Psalm 105:43 He brought out his people with rejoicing,
    his chosen ones with shouts of joy.

I learned a musical setting for the passage that includes this verse around 45 years ago, and I can’t read it without that song running through my mind and heart. The song is based on the King James translation, so there are differences in terminology, and the order of the verses is scrambled, but the message gets through. Only the last two verses get left off, which is interesting, because they express the climax and the purpose of all that is described in the song: to give the people the land in order that they might be obedient to God. God does give us joy and provisions, but they are always with an eye to drawing us closer to Him, in holy fellowship. As has been said, He is more interested in our character than our comfort. He is indeed Father God. A good father provides for his children and delights to meet their needs and see them happy, but he doesn’t spoil them. Too many people want a god who spoils them! Such a god doesn’t exist, but the devil will try to give us physical and emotional pleasures to make us think that he is such a god, to drag us down to hell with him. To go back to this verse, some translations say “shouts of joy,” and some say “singing.” I prefer singing, but maybe shouts of joy are more dramatic! In any case, this Psalm is a celebration of the goodness of God, and that is entirely appropriate.

Looking back over my life, and for that matter, the lives of my immediate ancestors that I am aware of, God’s grace and blessings certainly stand out. There have certainly been difficulties. My paternal grandmother almost died after a miscarriage, losing so much blood that they had to do a transfusion, back when that meant putting my grandfather in the bed next to her and hooking a line between his vein and hers. Today, that sounds really scary, and it was certainly risky, but the Lord protected them. There have been scary moments in my own life as well, but God has been incredibly faithful. After all, that’s who He is! It is my joy and privilege, as well as responsibility, to let others know of Him so that they too may commit their lives to Him, to receive all that He has planned for them.

Father, thank You for this reminder. It’s certainly a kick in the seat to get me back to working on my autobiography! My life has been a tale of Your grace, mercy, and faithfulness, and that is more than worth sharing. Help me be faithful to what You have for me to do, because You have been more than faithful to me. Thank You. Hallelujah!