beauty

Wednesday, September 29, 2010 (7:50 a.m.)

Good morning Lord,

Good, beautiful morning! I think. I wonder. I fret. I stew. I worry. I waste. Yet still I seek. I read. I hunt. I look. And then I find. And smile. Ah yes Lord. Not just a face smile. A heart smile. A soul smile. A deep, lingering, peaceful all over smile that allows me to hope and rest securely in You. All this because, as the heading to Psalm 105 in The Learning Bible boldly proclaims, “The Lord Can Be Trusted”!

“Praise the Lord and pray in His name! Tell everyone what He has done. Sing praises to the Lord! Tell about His miracles. Celebrate and worship His holy name with all your heart. Trust the Lord and His mighty power.” (vs. 1-4)

I came to these verses as a cross-reference to “David’s Song of Praise” (1Chronicles 16:7-36) where I had actually gone to dwell and meditate on verse 27. “Give honor and praise to the Lord, whose power and beauty fill His holy temple.”

I read these words and am reminded that all You created works in concerted unison to proclaim Your majesty and beauty. Verses 30b-33a, “The world stands firm, never to be shaken. Tell the heavens and the earth to be glad and celebrate! And announce to the nations, ‘The Lord is King!’ Command the ocean to roar with all of its creatures and the fields to rejoice with all of their crops. Then every tree in the forest will sing joyful songs to the Lord.”

It is the beauty You created that draws me again and again away from myself and my own selfish interests to the truly something bigger and better that You have so perfectly provided.

Lord, how I ask that You will keep working in all of my heart, soul, mind and strength fashioning me into someone who will truly love You, others and myself as You have ordained (Mark 12:30-31).

♫For the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies, for the love which from our birth Over and around us lies; Lord of all, to Thee we raise This our hymn of grateful praise. For the beauty of each hour Of the day and of the night, Hill and vale, and tree and flower, Sun and moon, and stars of light; Lord of all, to Thee we raise This our hymn of grateful praise♫

Beauty, Lord. All around me. Open my eyes to see it and my heart to experience it. You are so good and I love You so much. Help me give You the honor and praise You so rightly deserve. I love You. Thank You. Amen.

(450 words ~ 9:03 a.m.)