Psalm 145

A psalm of praise. Of David.

 ^{1 [a]} I will exalt you, my God the King;
       I will praise your name for ever and ever.

 ² Every day I will praise you
       and extol your name for ever and ever.

 ³ Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
       his greatness no one can fathom.

 ⁴ One generation will commend your works to another;
       they will tell of your mighty acts.

 ⁵ They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty,
       and I will meditate on your wonderful works. ^[b]

 ⁶ They will tell of the power of your awesome works,
       and I will proclaim your great deeds.

 ⁷ They will celebrate your abundant goodness
       and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

 ⁸ The LORD is gracious and compassionate,
       slow to anger and rich in love.

 ⁹ The LORD is good to all;
       he has compassion on all he has made.

 ¹⁰ All you have made will praise you, O LORD;
       your saints will extol you.

 ¹¹ They will tell of the glory of your kingdom
       and speak of your might,

 ¹² so that all men may know of your mighty acts
       and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

 ¹³ Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
       and your dominion endures through all generations.
       The LORD is faithful to all his promises
       and loving toward all he has made. ^[c]

 ¹⁴ The LORD upholds all those who fall
       and lifts up all who are bowed down.

 ¹⁵ The eyes of all look to you,
       and you give them their food at the proper time.

 ¹⁶ You open your hand
       and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

 ¹⁷ The LORD is righteous in all his ways
       and loving toward all he has made.

 ¹⁸ The LORD is near to all who call on him,
       to all who call on him in truth.

 ¹⁹ He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;
       he hears their cry and saves them.

 ²⁰ The LORD watches over all who love him,
       but all the wicked he will destroy.

 ²¹ My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD.
       Let every creature praise his holy name
       for ever and ever.

~Preface: For special effect, you might want to click on the video and listen to the music while you read this. Scroll down. If my jukebox is playing, you can turn it off first-to the right of the page.~

God has been so good to me. He continues to lead me on a journey of trusting in Him beyond human understanding. He is teaching me about the kind of father He is, how good He is.

Even in the midst of the discomforts there is His comfort. Even in the long haul of waiting there is His presence. There is absolutely nothing that can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:38-39).

He is teaching me about faithfulness. He is always faithful, good on His word. I can rest assured that if I trust Him and obey Him that one day I will get my reward, whether it be in this lifetime or the next one to come in heaven. This life is but a tiny moment in time compared to eternity. I want to please Him because I want to see his face one day. More importantly, because there is no other comfort or security that compares to what He gives. I want to live in His presence. I do not want my sin to separate me. He forgives me when I mess up, but I want to live in the realm of his glory which is only reached through pureness of heart.

There’s so many times that I misunderstand Him, it makes me want to cry. I looked at him like a harsh Father, a punisher, content to let me stew in my mistakes and my sufferings, but that is not Him at all.

I used to think my reward would be slow coming-only in heaven one day-and therefore I was not sure if I could wait, or if I could pay the price I thought it would take, but I realize, now, that He plans a good life for me here on this Earth, too. Somehow, I thought I was overlooked, left out. I realize now that wasn’t true. We must have spiritual eyes to understand. We must be patient and choose to trust God, no matter how it looks.

There are seasons in life, and some seasons are hard. God says “In this life you will have tribulation, but take heart for I have overcome the world” (John 16:33.) But just as there are winter seasons of loss and dying, there are also seasons where life begins to form and buds begin to open (Ecclesiastes 31:8). Where color begins to burst forth everywhere.

God also says “weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalms 30:5.)

If we could only hold out and know that the hard times are only temporary. God has a plan of rescue or perhaps a way out. Some things he delivers us from and some things he guides us through as we walk to the other side. Always God does what’s best and only what we allow.

The revelation of his love is fleeting, it comes and goes depending on how I’ve structured my day, how much time I spent truly trying to be with Him.

But He keeps pursuing me, trying to help me understand that He never stops loving me, and He never stops being good. He wants me to know-and you too if you’re reading this-that He’s a good God-faithful to the end.

There’s some things in our life that we simply don’t understand- the pain of our life, the disappointments, the hurts, the mistakes. We try to understand and we come to some wrong conclusions about God’s intentions or his will for our life. We blame God for the things the Enemy does. We don’t listen to God when he tries to show us the way.

I decided that my way doesn’t lead anywhere. I’ve made terrible choices when I’ve acted independently of God’s will. I only want God’s way, now. It’s a new season. A time for me to be ever more obedient in every area of my life. So I can be with Him, be blessed by Him, and hear Him with clarity.

