I Sing for Joy

This morning when I read the Word, I felt too comfortable. The well-worn routine of opening the blue leather covers of my Bible, delicate leaves slipping between my fingers, and turning to words made familiar by years of reading and hearing seemed more like a rut than a life-giving action.

So after I read a Psalm, I slipped to the floor, to my knees, and asked God to make the Word alive in me. I searched for something specific in the words I had just read, something I could ask God to do in me, something practical. The verse that I landed on was Psalm 92:4: "I sing for joy at the works of your hands." I asked God to show me His works throughout the day before me, and to enable me to sing for joy, cultivating a grateful heart instead of a complaining heart, or one that was too caught up in the details of tomorrow to enjoy today.

And now, as the day draws to a close, I can say I was not disappointed. My heart has been singing today -- for many beautiful works of the Lord, large and small. My favorite one is this:

This cold spring morning, in a lull between rain showers, Mom and I went out for a run in the woods. The living garment of green worn by the forest at this time of year is a glorious work of God's hands, and it would have been hard not to sing for joy in the midst of such vibrancy, encroaching to the very stones we ran on. As Mom and I drew in lungfuls of sharp, fresh air and feasted our eyes on the verdant green, we prayed aloud together. And suddenly, I was overwhelmed with the songs of joy dancing in my heart for the beauty of the woods and of the morning, for a dose of health and strength for both Mom and me so we could run side by side, and most especially for God's gracious work of a sweet and holy and intimate relationship with a fellow sojourner along God's Way, my own mother.

"It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night. For you make me glad by your deeds, O Lord; I sing for joy at the works of your hands. How great are your works, O Lord, how profound your thoughts!"