With Hope.

January 1: Psalm 8

"O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!"

I love the way this Psalm starts. It's the way I want to start my year, I think-- the way I hope to start each day of my year.  This chapter reminds us of the beauty of God: his handiwork, his faithfulness, his care for us. Quite simply, it reminds us of our reason for being alive.  At least, that's what it did for me.  I have been a bit nervous about this year, particularly because it is going to be full of a lot of new challenges for me.


Today's reading and prayer reminded me of the proper attitude I should have in such circumstances.  The last line of Walter C. Sutton's prayer for New Years Day is this:

"Grant us the wisdom to learn from the past, to use today well, and to look forward to tomorrow with hope."

I started thinking about how we can possibly look forward to the unknown with hope.  And I remembered.

It's just as Psalm 8 reminds us:  The Lord reigns.  He is sovereign. Furthermore, though he is so supreme, the Psalmist wonders at the fact that God cares for us.  Not because of who we are, but because of who He is.

This realization is so freeing to me as I imagine all of the unknowns of the new year.  God, in his sovereignty has created this world, and none of it is outside of his control.  Rather than beginning my day wondering how on earth I am going to accomplish everything that is required of me, I pray that I begin my days in this way:

"O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!"

 Furthermore, I pray that this reminds me to rest in the one who holds the world, seeking his glory, not my own.