our praise is not confined to a church building. I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to hear my 5 year old sing praise songs to God in the middle of the day, while playing with her stuffed animals, because it felt right. We are not columns of cement. We are fluid beings, and should life our voices in thanks and gratitude for what we have been given. And why not do such with song? I’ve always heard singing is like praying twice.

We are the servants of God. He put us on this earth to do his will. We are to spread his word. If we, his servants, do not spread his word, if we do not sing his praise, if are not the ones to bless him, then who will?

Psalm 133

Psalm 133:1 How good it is, how pleasant, where the people dwell as one!

The King James Version has the world “behold” as the first word of the verse. Behold, to take notice. We are being told something pretty important, and should listen and understand.

Here, David talks of the people dwelling as one. At this time, the people of Israel did many pilgrimages to Jerusalem. They came from many tribes, places, classes, but they came together as one to worship God. The unity of God’s people is important, it is good and pleasant. We know not everything in life works this way. Some things that are good are not pleasant (broccoli is good for us, but may not be pleasant for some to eat), and some things that are pleasant are not good (chocolate donuts). Unity of his people is both.

In our church, we should dwell as one. In our church community, we should dwell as one.  This doesn’t mean to live together in the common sense, but for all of us to come together for the one, our Lord. It’s about how we have a relationship with each other, those in our church family, as opposed to how we have a relation with the world. God wants unity in our church. He wants us to come together, put aside our differences, and worship as one.

Psalm 132

Psalm 132:12 If your sons observe my covenant, the laws I shall teach them, their sons in turn, shall sit forever on your throne.

In verse 2, we read that David swore to the Lord that until he could find a place for the ark to rest, he would not rest. In response, God made David an oath. That as long as his children observed Gods commands, they would also sit on the throne. God’s promise can also be found in 2 Samuel.
2 Samuel 7:16 Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand firm forever.

This promise God has made to David is for all of us. As long as we keep God’s commandments, he will keep his promises to us. We can read the promises he made all throughout the Bible. He promised goodness, and sent blessings to his people. He promised retribution, and sent plagues to his enemies. He is a keeper of promises. Knowing this, my heart is full of joy and faith in each step of life we take. Knowing that God will stay by my side as he said, I can give up my worries about the situation I am in. I have faith that he will protect me, according to his will. And most important, I know that as long as I remain faithful to him, he will welcome me home one day.

Psalm 131

Psalm 131:1 Lord, my heart is not proud; nor are my eyes haughty. I do not busy myself with great matters, with things too sublime for me.

Instead of allowing his heart to be proud or his eyes to look down on others in arrogance, David has learned to humble himself. Instead of trying to selfishly pursue ambitions higher than what God intended, he waited patiently for what God had intended. God did not calm or quiet his soul, David chose to quiet his soul. David enjoyed his close relationship with God and was happy in God.

We are taught as children to strive for more in school, and to always do better. Then we go to work, and  there are opportunities to grow in a job that most want to achieve. I believe what this chapter is wanting us to do is to not get prideful or arrogant to what we have achieved, because our achievements are from God. And also, not trying to selfishly gain advancements in our job or in life by stepping in others, pushing others out of the way. He is not telling us to to sit complacent at your current position, and never try to grow, but to make sure we do it with God first in our heart. We need to quiet our soul, pray to God for what we think we are needing. And remember that God will provide for our needs. Gains should always be praised, if they were achieved humbly.

Lord, I am calming my soul. I want to enjoy my relationship with you as David did. I know that any potential for achievements in our lives is a gift you have put in our way, and that any success is from you. Than you for keeping my heart humble so I can see you through it all.

Psalm 130

Psalm 130:1 Out of the depths I call to you Lord.

How many times have I cried out, “God please help!” In the midst of frustration, shouting, “Jesus!” More often than I care to think. Each time, he is there helping me move past the instant issue. It has been a while since I felt in a pit. Nowadays are mere potholes, but still. I know that when I am stuck, I can call out to God and he will hear me.

Psalm 130:5 I wait with longing for the lord, my soul waits for his word.

Sometimes, I don’t feel the help right away and I have to work through some things. But when I look back. I realize God was with me as I was working through them. His answers aren’t always in black and white, and not always what we want to hear. Maybe that’s why we don’t “hear” him sometimes? Because maybe we are blocking out everything we don’t want to hear? That’s a thought. Like the selective hearing my dad has with my mom. :)

But I am actively waiting. I am not waiting with doubt or suspicion. And I’m no longer just sitting around twiddling my thumbs while waiting on a phone call from God. I am praying, I am planting, I am growing in his Word.

