Thoughts for the Day

The Greatness and Goodness of God

Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous.
Praise befits the upright.
Praise the Lord with the lyre;
make melody to him with the harp of ten strings.
Sing to him a new song;
play skilfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

For the word of the Lord is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness.
He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord....

The Lord looks down from heaven;
he sees all humankind.
From where he sits enthroned he watches
all the inhabitants of the earth—
he who fashions the hearts of them all,
and observes all their deeds.
A king is not saved by his great army;
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
The war horse is a vain hope for victory,
and by its great might it cannot save.

Truly the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love,
to deliver their soul from death,
and to keep them alive in famine.

Our soul waits for the Lord;
he is our help and shield.
Our heart is glad in him,
because we trust in his holy name.
Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Story: There was once an old man who lived in a small village. Now everyone was fed up with him. He was always gloomy, constantly complained and was always in a bad mood. People avoided him, because his attitude was contagious. He created the feeling of unhappiness in others. But one day, an incredible thing happened. The rumour spread that the old man was happy, and was smiling. When asked why he had changed, the old man answered "For 80 years I've been chasing happiness, and then I decided to live without happiness and just enjoy life. That's why I'm happy now." (Anon)

All of us can get into the habit of being fed up with life, and become mildly depressed. I am not talking of those suffering a serious mental illness, here, but of those times when life seems grey and unrewarding. Our speech and thoughts are characterised by certain words - for example, "I", "Me", and "My". We barely take in what others are telling us, and if we pray then it's a long list of demands to God.

Psalm 33 reminds us to lift our voices to praise God - singing and music will quite naturally lift our spirits - and to remember that God is in charge of our world. It is God who will protect and save us. His reasons and His solutions for our problems are good even though we may not understand them. Our job is to live a life that supports others, and in giving, we shall receive. When the word "I" diminishes from our vocabulary, and the "We" and "Us" words take over, then we shall find true happiness, as we learn to wait on the Lord.

Heavenly Father,
make us ever aware of all that You give us,
and may we continue to praise You
for Your greatness,
and Your goodness to us.
Help us to have confidence in Your ability
to solve our problems,
and make us ever open to the plight of others,
that in casting our difficulties on You
we may learn to listen to them,
and where possible help them.
Amen.