He shows me more and more that I can’t go by what I see. He is a limitless God and he is not bound by circumstances or natural law. He can bend natural law at His whim. He can heal our sickness (Pslams 103:3-4), raise people from the dead (John 11), call in resources where there are no resources, etc.

He can rain money and resources down from heaven and often does. When I look back I see that he has always provided, but now that I am closer to Him and more obedient I seem to live in a greater degree of security and knowledge about how He does. Practically all my clothes and all my furniture were provided by God as gifts. Steve’s second eye surgery-done today-was also provided by God. Someone gave us  a $300 check. Wow! Even little comforts like going out to eat (friend took me to Golden Coral Thursday)and nice meals (God gave us another $20 cash which we spent on Chinese) have been provided by God  this week. Sometimes God makes me feel so pampered. On those moments I wonder why I have to doubt God’s plans for me. Even in the mist of our sufferings, there is God’s comfort. Don’t forget that God provided the Israelites manna during the desert (Exodus 16:4) and their clothes did not wear out (Deuteronomy 8:4). God is the same today  (Hebrews 13:8) as he was then and he can take care of us too!

“I have carried you since you were born; I have taken care of you from your birth. Even when you are old, I will be the same. Even when your hair has turned gray, I will take care of you. I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” Isaiah 46:3-4

“Delight yourselves in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”  (Psalms 37:4 NIV)

“For I know the plans I have for you”, declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”  (Jeremiah 29:11)

“In your presence” by Jason Upton

Creative Miracles, oil pastel, original

This represents the essence of God as Creator. There is white light emanating from the center and color reflected in the center almost like a prism. The colorful rays then extend outwards representing God’s amazing creative power to do anything-create, save, heal, deliver, set free, love, anything…it’ limitless. The orbs also represent his glory, his radiant presence. There are mysteries hidden within His white light, if only I could dig deeper to discover them. Think about how white light is a combination of all the colors in the universe; in essence it contains the existance of everything-that is God symbolized by the white light. That is why he is above the laws of this earth or even the universe because he created it all and can bend the laws at will. He can do anything He wants, and that is good news, because he can change your circumstances in an instant or even change you. He can change people’s hearts and attitudes, and he can certainly move in your life to do whatever you need, if you would only ask and believe.

I wrote this psalm, reflecting on his wonder…
Your glory fills the sky
Who can fathom your wonderful essence?
Who can comprehend your unending goodness?
You are everything.
Wonder, Delight. Love.
The entire universe exists in your being.
Without you, there is no form.
You hold it all together, lovingly, carefully.
Every detail thought of.
You know the beginning from the end.
You know me and love me.
Your plans are so good, so rich…
They far exceed our expectations.
Your mercy and generosity is amazing!
I want to live with you forever,
wrapped up in your amazing arms,
your colorful glory,
your gentleness, your awe.
I live for you, Lord.
eternally greatful.

Testimony: As I was finishing up the orbs on this and reflecting on the goodness and power of God it seemed like I was under attack. Finances depleted, the car broke down, no money to fix it, and without the car it was impossible for my husband to do his job. Circumstances shouted, “Doomed! It’s over! It’s all collapsing!”

I was confused, “God, why? I thought you would take care of us. We gave alot for you.”
I heard, “Do you trust me?”

I looked at my circumstances again thinking, “I don’t know.” I looked at my picture again reflecting on God’s ability to do creative miracles, to create from nothing. He created the whole world, my car, me! Is he surely now going to forget me?

God said again, “Do you trust me? When are you going to stop looking at your circumtances and what you don’t have and start looking at what you do have, Me!”

Needless to say, I prayed and begged God and tried to believe. I got a ride home, and wouldn’t you know it the same night God also provided money to fix the vehicle. It was fixed the next day and there was quite a bit of money left over. We had nothing, and in an instant God changed it! He is so good!

It feels like major catastophe to us, but its nothing for God, a simple breath could fix everything or give us a new vehicle if he wanted. Why do we get so stressed out?

