November 2015 - Page 2 of 9 - Daily Thoughts about God

“Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits” Psalm 103:2

It is delightful and profitable to observe how the hand of God was upon the lives of ancient saints, to see His goodness deliver them, see His mercy pardon them, and see His faithfulness keep His covenant with them.

But isn’t it even more delightful and profitable for us to remember the hand of God working in our own lives? We should look back at our own history as being at least as full of God, as full of His goodness and of His truth, as the lives of any of the saints who have gone before. We do our Lord an injustice when we presume that He performed all His mighty acts for those in the past, but doesn’t perform wonders for us today.

Let’s review our own lives. Surely we will discover some happy incidents which are both refreshing to ourselves and glorifying to God.

Has God delivered you from trouble? Have you passed safely through rivers, supported by the divine presence? Have you walked through proverbial fires unharmed?

Remember, this is the God who gave Solomon the desire of his heart. Hasn’t He also often heard and answered your requests? This is the God of beautiful outpourings about whom David sang, “Who satisfies your desires with good things.” Has He never satiated you with blessing? Have you never been made to lie down in green pastures? Have you never been led by the still waters?

Surely the goodness of God has been the same to us as to the saints of the past. Let us then weave His mercies into a song. Let us take the pure gold of thankfulness, and the jewels of praise and make them into another crown for the head of Jesus. Let our souls make sweet music, music that is as exhilarating as that which came from David’s harp, while we praise the Lord whose mercy endures forever!

Question: How has God delivered you, personally?

Originally written by Charles H. Spurgeon
Updated to modern English by Darren Hewer, 2008.

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“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” – Psalm 139:14

It was one of those moments when I really pondered the intricacies of the handiwork of God. We discovered fourteen baby turtles in our backyard swimming pool. Though only hours old, they were swimming and enjoying the best of times. Netting them out was no easy chore, but was necessary to save them, as they are not designed to live in pool water.

We got some lake water and put it in a kiddie pool so the little children could see them before releasing them to their natural habitat in the lake. Apparently the mother turtle had made a nest and laid eggs in a flowerbed near the pool and when the little hatchlings broke through the shell, they instinctively headed for the closest water. When we fished them out, they all ran back to the pool.

I awed at God’s creation. Though newborn, they could run, swim and knew to find water. Though less than two inches across, they were intricately designed, with one shell design for males and another for females. They had a little tail that wagged as they swam, four feet with tiny fingernails and head at the end on a long neck which they stuck out to survey their surroundings with their tiny little eyes. When picked up, they went into defense mode and pulled everything back into the shell that had been given to them for protection.

I just stared and marveled at God’s creation, as I thought how much greater is his signature creation on human beings. We are indeed fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139 says to praise Him for our being fearfully and wonderfully made.

As marvelous a creation as they are, God stamps out the little turtles in identical fashion, gender being the only difference, but with human beings, we are all made in his image but all different.

Do you ever look in the mirror and wished you were different? It seems that most of us, in varying degrees, are not happy with the way we were made.

For some of us, it might physical dissatisfaction, while for others it might be that we’re not be smart enough, or outgoing enough, or etc. etc. etc. In verse 14, the psalmist cries out “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

When God created us, He made us exactly the way He planned. When He designed us, before we were even in our mother’s womb, He planned our size, the color of our eyes, the color of our skin, everything about us! We are unique; one of a kind.

Just as He proclaimed His creation good in Genesis 1, He proclaims that we were made perfect in His sight. Our Father in heaven does not make junk! You are fearfully and wonderfully made and God’s work in your life is wonderful! You do not need to conform to somebody else’s image of success, but only ask God for ears to hear His delight in your creation.

By John Grant