There are sometimes dark times in our lives, where we are stuck in that pit and see no way out. We call for help, but no one comes. Those times hurt and they are hard. But I promise God is there. Ready for him, let him pull you out. Pray for him, cry out to him, let him hear your voice. God is the light in the darkness. And there is nothing you have done that he won’t forgive. You are not unworthy of his forgiveness. You are a child of God.

Psalm 129

Psalm 129:5 May they be scattered in disgrace, all who hate Zion (NABRE).
Psalm 129:5 Let all those who hate Zion be put to shame and turned back (NKJV).

The Israelites has suffered greatly at the hand of their enemies, yet here we see them praying FOR thier enemies. Not praying that their enemies go to hell, or suffer as they did. They only ask that the enemies to be turned back from their current course against the Israelites.

It is good to pray for our enemies. Jesus tells us, “But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:44).” So if we are hurt by someone, instead of wishing ill on them, we should pray for them. We don’t have to wish that they receive all the goodness the Lord wishes to give them. But a pray for their heart to turn around, a prayer for them to not succeed in ways, would be good.

Lord, I pray that you see those who are cruel to your children. I pray that these wicked and evil people are stopped from their desire to hurt others. I pray that they see their wicked ways and are shamed. It is your glory and grace that your children seek. Be with us through the hard times. Amen.

Psalm 128

Psalm 128:1 Happy are all who fear the Lord, who walk in the ways of God.

Here is another chapter showing that all, regardless of color, race, intelligence, social standing, denomination, etc. Any person who honors and receives God will earn his respect. God’s blessing is for all his children.

But we can’t just talk the talk. We have to walk the walk. We can’t just say we honor and respect God. We must live it. We must be obedient to his word. We all want the blessing and resulting happiness by following God, but are we all willing to do the work? One small work that needs to begin in the world is loving one another. Just as Jesus gave us the commandment before he was taken to his death, “love one another. As I have loved you, so you should also love one another (John13:34).” Though we consider this the “new commandment,” this was given to us by God in the ten commandments. “Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen. You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18).”

Lord, I pray that our country can heal from all the hate this summer. I pray that we can look past a person’s outer appearance to see that we are all your children. 

Psalm 127-Raising arrows

Overall, this chapter is showing the prosperity of humans is not the work of humans, but the gift of God. No matter how good we are at our jobs, unless God is in our work, our work will be in vain. This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t put forth the effort. For instance, at the end of verse 1, it’s not that the guard isn’t watching over the city, or that there isn’t a guard, but Solomon is saying that no matter how good that guard is, he effort is wasted if God is not the one the city hold closest to them. We have read many stories in the Bible about how great and powerful cities fell at the hands of a group who held the Lord high. So whatever work we do, whether it is to provide provisions for our family or just to have extra, we sold always do it with God by our side.

Many people work hard without having a God first in their life, if he is there at all. Sometimes these people have trouble sleeping. They toss ad turn wondering if they did everything they could. They are anxious about the next day. They worry about the future. There is always more to do in their mind. But those who have the Lord first can sleep and rest, knowing that God will help take care of all the worries. God is in control. 

Continuing in this chapter, we read that children are a “gift,” a “reward,” and a “blessing.” In ancient times, the more sons a man had, the more forceful he would appear in disputes. He would have many advocates for the family intersects and security. They protect against loneliness and abandonment. 

I always thought of verse 4 to mean our children were our future. They are the ones who will continue our work of spreading God’s word. They need to be carefully made and molded, given care. They must be aimed and guided. Like arrows, we will shot them into the world, and pray that they take God’s word with them and spread it when they land. I am raising arrows. 

Psalm 126

Psalm 126:5 Those who sow in tears will reap cries of joy.

Have you ever watched the cartoon movie Inside Out? The story is about a girl whose basic emotions control her actions. She has Joy, Anger, Sadness, Fear and Disgust, who are all as characters, in her mind and they are responsible for her life. Joy always wants Riley (the main character) to be happy. But as the movie progresses, Joy realizes that some of Riley’s happiness and core life moments start with sadness. It was by overcoming sadness that joy could be found.

Many life events have sadness. But without sadness, we wouldn’t experience the joy after. Weddings are a joyful day for most, but for the parents of the bride it can have a bit of sadness. Their daughter is officially leaving their “nest” and starting her own journey. But without this sadness, the parents wouldn’t get to have their daughter blood into her new chapters. They might not have the joy of becoming grandparents. In that same thought, there is sometimes sadness and tears when babies are born. Soon to be moms are definitely working hard, and tears may fall, but they reap with joy when they get to hold their new baby.