Praise, digital art by Cassandra Donnelly

God, you created the heavenlies, the Earth, and everything in the universe. You are our Creator, and you are amazing! Nothing is too difficult for you! I cannot contain my great love for you! It is gushing out of me, glowing within me, exploding in great waves of appreciativeness, one after another…I can’t believe it! I knew you were good. I heard about your goodness, but until I tasted it for myself I did not fully comprehend its depths. How great you are! How unworthy I am for your great generosity! What would I do without you? Without you I am nothing! But with you anything can be accomplished! Lord, there was a time when I was without hope, but oh how you came and lifted up my face towards you. You breathed on me, and gave me just enough strength to go on. You spoke to me, guided me, showed me the way out of my pit of despair. You showed me that it only gets better. It only gets better when we are with you. We are not defined by our past. We are not defined by our circumstances. We are defined by you, Lord, the creator of the universe, who can do all things. Therefore, we are never stuck, never without hope, for you have the answer. You have the answer we need. Oh, if we would humble our hearts and turn to you, you would restore us, you would heal our land, you would return what the locusts have stolen. For you never intended us to live this life without you.

Lord, we create so many messes when we do not listen to you, when we don’t take the time to hear your instructions, and when we don’t follow your great wisdom, and try to do things on our own,…But Lord, it is never too late to repent, to turn back to you, to listen more closely, for you have the answer, and it is closer than we think. You may not instantly fix the trouble we find ourselves in, especially due to our sin, our selfish desires and ungodly ambitions, but you promise to be with us and show us the way, if little by little we will follow you until we reach the place you have prepared for us. You have prepared each one of us such a great portion. You have created each of us with such a great destiny. I would not want to be any other place than in your will, because your way is so much better than my own. Your plans are so much better than my own.

I find when I look back I am not where I used to be; you have pulled me so much closer to you. You have given me so much more revelation. The way gets easier because I allow you to become stronger in me and more room to move. I cannot imagine what the future holds, if already in my awkwardness with you, you are showing me such great miracles. I am nobody special, just somebody who needs you. Somebody who clings to you, somebody who worships you, somebody who cannot heal without you, somebody that you created for your purposes. I submit every part of me and my life to you to do as you please. I want your will and not my own. I have grown up in the face of the enemy, with oppression, trauma and abuse, and I have experienced the bitter taste, foul smell, darkness, heaviness, cruelty, terror, and hatred of the Enemy…I never want to go back. But now you have taken me to the other side, just on edge of the heavenlies. Oh, how light and sweet it is. Oh how safe it is! You are my safe haven! You are my strong tower! You have won me over! You have taught me to trust you! You have been patient with me in my distrust. You never gave up on me. Thank you so much for your great love! Thank you so much for who you are!

Oh that the world could only see you, only know you, how blessed they would be. You are good, Lord. You are good. You are not without mercy. You are a merciful God. Your anger and wrath does not last forever. You may have allowed us our own way, Lord, but now come to us, call out to us, pull us close to you. Have patience on your people, Lord. Do not let the enemy destroy our great nation. Lord, I intercede on behalf of our nation and our people with great boldness, that you would turn us back to you. Lord, have mercy for the sake of your people, for the sake of the few that know you and love you. Lord, I repent for the sins of our nation, all the things we placed before you, all the things we loved more than you, all the things we trusted in besides you. Lord. I repent that we did not understand your goodness, that we did not trust you. Lord, open the eyes of your people that they might see you. That they might know your goodness! That they might taste and see. Open our hears to hear you, Lord, and give us discernment so that we will not be fooled by the enemy’s tricks and schemes. God you can do all things, you showed me that. Is it not too late for you to save our great land? For you to turn our hearts back to you and heal our economy, for you to win over our leaders and bring forth new ones that can create good, that can bring safety, that can deliver us from the threshold of the enemy? Lord, you taught me that nothing is too difficult for you. You can restore us, Lord.

God, I lift your name on high, above all other names, for you are God. You are Lord! You are our redeemer, Lord. And I would declare that you are good. You are loving. You are faithful. You are just. And in the end, Lord, it is you. You and all those in you who will remain. You will triumph over evil! You have the final say so! We are not victims, Lord. We can take a stand. We can be bold! We can take back what was rightfully ours. With our mouths we will set things right! We will take the authority you’ve given us! We will declare that you are our healer and you can and will heal us, our families, and our land. We will always have you to take care of us! Lord, we thank you that your love is eternal, and that nothing can separate us from it. Nothing. Nothing! That is such safety! Being near you is what makes me happy. Lord, I want to see your face. Come, show your face to us, Lord. Lord, let your glory be seen all across the land. Lord, let your light come! You are Holy and you are worthy! Thank you! Thank you1 Thank you! Thank you for your goodness! I will never stop singing your praises. I will always have you, and you will always have me. My heart is yours, forever and ever. Amen. Selah!