GOD IS SO GOOD
I will sing the Lord’s praise, for He has been good to me.
Psalm 13:6 (NIV)
I listen to contemporary Christian music and lately I seem to be hearing (and saving as favorites) so many songs about God’s goodness…His goodness to me. Having gone through about six years of real struggle and now finding increasing emotional and physical healing, I’ve become so grateful for every little thing, blessed by provisions of a home, a dog, the ability to work and help people and use my God-given talents, and even for my yard and birds and times to rest and recover—for God’s gentleness with me. I just want to sing and sing loud! I know I’m not the only one…do you do it too? Sing out in praise and worship of our great God, our Rock?
Psalm 13 is a psalm of David and is only six verses long. In the first two verses, he asks of the Lord, How long? four times. He’s asking when God will be near to him again, when He will see him and console him again. So that his enemies don’t rejoice over his defeat, David asks the Lord to restore the sparkle to his eyes. I believe he’s asking for his joy to return. I have a friend who can always tell when I’ve gotten my joy back by the sparkle in my eyes. She’s intuitive like that.
The last two verses of Psalm 13 almost feel like a whole different story. After pouring out all that anguish, David shifts gears and reminds himself that God’s love never fails. He celebrates that the Lord rescued him—and maybe the rescue happened right there in that moment, like he suddenly felt the weight lift and the spark returned to his eyes. Or maybe he was looking back on all the times God had already pulled him through and letting that memory fuel his praise. Either way, you can almost hear the relief in his words, knowing deep down that God is good and trusting that the same God who’s rescued him before will come through for him again.
APPLICATION: If you ever need a reminder of God’s never-ending love, spend a little time with another chapter… Psalm 136. Read through it and then try adding your own declarations to the list—think of the ways He’s helped you, provided for you, protected you or rescued you, and after each one, simply add: His faithful love endures forever.
PRAYER: Father God, You are my Rescuer and my Rock. I will sing Your praise today. Amen.
“… Our Father in heaven…” Matthew 6:9b (NLT)
- What do You want to say to me today as my Father?
“… may Your name be kept holy.” Matthew 6:9c (NLT)
- What do You want to reveal to me about Your power today?
“May Your Kingdom come soon.” Matthew 6:10a (NLT)
- Help me make Your priorities my priorities today.
“Give us today the food we need,” Matthew 6:11 (NLT)
- Is there anything specific You want me to do with my time or the people I’m around today?
“and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us” Matthew 6:12 (NLT)
- Reveal to me anyone I need to forgive or ask for forgiveness.
“And don’t let us yield to temptation…” Matthew 6:13a (NLT)
- Is there anywhere I’m vulnerable to temptation?