Despite the Pain


Psalm 113
1Praise the Lord! Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord!
2Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore!
3From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised!
4The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens!
5Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high,
6who looks far down on the heavens and the earth?
7He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
8to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people.
9He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord!

Here in the United States this week, we have watched in sorrow and pain as the city of Houston was ravaged by floods. Now the rain has moved further east along the southern coast and more cities are being taken out by the damaging waters. The world is a mess and it’s hard to know if God really cares.

But those thoughts don’t really pan out because we also see that God’s people move in His name throughout the disasters. The people of this nation have poured out their hearts, their time, their energies, and their wallets to help any way that they can. The news and social media are filled with pictures of people exhausting their own personal resources and strength to help carry others to safety. You can say that this is just people being nice, but I know that it is God who inspires those actions. It is God’s love that motivates a man to spend three days without sleep carrying the sick and old into shelters and a safe place. It is in their faces that we see the love of a holy God who deserves our praise.

This prayer of praise is about those actions of our God. He is both far above us and very near to us. Although he is lofty in power and majesty, he uses that power to help his people. I know that I tread some dangerous ground here, for the whole debate about God being able to stop a disaster and allowing it instead barges into the conversation. And I won’t deny that He does indeed allow terrible things to happen. But “the whole earth groans” (Romans 8:22) under the burden of the sin that Adam and Eve brought into God’s creation. The floods in Texas are a result of that sin in the world. But the actions of God’s people in the face of those troubles are proof of His love for us and His ability to care for us. We are still in the hands of the God who is praised in this psalm.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The...
Read more

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv...
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl...
Read more