Dave's Diary

Daily Readings: Psalm 111 and Psalm 126

As we continue our journey with Psalm 126, you’re invited to memorise Psalm 126:2b-3 today:

Then it was said among the nations,
    ‘The Lord has done great things for them.’
The Lord has done great things for us,
    and we are filled with joy.

Once you’ve comitted it to memory, meditate on it throughout the day in light of Psalm 111:2-3

 Great are the works of the Lord;
    they are pondered by all who delight in them.
Glorious and majestic are his deeds,
    and his righteousness endures for ever.

There’s that word “ponder” again. Pondering the works of the Lord is what the pilgrims were enabled to do through Psalm 126. Every time they recited, sang or heard Psalm 126 their thoughts were drawn to God’s great and majestic work of delivering His people from captivity in Babylon. Those thoughts in turn triggered great joy. They said: “The Lord has done great things for us and our hearts are filled with joy.” (v.3)

Note that their joy didn’t happen in a vacuum. It didn’t come out of nowhere. Exuberant joy was produced in them as they deliberately pondered and delighted in the works of God. It seems their joy was cultivated by remembering and thinking about what God had done. Even in moments of difficulty and heartache, if we will discipline ourselves to remember and celebrate what God has done in the past, this will deepen our faith for the future and our joy in the present.

Take time now to ponder the recent work of God in your life. It may not feel particularly “great” or “majestic” … it might just be one tiny, shuffling step forward … but God’s daily help and strength adds up to something truly magnificent and praiseworthy over the course of a each season we’re in.

Lord, today I delight in Your goodness to me, and I rejoice in Your unfailing love. Amen.