Psalm 52:1 The goodness of God endures continually.
Psalm 52:8 I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever
Psalm 52:9 I will wait on Your name, for it is good.
There are several movies that I watch over and over, like Napoleon Dynamite and Open Range. I also cannot toss a shelf-full of books that I periodically browse, choosing one, such as Screwtape Letters, to re-read for the umpteenth time. Something about those stories draw me back even though I know the ending and can quote favorite lines. Maybe I crave the emotional connection I felt at the first – love, war, thrills, horror, tear-jerking sadness, laughter – a reflection of myself or an image of who I want to be.
Yet, I’ve been told that if we could see the future we might not want to know the ending. Such was David’s story when he was running from Saul and needed the help of the local priesthood. I Samuel 22: 20-23 tells us that Saul had killed the Lord’s priests because they gave David provisions. When David heard the news from the lone survivor, he said, “I knew that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have caused the death of all the persons of your father’s house.” Would David have made a different decision if he knew he could change the ending of that story?
And is the story’s end even possible to change? Philosophers have wrestled with this question for eons. Fate, destiny, existentialism, karma – man’s attempt to make sense of what befalls him. Today I hear many people pronounce the most limpid sentiment of all, “It is what it is.” To me this statement seems a low blow to the purposeful life created by God. David did not see that the tragedy of the priests’ deaths fulfilled a prophecy made years ago about the family of Eli. David could not have stopped what had already been determined in the heavens. So shall we say we have no control over what happens to others by our actions? I wonder.
I also wonder what plans God has for me. He knows His works from all eternity (Acts 15: 18), and “…we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them, (Ephesians 2:10). Will I trust that my Creator knows all that I need do? If so, then this testimony will produce courage and confidence in times of uncertainty. Not knowing what is to come, will I wait on His mercy, believing that He alone is truly good? If so, then I may yet see that God breathed life into my being for a purpose. My years on this earth are numbered, to be sure; but these numbered years are mine to live.
JW
Sixty-six books in a year 