It is not our God you do not understand. It is our lives you do not understand—our failure to conform to our professed teachings.”
                    –Zane Grey  (Captive of the Desert)

       “He is the Rock; his work is perfect. Everything he does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright he is!”
                    –Deuteronomy 32:4 (NLT)
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     We close out this month of June and it is fitting that we close out Psalm 145 as well.  What a wonderful portion of Scripture.  No matter what we can praise God.  In the good times we often get so busy enjoying them that we forget to praise the Lord.  It is also easy to praise the Lord when He quickly answers our prayers, but what about those times when it seems that He lingers or doesn’t answer at all?  

          14 — The LORD upholds all who fall, and raises up all who are bowed down.
          15 — The eyes of all look expectantly to You, and You give them their food in due season.
          16 — You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
          17 — The LORD is righteous in all His ways, gracious in all His works.
          18 — The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.
          19 — He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them.
          20 — The LORD preserves all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.
          21 — My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD, and all flesh shall bless His holy name forever and ever.  (NKJV)

     “In a world in which life is tough, the Psalms delight in affirming that God is good and that there is no limit to His power, His love, and His concern for His people.” (NKJV Study Bible)  Hold on tightly to that saying–never forget that God is there.  Think of His care for all people first of all.  The rain falls on the just and the unjust, but God also blesses the unjust.  How many people live in America who are wicked, yet they receive the blessings of this great country?  God upholds the life of all, and He offers grace and mercy to all.  
     Continue to thank God for His “general” blessings, but also remember those special blessings He has given to His people, and even more so those blessings He has given to you and you alone.  I was reading while studying for this psalm of a minister in a German town during the Thirty Years’ War.  In one year, the plague swept through that city where Martin Rinckart conducted funerals for five thousand victims, including his wife.  During this pestilence and war he wrote a hymn, “Now Thank We All Our God” in which he praises God for the wondrous things He has done. (William J. Petersen)  Remember COVID?  I was sort of dismayed when I saw the effect that it had on believers.  “Most of us find it hard to be thankful in the midst of short-term woes, but we have trouble when our woes continue for very long.  How about thirty year? (Petersen)
     We tend to forget that God will and does provide.  Did Christians die during COVID?  Yes, but we must remember that God is sovereign, and that He “is righteous in all His ways, gracious in all His works.”  The NLT translates it this way, “The LORD is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness.”  We, all too often, look at life, not in God’s perspective but with human eyes and thus we expect Him to answer in a way that we can understand or the way we want.  Steven Lawson writes, “God is righteous toward His people, always just in all His ways.  He never deals with His creation wrongly, nor does He ever mismanage them unequally.  God is infinitely loving, never needlessly harsh.”  Call upon His name and He will answer.  Ah, but be ready, He will answer in His own way.
     This is the problem with many people who say they reject God.  It is because He did not answer them the way they wanted.  One thing also to remember, He is near to those who call upon Him, those who love and fear Him.  The Lord watches over His own.  However, to the wicked, and this is a sobering thought, He will destroy.  Listen, now is the day of salvation, call to Him while He is near.  
     “Rising up from within our souls must be an anthem of perpetual praise to God.” (Lawson)  David finishes this wonderful psalm with praise.  He will bless the name of the Lord forever.  That should be our aim.  We should always be in a state of prayer (and praise) that is what Paul means to “pray without ceasing.”  When we see an accident on the road, send forth a prayer.  Pray when you see the news, or hear of some devastating event.  Paul prayed for those whom he had never met, so why shouldn’t we?  Praise Him for the needs He has met.  When we praise Him we affirm His work in our lives; that He meets our needs and protects us. (George Wood)  Go through the thick and thin of life with a heart full of praise, even when you don’t understand how God is working.  I like this little prayer by George Wood:  “Lord, I can neither fathom Your creative power nor Calvary’s love.  But You never asked me to understand You.  Instead You invite me to praise and love You.  I do that gladly.  I am so little.  You are so great.  I humbly ask You to magnify Your presence in my life this day.”

               “Now thank we all our God with heart and hands and voices,
               Who wondrous things hath done, in whom his world rejoices;
               Who, from our mother’s arms, hath blessed us on our way
               With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.”
                       –Martin Rinckart

Yes it can be hard, but it’s the only life we have, so we’d better make the best of it.”
                    –Donald L. Robertson  (Troubled Season)

       “Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise.  Use his words to teach and counsel each other.  Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.”
                    –Colossians 3:16(NLT)
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I wonder, when I look at the condition of our country; I wonder, when I see the turmoil, how it affects Christians.  Life isn’t a way through the blissful garden, though at times we do gain refreshment there.  Life isn’t always a grand venture of delight, though for sure it is an adventure.  When we read of the life of Paul we saw that he faced great trials of various sorts and I would ask, can we expect less?  Oh, we might not face a literal shipwreck, but how many people do you know have a shipwreck of a life?
     We sang an old hymn last Sunday; one that was often sung during my childhood and youth, and one that we seldom hear anymore.  It speaks of life as we should know it in Christ.  Despite the troubles and trials, we should be able to go through this pilgrim-land with a song in our hearts because we have Jesus there.  Ponder the words, written by L.B, Bridges, and do an inventory of your life.

          “There’s within my heart a melody
          Jesus whispers sweet and low,
          Fear not, I am with thee, peace, be still,
          In all of life’s ebb and flow.”

     Life comes at us in myriad ways.  Troubles, happy times, but we should face them all knowing that there is nothing to fear for Jesus is with us.  The Spirit guides us in every step we take no matter what comes our way in life.

          “All my life was wrecked by sin and strife,
          Discord filled my heart with pain,
          Jesus swept across the broken strings,
          Stirred the slumb’ring chords again.”

     Perhaps that is what we need, the chords to be stirred, the gift within us to be brought back into a flame.  Perhaps when we get down we should look into His smiling face and “feast on the riches of His grace.”

          “Feasting on the riches of His grace,
          Resting ‘neath His shelt’ring wing,
          Always looking on His smiling face,
          That is why I shout and sing.”

     Troubles come, storms rage, winds howl, and the waves at times seem to roll over us trying to drown us in our situation.  However, get that word etched in your heart and mind that He will never leave or forsake us.  Look for His guidance, follow the path that He has laid out for each of us, and do it with joy and peace in your heart.

          “Tho’ sometimes He leads thro’ waters deep,
          Trials fall across the way,
          Tho’ sometimes the path seems rough and steep,
          See His footprints all the way.”

     Listen friend, there’s a blessed hope coming our way.  There is a mansion waiting and prepared for us.  We cannot begin to imagine what heaven, what glory will be like.  It is far beyond our human minds, far beyond what we can imagine or expect.  But that day is coming!  

          “Soon He’s coming back to welcome me
          Far beyond the starry sky;
          I shall wing my flight to worlds unknown,
          I shall reign with Him on high.”

     So don’t go through life with a frown.  Don’t let your forehead turn into waves of wrinkles because of fear, doubt, or fright.  How?  How can we go through this life with joy in our heart?  We do it through Jesus.  It is through Him that our every longing is filled.

          “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,–
          Sweetest name I know,
          Fills my ev’ry longing,
          Keeps me singing as I go.”

Still, gaunt now and haggard, weakened in body but not in soul, we pressed on across.”
                    –Emerson Hough  (54-40 or Fight!)

       “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”