Great Plains Daily Devotional for 4/23/19

Psalm 118 

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    his steadfast love endures forever!

Let Israel say,
    “His steadfast love endures forever.”
Let the house of Aaron say,
    “His steadfast love endures forever.”
Let those who fear the Lord say,
    “His steadfast love endures forever.”

Out of my distress I called on the Lord;
    the Lord answered me and set me in a broad place.
With the Lord on my side I do not fear.
    What can mortals do to me?
The Lord is on my side to help me;
    I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to put confidence in mortals.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to put confidence in princes.

All nations surrounded me;
    in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;
    in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
They surrounded me like bees;
    they blazed like a fire of thorns;
    in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
I was pushed hard, so that I was falling,
    but the Lord helped me.
The Lord is my strength and my might;
    he has become my salvation.

There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly;
    the right hand of the Lord is exalted;
    the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.”
I shall not die, but I shall live,
    and recount the deeds of the Lord.
The Lord has punished me severely,
    but he did not give me over to death.

Open to me the gates of righteousness,
    that I may enter through them
    and give thanks to the Lord.

This is the gate of the Lord;
    the righteous shall enter through it.

I thank you that you have answered me
    and have become my salvation.
The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing;
    it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made;
    let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Save us, we beseech you, O Lord!
    O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
    We bless you from the house of the Lord.
The Lord is God,
    and he has given us light.
Bind the festal procession with branches,
    up to the horns of the altar.

You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
    you are my God, I will extol you.

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.

This morning as I took the time to read Psalms 118, I did so knowing that this is yet another example of how great is our God.

I have always thought about how powerful these scriptures in Psalms are.  Starting with the very first two verses, we find out what really matters. To give thanks to God. And to know that He is good.  It states purely and clearly that we are to give thanks to the Lord. We should give thanks to Him because He is good.

As I am moving along this road called life with more of the road behind me than what is ahead, I do so with the realization that God has been so good to me. I would dare say that if you were to take just a moment to reflect you as well would say that God has been good to you also.

It is so important to be mindful of the fact that God does not have to be good to any of us. Truth be told no one can say that they are deserving of His goodness. In our humanness each of us is flawed, short-sighted and unworthy. Yet God continues to pour out his love to all of us. He loves us not just because of who we are, but He loves in spite of who we are. It doesn’t get any better than that!

As we look to Him out of our love for him my prayer is that we do so knowing that He is our strength and defense. Even as we go through valleys where seemingly we feel alone and without help, He is with us. When we weren’t able to take another step forward, He did so on our behalf. 

In all things. All that we are and pray to be is out of the greatest thing of all. It bears all things, it grows all things, it remembers no wrong, and it never fails. How great is our God.

Prayer for Reflection

Acts 10:34-43
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
1 Corinthians 15:19-26
John 20:1-18 or Luke 24:1-12