Wednesday, January 6, 2021

Manna for Today: Psalm 66

 


Psalm 66:1-20

Key Verses: 5,16

“Come and see God’s deeds; his works for human beings are awesome: Come close and listen, all you who honor God; I will tell you what God has done for me:” CEB

“Come and see!” This is Jesus’s invitation to his disciples as he walked along the Sea of Galilee and called them away from their families and their homes into a life following him. “Come and see,” is the invitation of the Psalmist when describing the reasons we have to “Shout joyfully to God,” or to “Sing praises to the glory of God’s name!” We have so much to sing about, so many reasons to give praise to God. There are so many beautiful things in this world, there is so much good that comes into our lives. Even on the worst days, there are moments when the goodness of God breaks into the pain, sorrow and chaos we regularly experience in our lives.

It is when we are struggling the most, when the pain is the hardest to bear, when the sorrow threatens to overwhelm and the chaos overtakes all semblance of order that we need to invite ourselves to “come and see.” To pay attention, to notice to, recognize the ways God is moving in the world, in our lives and is working to bring redemption to all that has gone so very wrong. This is also when we need to turn to those around us and say, “Come close and listen,” or as it says in the NIV, “Come and hear.” Not remaining silent as to the goodness of God but inviting others to share in our wonder and our awe at all the ways, even in the darkest times, we are able to see the ways God is at work in our lives, in the lives of those around us, in the world and in all creation. Drawing others out of the dark places they may be so together you can share in wonder of the goodness of our God.

Things to Think on

Where do you see the beauty of God in the world around you today?

As you go about your day, pay attention, take note. Write down at least three ways in which you can see the beauty, the glory, the goodness of God at work around you. Find a way to share those things with at least one other person today.

Tell God about what you have seen, what you have noticed. As much as we ask God to pay attention to us, it is also good to let God know we are paying attention to what God is doing and how God is working.

 

A Prayer for Today

Lord God, I have awoken into a new day. It is perhaps not the best day. Surely, I have had better, but already, I can see you at work in this day, in the beauty of the world outside my window, in the love I have already felt from my family, in joy I have experienced in small ways in the small things I have done. Thank you for showing your glory in the mundane. Thank you for being a God who reaches into my life with your grace, your beauty, your love and shows me the wonder of your creation. You are an amazing, God help me to never be blind to how it is you are present with me each day and help me to never be silent as to all you have done, are doing and continue to do. “How awesome are your works!”  – Amen

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