Reflections
Psalm 145: 8-9, 10-11, 12-13
“The Lord is good to all and compassionate toward all his works.”
When we reflect on what God has
done for us, we remember that God
has always done good things for us.
That is God's nature – as the Psalm
says, “The Lord is gracious and
merciful and of great kindness.”
And so we pray this psalm to bless,
praise, and exalt the heavenly Father
in His perfection and in His works.
Our psalmist dwells on the everlasting
nature of God, on his love and presence
throughout all time, and we are called
to praise the Lord forever. Our psalmist
reminds us, “The Lord is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.”
We know this inherently because we live
our lives with an unending stream of divine love.
There are times when we may question
why God allows us to suffer, why He allows
“bad things to happen to good people.”
We may ask, as the early believers probably did,
“Why is it necessary to undergo such hardships
to enter the kingdom of God?”
Afflictions go hand in hand in our walk
with the Lord. We may not understand
what God is up to, but we can be sure that
our faith will be strengthened if we stand
fast in the face of suffering. We will become
better witnesses for Christ as we are humbled.
We become better servants if we bear up
with our difficulties and trust in the Lord,
as our psalmist tells us.
Endurance is a Godly quality and will help
us to get 'yoked' to Jesus. Having done that,
we, like our psalmist David, join with the
faithful and speak of the glory of God's reign
and bless His name.
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. The Psalm says, 'Let all your works give you
thanks, O Lord.' Are you one of His works? Tell
of how you give thanks to the Lord and bless Him
as one of His faithful ones.
2. Our psalmist speaks of the everlasting nature of
God's divine love. Describe how God's love has helped
you to overcome hardship and get 'yoked' to Jesus.
"Why does God allow us to suffer; why does He allow bad things to happen to good people???" As much as we all would like good things to happen to us all the time, that's not God's plan. We grow, mature, develop character/strength when times are tough/when we face adversity. Our faith is strengthened when we stand fast in the face of suffering, and adversity, and deal with it. "Endurance is a Godly quality".
ReplyDeleteSometimes my burdens seem more than I can bear. I wondered many, many times why our merciful, compassionate, and loving God permits me to suffer this painful adversity. He is righteous. He has a plan for me. In spite of knowing all these things, it is still hard to bear the suffering with a thankful heart.
ReplyDeleteMy faith was weakened due to my health problems. But whenever I was about to fall and to go astray, He was there beside me to lift me up. And so He drew me near to Him. Once again my faith was strengthened. I can never run away from Him. I learned that through this affliction, which made me humble. Through hardship while on earth we have to be purified in order to enter the Kingdom of God. All I can do at this point is to trust in His Divine love. Everything will work out for my good in the end.