Psalm 145:4 One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.
My husband and I are coming off one our most fulfilling weeks of the summer…and also one of the most exhausting. We call it Grandparents Camp. The time when our two grandsons travel from Rhode Island to Pennsylvania and spend a week with us. We try to give them experiences they can’t get at home. Like chopping down dead trees and helping Grandpa drive the gator all over our farm. This year we even went sailing down Chesapeake Bay on their great uncle’s boat and hobnobbed with an HBO film crew!
The morning the boys left to go back home, I opened my Bible to have my daily time with God. My psalm for the day just happened to be Psalm 145. I could hardly believe it! David is exhorting one generation to tell the next generations about the Lord’s mighty works and unsearchable greatness. And to communicate with them about his mercy, compassion and faithfulness. The exact thing we had tried to do in the midst of our activities all week! It seemed to me the Lord was whispering, You did it! Do you know how God speaks through timing?
Passing on what we know about God to the next generation isn’t confined to grandparents and grandkids. A lot of folks today are growing up with a distorted view of God. Although recipients of his grace and kindness, they don’t recognize that it’s him who lifts them up when they fall. It’s him who fulfills their needs and satisfies their honest desires. It’s him who hears their cry when they call on him in truth (vs. 13-19).
But we who follow Jesus do know. And the psalmist says it’s our job to help those who don’t know, connect the dots. We take the opportunity to tell someone it’s not a coincidence that needed money came at just the right time. Or to point out it was God’s grace that provided specific answers to simple dilemmas like, how can we bless our grandkids this week? And what should I give the family hosting us for dinner tonight?
Friend, those little moments of recognizing God at work are purposed not only to build our intimacy with him, but to convey to those around us his beauty, power and enduring love.
Now I think I’ll take a nap!