But you, O Sovereign Lord, deal well with me for your name’s sake; out of the goodness of your love, deliver me. (Ps. 109:21)
IT HAD NEVER OCCURRED TO ME that someone would lie right to my face. Perhaps I’d lived a sheltered life, but I had never encountered this behavior. Yet there it was. I had naïvely paid the full price for repairs to a home improvement contractor on the promise that the few parts of the project that remained undone would be completed within a week. That was the last I saw of him. He never returned and never responded to phone calls. He lied, took my money, and left.
If you haven’t encountered a person like that, or like the ones described in this psalm, wait a while. They’re out there. Sooner or later you’re likely to be the object of some unscrupulous person’s scheme or be on the receiving end of someone’s unjustified anger or abuse. It happens.
How good to know that none of this changes God’s love for us, His control over the world, or His good intentions for our future. The psalmist appealed to God to act according to His good nature, but the words are a reminder to the writer, not to God. God is good. He is loving. He is kind. He is powerful. He is just. He remembers His children. He protects the helpless. He provides for the needy. Are you in need today? Call out to God. His love never fails.
Name three things that are good about God then thank Him.
Lawrence W. Wilson is a pastor, author, and blogger from Fishers, Indiana. He is the author of A Different Kind of Crazy: Living the Way Jesus Lived (WPH).
