YOUR WORST CAN BE GOD’S WONDER –

We read very few stories about David’s life that caused him more joy and brought him more fulfillment than when God’s presence was returned among His people as the Ark of the Covenant was restored in a place of honor in the holy sanctuary built especially to cover and protect it. You can certainly feel the excitement surrounding a jubilant king dancing in the streets because God now sits in the midst of His people? Now they had a place to sing, a place to worship, a place to give thanks to their One True God for His forgiveness. No wonder David wrote this lyrical psalm to express his joy and exhilaration on this special occasion.

“O One True God, I quietly stand in awe of You, to honor You with holy reverence. All who pray to You, know You’ll listen. That’s why when I couldn’t bear my unforgiven sins anymore, You willingly pardoned my rebelliousness. Yes, every person should count their blessings when You invite them to come and sit down in Your presence; so You can fill them with spiritual goodness in Your house, yes, in Your holy sanctuary. It’s so awesome the way You offer Your grace, O One True God our Savior; yes, You are a beacon of hope to all mankind, from sea to shining sea. And it’s all because of who You are—the One with all the power needed to put the mountains where they sit; to calm the raging seas and roaring waves, bringing peace to those who were afraid. Even those who live in the most remote regions on earth marvel at how You perform such wonders; so there’s not a day that goes by that they don’t lift You up in praise. For they see how You treat the earth like a garden; tending and watering it, O One True God, to make it rich and fertile out of Your abundant resources. This, in turn, provides crops to harvest; all because of Your divine irrigation system that fills its furrows, thereby invigorating its growth. So when harvest time comes there is plenty of grain to reap since You walked through Your garden, watering it so that its growth spreads as it blooms and blossoms. Thereby the land comes alive as the meadows fill with flocks and the valleys are adorned with grain. No wonder everyone who sees it shouts for joy and breaks into song.” Psalm 65:1-13

Reflection: A little boy living on a small farm near a great forest loved to play among the trees. Every day after chores he would head for the woods; to stand and look up in awe and wonder at the great firs and pines growing tall near his house. One day he noticed a small sapling struggling to find light within the shadows of the giant trees. So he dug it up and transplanted it near the edge of the clearing for better access to the sunshine. Each day he’d water this little sprout, becoming much attached to it as it grew taller and taller. One day when he went out to water his growing tree, he found it broken and lying on the ground, snapped at its base with no lifeline to keep it alive. A large bear had rolled over it and knocked it down. His heart was broken, so he picked up his young tree; sobbingly he dragged it to his father to see if he could mend it. Tormented all the next day while in school, he came running home to see if his dad had saved his tree, only to hear his father say, “I couldn’t fix your tree, son.” The boy began to weep, but his father gently placed his big hand on his son’s little shoulder and continued, “But I didn’t throw it away either;” then leading his tearful child into his workshop, the father pointed toward the workbench and said, “There’s your tree now!” The boy looked in astonishment at a small wooden train his father had carved out of the small tree trunk. In so doing his dad had transformed tragedy into triumph by carefully shaping a locomotive, two boxcars, and a caboose. Perhaps David felt the same way about Israel, the vine God took out of the darkness in Egypt and planted it in the bright light of the Promised Land. After King Saul’s disastrous failure and defeat at the hands of the Philistines, David came sobbing to God because the beautiful Ark of the Covenant that God directed to be carved out of that vine was now missing. But God had already protected that Ark as a tribute for David and His people to remember Him by, all David had to do was go get it. So let this be a lesson for all of us. With God nothing is so broken and shattered that He can’t transform it into something beautiful for His glory. All we have to do is bring it to Him, and trust Him to make the best out of our worst. If you have trouble believing this, just look at what He was able to ­do with the cross!