Lord, you are my God;
    I will exalt you and praise your name,
for in perfect faithfulness
    you have done wonderful things,
    things planned long ago.

Psalm 25:1

Psalm 25 is a good text to read on a Sunday morning. Verse 1, especially, paints a complete picture of the Creator. It talks about God’s character, God’s abilities, God’s purposes, and our relationship to God.

I especially appreciate the idea that the “wonderful things” God does are done “in perfect faithfulness,” and that they are “things planned long ago.” God’s providence, God’s faithfulness, God’s purposes that come to fruition in real time; and that real time is now.

So I look around, and I witness all the beauty in our garden, and I consider all the challenges that are playing out in terms of taking care of my mother, and I have to see it all in terms of:

• Acknowledging my relationship to God
• Praising God
• Appreciating God’s faithfulness
• Understanding God’s purposes

Sometimes the frustrations I have to deal with make it difficult for me to see/understand that God is doing wonderful things in perfect faithfulness. Of course that is because I have the short view. But what makes the “things planned long ago” element anything but a fatalistic viewpoint is the implication that God’s plans call for my faithful participation.

It’s not only God who does wonderful things in perfect faithfulness – our faithfulness, while not perfect, invites us to get involved too, participants in The Creator’s initiatives of grace, love, mercy, light, redemption, healing (and more): “Things planned long ago.”

So happy Sunday everyone. Let’s go to worship and then ask God to guide us into the Jesus quality of faithfulness. Then maybe we also will do wonderful things. – DEREK