The Lord has been faithful to us as individuals, and He also shows us through meaningful fellowship, and consistent meaningful fellowship, that He is faithful to His body. He is faithful to entire ministries, and I couldn’t help but to give thanks.
Oh, all glory to His name. For He preserves each and every one of us, and as we exalt His name together, we are further validated and vindicated.
He prunes us. He takes away some branches for nutrients to reach the right places.
He preserves us, ‘pointing’ us to place focus on certain branches by way of keeping them healthy.
In this sense He protects us, ensuring that we continue on, through pruning and preserving.
And what’s nice about this is that He apparently does this for us in a ministry level, just as much as He does this for us in a personal level.
All glory and honor to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s one thing to see the Lord work in our own lives as individuals… and it’s a more glorious thing to see the Lord’s victories through other members of the body.
Seeing the Lord bless others really should bless us. As it is written, everything good comes from the Lord, and He adds no sorrow to it – this applies to the observer as much as it does to the actual recipient.
When we are truly blessed by the Lord, we aren’t the only ones elated; Those around us are encouraged, and not immediately provoked to envy.
It’s something to consider. Of course, it remains to be said that we can only work on what’s within our control – our actions, and our reactions.
Thank You, Lord, for the reading of Your Word.
Psalm 116
Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Death
1 I love the LORD, because He has heard My voice and my supplications.
2 Because He has inclined His ear to me, Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.
3 The pains of death surrounded me, And the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me; I found trouble and sorrow.
4 Then I called upon the name of the LORD: “O LORD, I implore You, deliver my soul!”
We’re just coming from the prayer of Elijah in 1 Kings 18 (‘Hear me, O Lord, hear me‘). I’ve thought about this, and in my musing I also remember Christ’s prayer in John 11 – Right before He called Lazarus forth from the grave, He didn’t waste words in saying, ‘I thank You, Father, that You have heard me…‘
And here we read – Because God hears us, we continue to pray. We continue to call upon Him. We continue to raise our voice and our supplications to Him.
I could move on, but let’s stay here for a while. God hears us. The Father hears us. Christ prayed it out loud for the sake of those who would hear, that the people around may believe the one true God sent Him… and, again, just before He cried out, ‘Lazarus, come forth!‘
The Psalmist wrote of how the Lord ‘inclined His ear’ to him, just before writing ‘O LORD, I implore You, deliver my soul!‘
We ought to speak forth from the premise that God hears us – both on a personal level, and as a congregation.
May 29, 2026
We just finished our Council Meeting. Couldn’t help but be so thankful that we can all come together and unite under the Word and the Spirit.
Somewhere up there I believe my dad is smiling at me. The Chairman is the Colonel’s son, indeed.
As mentioned to the Board: For the unity of His Body, for the expansion of His Kingdom, and for the utmost glory of His Name.
Pro unitatem Corporis Sui, pro amplificatione Regni Sui, et pro summa gloria Nominis Sui.
Continuing through Psalm 116 now.
5 Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; Yes, our God is merciful.
6 The LORD preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me.
7 Return to your rest, O my soul, For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
8 For You have delivered my soul from death, My eyes from tears, And my feet from falling.
9 I will walk before the LORD In the land of the living.
Earlier this afternoon, a good sister from our congregation reached out to me, saying the following:
This is what I sensed to share with you. Tell our Heavenly Father what you are feeling, experiencing, etc.
And listen to what He will tell you. God bless you.
Could be possible that the Lord has spoken to me between that message and now, but, well, I’m taking in what the Word says in the rest of this Psalm.
Immediately after I read that message, I sat down and went right ahead, telling the Lord what I felt – and though part of me as expecting to burst out in tears, I was pretty matter-of-factly telling the Lord what I was really feeling – going from the personal level up to the relational level, I caught myself saying more than once that though I felt frustrated/yearning/anxious/disappointed/concerned, it always ended with me feeling ‘okay’ overall because I knew that He was not only with me, but is working all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
With that mentioned, I keep on going, taking in the fact and truth that, indeed, our Lord is gracious, righteous, and merciful. I mean, it’s as if the Lord is responding to whatever I lifted up to Him, directly, by telling me who He is, and what He does; in the light of all the concerns and the frustrations, I am reminded of how the Lord has dealt with me, bountifully:
Through all that’s happening, I am being delivered – rather, my soul is delivered from death… my eyes are being delivered from tears. Huh. I could cry about all I told the Lord… but He delivers my eyes from tears, surely as He delivers my feet from falling; In fact, I walk before the Lord in the land of the living.
10 I believed, therefore I spoke, “I am greatly afflicted.”
11 I said in my haste, “All men are liars.”
12 What shall I render to the LORD For all His benefits toward me?
13 I will take up the cup of salvation, And call upon the name of the LORD.
14 I will pay my vows to the LORD Now in the presence of all His people.
15 Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His saints.
I suppose we’re reminded here that we could be real with our God, as our Father. Let’s tell Him what we really feel. What’s in our hearts and minds, even as far as our generalizations, our frustrations, our afflictions, our fickle wants all the way to the desires that run as deep as we can dig.
In the process, we find ourselves remembering that we haven’t strayed too far away from Him… and, actually, there’s no question of distance – He’s always been with us, close to us.
For this we proclaim, to ourselves, and to others, of how in all we experience, even up to death, we are precious in His sight.
16 O LORD, truly I am Your servant; I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant; You have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, And will call upon the name of the LORD.
18 I will pay my vows to the LORD Now in the presence of all His people,
19 In the courts of the LORD’s house, In the midst of you, O Jerusalem. Praise the LORD!
We keep coming back to praising Him. We keep coming back to seeing His goodness, to knowing His faithfulness. Even in uncertainty, He is our Solid Rock. In anxiety, He is our Firm Foundation.
I’m not even sure if I need to hear anything so distinct as our sister implied in her message… but that’s what my spirit is both hearing and speaking at this moment. He is solid. Firm. Constant. Faithful. Forever.
To God be all the glory and praise, now and forever. Halleluyah. Amen.
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