May 31, 2023 - Psalms 113-117

The psalmist declared, “I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live” (116:1-2). I once heard a fellow woodworker (Well, I don’t know how much of a real “woodworker” I am.) describe his shop as his “happy place.” For us the Bible is such a happy place. I’m not sure how someone can read from the Bible, daily, and consider its teaching, and be regularly sad and melancholy. So many wonderful promises. Wonderful testimonies. And, even when reporting terrible realities, God’s Word points us to him and lifts our spirits out of the mire. Think about it, the Creator of the universe listens to us and he hears our prayers for mercy. To look, with the psalmist, to this God and to rest in him as long as we live; well, that’s a happy place, indeed!

I love the Lord, for my request

And humble plea He makes His care;

In Him through life my faith shall rest,

for He both hears and answers prayer.

Most kind and righteous is the Lord,

Our God is merciful indeed,

Delighting ever to afford

His help to me in time of need.

Since He has freed my eyes from tears

And kept my feet from evil ways,

Redeemed from life's distressing fears,

With Him I walk, and Him I praise. –The Psalter (1912)