God never promised life would be easy. Sometimes when we put our trust in God, we find sadness in our choices and decisions we have to make. Following God’s lead for new jobs means moving and leaving friends behind, but it can lead to great joy if we keep our faith. The Israelites shed many tears during their Exodus, and even once they made it to their new land, it was tough to start over. Those who trusted in the Lord reaped the goodness of the land, though.

The hope of joy can be encouraging. It can help a mother of the bride push through with giving her daughter away. It can help a soon to be mom literally push her body to the point of breaking to meet her new baby. It can push a farmer to work all hours of the Summer day, just to produce enough food for his family to make it through winter. As long as we put our faith in God, those tears we sow can yield great joy.

Psalm 125

Psalm 125:1 Like Mount Zion are they who trust in the Lord, unshakable, forever enduring.

Trust: the firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, and strength of someone or something

All throughout our lives, we trust. As babies, we automatically trust our parents to tend to our needs, because they are our source of life. Until proven otherwise, we trust that they will take care of us. Throughout childhood, that trust remains, though changed a bit as we learn our independence and see we can do certain things for ourselves.

Then we develop trust in friends. Those who we think are important in our lives, we might trust with secrets. Until they break our trust by telling someone else, making fun of us to fit in, or we grow apart as children do. As adults, this trend continues with friends, coworkers, family. We learn who we can trust and who we cannot.  We also trust that our job is sound, and we will have income. We trust in the stock market. We trust in our government. We trust our spouses to remain faithful. We trust ourselves to be strong in any situation.

And then one day, we may wake up and realize none of those things were really that reliable. Friends may have lied about us to spread rumors. Our job may be suffering due to lack of resources or funds, and can no longer keep all the employees. Our family’s difference of opinion may cause a rift. The stock market may have been hit hard by the drought of the season or the governments temperament against another country. Our spouses may have done something nearly unforgivable. And with all that, we realize we aren’t really that strong, and do something we never thought we would. And what are we left with? No job, no money, no stable country, no friends, no family, no spouse?

There is only one who we can have complete trust in. One where our trust is strong and secure. One who will never let us down, and when all the other things in the world crumbles, will still be with us. Our God. If in that previous situation, we had put our trust in the Lord first, we wouldn’t feel so alone. We might have reasoned the people we associated with weren’t good people and found others who trust in the Lord like we do. We may have trusted in the Lord with our finances, and been able to save in case of emergencies. We may have trusted that God would open doors for a better job, so that we could still provide for the family. Because our trust in God should be like the mountains, unshakable and never ending. Why? Because that is how his love is for us. We cannot be strong and tough and secure in our lives unless we trust in God first. And we need to trust in God with all our self, and not trust in things of the world, because they can falter. But our God never will.

Psalm 124

Psalm 124:8 Our help is the name of the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.

In Psalm 121, we read ‘from where will my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.’ And here we are reading a more definitive statement, that our help IS the name of the Lord. The people during the time of David’s rule had many deities that they would pray to for help. But David knew that when in a struggle, only calling the name of God would truly release us from the grasp of evil. 

There have been so many times God has answered my prayers. Several times, it may not have been exactly how I would have wanted them answered, but looking back it was the best way to be answered. I can now look back on these times, see what wisdom I have gained from them, and trust that when I pray to God that he will hear my prayer and answer me. He is my help in my times of need.

Lord, thank you for always answering my prayers. Thank you for helping me grow in wisdom to see that your answers were better than what I wanted, and that you are truly looking out for my well-being.

Psalm 123

Psalm 123:1 To you I raise my eyes, to you enthroned in heaven.

When my oldest was a toddler, I remember saying so many times, “keep your eyes up when you are walking, and you’d trip less.” She would constantly be looking at her feet when she was walking, and wouldn’t see what she was fixing to walk into. In the same view, as adults, we need to stop looking towards our current situation, where we are in this instant, and look up toward God, or we may not see what is coming ahead on our path.

God is our guide, our protector. God will not let us fall, but he also doesn’t want us walking blindly under a tree with a beehive swarming because we are looking down. Just like he wouldn’t want us to go though life, living blindly one moment at a time without care for what is coming ahead. He wants us to look up. To see him. To know he is in control, he can provide, he will give mercy. Even though we may not get what we think we need right away, doesn’t mean God isn’t listening. How many times throughout Psalms have we read “I cried out,” as someone was waiting for a response from God? But they don’t give up, they don’t just wallow in self pity, looking down at their own circumstances. They stay ready, watching for the Lord. They continue to ask, over and over, and continue to be looking up for God.

Lord, I pray for your mercy and understanding. You know my prayer, and have heard it before, but I will continue to pray to you, I will continue looking up, because I know you are there. I know you love me and will care for me.