Praise you, Lord, for your good and gracious guidance yesterday in the buying of the tickets for our next trip (it took a number of tries before we could get the website to work, and in each failure there was a new insight). Praise you, Lord that you can use such technological failures and difficulties to protect us from making wrong decisions.  The last such glitch was that my credit card was not accepted, and it turns out that the bank’s computer didn’t read the note that I live overseas and would be making many purchases there, so don’t flag my card as being subject to fraud—no, the computer missed that and shut my card off.  And that failure made us pause, reconsider and make other decisions about days to fly.  Praise you for your attention to such details.  I give you glory for your wisdom, your care, your attention to tiny things we aren’t aware of, your goodness in so many ways. As Psalm  33 says:

13 “From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind;”  [you see every single one of us, not as a mass, but as individuals, you know each one’s name, you know our thoughts and our words before we speak them.  You pay close attention to all in our lives.]

Psa 33:14 “from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth—“ [You watch every single person; your ability to see, hear, interact with and love over 6 billion people at the same instant is amazing, unbelievable, incomprehensible.  You are an awesome God!]

Psa 33:15 “he who forms the hearts of all,” [You formed the heart of each individual, one at a time, you work to draw them to yourself, one at a time, you died for each, you paid the penalty for each, you call each, knowing that many will choose not to come–such pain that must give your heart.]
“who considers everything they do.” [Every single thing I do you examine, you notice, you think about: brushing my teeth, thinking lustful thoughts, being impatient, saying a kind word, being proud, responding humbly—you not only see, but you think about, evaluate, mull over, weigh each act.  Again, that you can do this for over 6 billion people all at the same time—this is beyond comprehension and shows how great, how mighty, how amazingly wonderful you are.

Words fail me, comprehension fails me, understanding fails me—you truly are God, the One who is worthy of worship, worthy of belief, of faith, of trust, of obedience.  I must bow before you, reject my trust in my puny, microscopic, feeble, ignorant, foolish self, and put my trust in you, in your wide wisdom, in your complete comprehension, your lustrous light, your pure perception, your noble knowledge, your deep delight in your undeserving children.  May you be honored, glorified, exalted and lifted up in my life today; may I follow your leading, not mine.  May your heart be delighted with my obedience, which can only come with your grace and goodness at work in me. To you be glory today.

Ps 23:1  “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”

It is so good to know you, Lord God, my Father in Heaven, my Shepherd Jesus, my Guide, Holy Spirit.  You are all I need, if nothing works out in this world, if all my dreams and desires come to nothing, if I am a total failure in life, if I suffer multiple tragedies and losses, still, knowing you is enough for joy.

To know that you work to tailor-design every day, every minute of my existence, that you, in your love and grace are protecting me from all actual harm (what will damage me spiritually, what is more than you know I can handle in your grace), while allowing or sending what will mature, deepen, challenge and equip me to serve you better, this is enough.  To know that your power, wisdom and love are unending, immeasurable, inexorable, ever present and perfect, this is far more than I need.

In you is all, in you I am complete.  Praise be to you, O Great One, Lord Jesus, whose love is wide and long, high and deep, without beginning or end, all encompassing, unstoppable, uninfluenced by any reaction.  I praise you, exalt you, glorify you, lift you up for what you will do today in goodness and grace.  Praise be to you in all.

Meditation on Ps 62:2 “You only are my rock, my salvation and my high tower.  I will never be shaken.”

Praise be to you, my Lord and King, Captain and Navigator, Teacher and Leader.  You only are my mighty Rock: solid, unshakable, stable, sure, consistent, trustable and eternal.  With you there is certainty, there is hope, there is the possibility of joy in a world of increasing turmoil.  There is no certainty anywhere else but in you.

You only are my salvation, you have redeemed my soul from hell, rescued me from the domain of darkness and translated me into the Kingdom of Light.  You have taken my rebel heart, full of evil, destruction and selfishness, and transformed me into a new creation. You have taken me as your enemy and adopted me into your family so that I am now your beloved son.  You have annulled my just sentence of eternal separation from you in suffering, punishment, failure and death.  You have given me the gift of eternal life, and of an ever-increasing joy here on earth, of a continual upward path of growth, insight, wisdom and transformation.  You are a marvel!

In addition to all this, you are my salvation every day, protecting me from the attacks of the enemy (you both hold back the tide of evil and you give me the armor, grace and training to use it to deal with what challenges you, in your wisdom, allow through).  You also save me from my own evil desires (alerting me to my wrong responses, giving grace to reject them and respond as you want), and from the negative possibilities of life (how often you have spared me from car accidents, especially when changing lanes on the turnpike).  Truly you are my Salvation in every sphere of life, and in every incident in life!

You are my high tower, my sanctuary—like a giant at my side, you lift me up, set me on your shoulder and make me safe. You are my refuge but not like a stone tower, rather like a great friend, a loving Lord.  You give me perspective, you elevate my thoughts and understanding, you enable me to see further in the distance.  With you there is the ability to grasp more of what you are doing, to trust you more, to defeat the fears and worries that flow out of my heart.  With you there is intimate relationship, deep exchange, personally tailored input.  In you I am safe from all that could harm me, while you let through all that will make me grow, give a platform upon which I can demonstrate your grace to those around me, and allow me to give you more and more glory—which is the whole purpose of life.

With you alone there is such stability, certainty, power, protection and grace that whatever you allow, I can remain unshaken, certain that you will work through it, carry me with you and come out the other side in a way that will bring glory to you, growth to me and good to those around me.  Praise be to you today, Lord Jesus, King and Shepherd, Lord and Servant Leader, the great resolver of paradoxes, the preparer of each step in life, the guide who goes before. You are worthy of worship, of exaltation, of complete obedience.  To you be glory forever and ever.  Amen!