I praise you, Lord God, for the beauty of your Character as shown in Psalm 86:15 “…you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.”

You lean over the side of Heaven and in compassion follow carefully every aspect of my life, preparing each day in detail, providing protection, chastening, guiding and blessing. In compassion you take me through difficulties to break, shape and transform me. You are wholehearted and full-orbed in your compassion.

You are gracious, giving me the  opposite of what I deserve. You are  kind and good in your dealings with me. You are richly generous, pouring out upon me blessing after blessing: you have given me health, strength, the ability to see, hear, walk and talk; you have given me a fine family, good friends, meaningful work, constant protection and many belongings. And even if I had none of these, I have you! I lack nothing because you are my Shepherd.

Thinking these truths bring freedom, they lead to joy, to gratitude, and eventually to happiness. I praise you, Lord, for this is what you offer us in Jesus. Help us to dwell there, resting in your deep love for us.

“surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him.”

[This danger is not an “if” but a “when.” Floods of trouble will come, but you will set us high upon a rock and keep us safe. “God is our refuge and strength…. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and foam, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof” (Ps. 46:1-3).

This is true today—as the tide of culture now is flowing against you, Lord, against your Word and your children–and it’s true forever that the flood will not overcome us. I praise you, Lord, and give you glory and honor, joy and exaltation, because, whatever might come, you are there in power, love and grace. “My soul, find rest in God alone; my hope comes from Him” (Ps. 62:5).

Help us to rest in you and your greatness today, Lord Jesus, rejecting worry, fear and anxiety, instead embracing love, joy and peace, trusting in you, living in your desire: “May the God of hope, fill you with all joy and peace AS YOU TRUST IN HIM, so that your lives may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:13).

I praise you, my Heavenly Father, for your steadfast, unwavering love and goodness. I am so much the opposite: my emotions are up and down; my sense of achievement and worth waver; my happiness with myself fluctuates with what I perceive to be success or failure: my feelings change with how people interact with me, with how well I sleep and even with my dreams.

But you, Lord God, have made yourself my Rock, my stability. You are my Protector, my Fortress, my Forgiver, my Father. I praise you for the whole-hearted, deep and full acceptance you have given me in Christ.

I thank you for the gracious correction, the loving help, the continual support from your glorious riches, from your constant presence, your protection and provision. You have given me  my place in the universe.

In you I am forgiven; in you I am being transformed; in you I am on the upward journey to heaven; in you I have worth and meaning and unfailing love.

As it says in Ephesions 1, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love….”

What more could I want?

Psalm 32:2 “Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.”

[Lord Jesus, I praise you that you not only erased my guilt, taking it upon yourself, but that you consistently work in me to bring transparency, making my spirit one of truth, instead of deceit.

My soul certainly has deceit—I do not like my sin being exposed, even to myself, and naturally seek to cover it up. And there is much hidden there that I don’t even know yet, but I praise you for leading me to confess consistently to you: that it is natural for me to be selfish and impatient, impolite and curt, proud and negative, thoughtless and overly focused on self–among many other sins.

Praise you, Lord, that your Spirit works in my spirit and soul to change all this, making me aware of what is wrong so I can abandon it, and know what is right, so I can embrace it.

Help me to stand in ever-growing awe of your greatness and goodness, of the unceasing, ever-cleansing flow of grace from your heart, and to fear you, not man.

Help me today to follow the leading of your Spirit and to be wise and effective for you, basking in the truth that you will never count my sin against me and that you are unceasingly at work to move me forward in sanctification.

You are weaving beautiful colors into my life, like this quilt. I thank you now for what you will do today, whether it be pleasant or painful, trusting you to do and bring what is best.

Psalm 31:24 “Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.”

[When our hope is in you, the Time Starter, the Star-breather, the Dawn-bringer, the History Ender, we can be strong and encouraged, for you, Lord God, are powerful and good and wise and it is your nature to love.

When my heart is down, discouraged and disappointed, I can find my hope in you, the great and glorious God whose power is immeasurable, whose might is eternal, whose strength is unending, whose love guides all you do: “My soul, find rest in God alone, for my hope comes from him” (Ps. 62:5).

To hope in you is wisdom,

to trust you is good,

to obey you is freedom,

to lift our souls to you is joy.

Praise be to you, Lord God for what you will do today in the plans and events before me. I choose to trust you, honor you and worship you. Be glorified in my life today.]