Focus

Take a few minutes to push the “pause” button on whatever is going on around you and be still with God.

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Read

Psalm 84 (NRSV)

How lovely is your dwelling place,
O LORD of hosts!
My soul longs, indeed it faints
for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and my flesh sing for joy
to the living God.

Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O LORD of hosts,
my King and my God.
Happy are those who live in your house,
ever singing your praise. Selah

Happy are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
As they go through the valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
They go from strength to strength;
the God of gods will be seen in Zion.

O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
Behold our shield, O God;
look on the face of your anointed.

For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than live in the tents of wickedness.
For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
he bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does the LORD withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
O LORD of hosts,
happy is everyone who trusts in you.

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Reflect

Happy Birthday! Happy Anniversary! It is only natural to express happy sentiments to our friends and family. Also, it seems to be human nature always to be looking for something to make us happy—a new gadget, a new home, the perfect vacation spot. Lasting happiness can appear to be elusive because the “new” thing quickly becomes old and outdated. I have often heard it explained that the state of being happy is short-lived, while joy is long lasting. While in some sense that might be true, the psalmist in today’s scripture uses the word happy at least three times. He makes it apparent that happy does not have to be short-lived or elusive. His heart soars as he contemplates all the things that make him happy.

Forever happy can be achieved if we are content with what God has provided. The psalmist closes out the chapter with this important statement. “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; he bestows favor and honor. No good thing does the Lord withhold from those who walk uprightly.”

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Pray

Our Great God, may I continually echo the words of the psalmist and keep “my trust in you” for only in you will I find lasting happiness. Amen.

Go with God.