Praise you, Lord, for this; I’d have liked to get up earlier, but you know what is best, Lord, and I praise you for what you have allowed. You are the God of glory, the Lord of Love, the King of kindness, the Ruler of righteousness and the Shepherd of strength. To you belongs trust, surrender, dependence, obedience and love. To you belongs worship, praise, honor, fear, awe and glory. To you we belong, along with our time, energy, abilities, possessions and relationships. To you belongs wisdom, power, grace, goodness and holiness. All of these you share with us whole-heartedly, abundantly, richly, graciously.
Praise be to you, Lord Jesus, for your sweet shepherding of us through the valley of the shadow of death, through the disappointments, hurts and difficulties of life, through loss, failure, pain and suffering, through conviction, repentance, forgiveness and restoration. You are wise and good in knowing what we need.
I thank you for the “limbo” we are in now, not knowing when we will leave this country. I praise you, Father, that you have things planned out: how long we must wait, the help you will give and the circumstances we will go through. At present I feel like I am not doing much, that I am not earning my keep, not performing in my role as a worker. Give me wisdom in how to move forward in wise and godly ways that you may be honored and glorified in my life.
I praise you, the Sovereign God, who allows us free choice in our sphere of responsibility, that you then weave together our choices and those of others around us to bring out in the end the great conclusion you desire. Praise be to you for the guidance you will give, the protection you will provide and the strength you will grant.
Psa 34:18 “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” [You, Lord, know the heart of each person; you see when we are wounded and overwhelmed. And you are there, actively working in us. We are by nature so stubborn and independent, rebellious and stiff-necked, that surrender often comes only when we are crushed and broken by circumstances. It is then that we see our true state of total weakness, of dependence on you, of sinfulness and rebellion. This is what you did to me in Alaska and I praise you for it, for with this dark experience you ushered me into the Kingdom of Light.
Lord, do bring such breaking to us as is needed that we may surrender more to you, be a more useful instrument in your gracious, powerful hands. You are trustable, you are good, you are wise, so we can rest in your love.]
Psa 34:19 “A righteous man may have many troubles,
but the LORD delivers him from them all;” [Being righteous in you does not protect us from trouble—think of Job–and we may have much trouble—but clearly you are with us in the challenges and will deliver us from each difficulty. You may deliver us at the moment, or in a while, or years later or at death; I think of Abraham waiting for a son, Joseph waiting to get out of prison, Daniel, being attacked again and again, Elisha’s difficulties, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Jesus. You were with each and delivered them at the right time. Praise you for this promise that we can trust.]
Psa 34:20 ‘he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.” [Here is a clear reference to how you protected Jesus. In spite of all the physical abuse he took, you kept his bones whole, every single one. You are the God of detail, of power, of total awareness. So you also work in our lives. I think of the many times you have spared me in driving, times when I should have had an accident because of my own poor choices, but you sovereignly intervened and kept us safe.
You are God, you are King, you are wise and you are powerful. You are worthy of our trust. I surrender myself to you this day, willingly giving my life into your hand again. Fill me with your Spirit, may He overflow onto to all whom I meet today. May you be honored and exalted in what I think, say, do and accomplish. May I praise you in and for all things. May your name be lifted up by my responses to whatever comes. I praise you for the privilege of exalting you. Amen.
