On Psalm 116

 On Psalm 116

“I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications, because he hath inclined His ear unto me, therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.”

I love the Lord because He heard the frightened cries of my childhood.

He answered me, He saved me because -- 

• He knew me in eternity past.

• He drew me, died for me, kept me – and continues to do so -- in eternity present.

• He will glorify me in eternity future.

“Even a child is known by his doings, whether his works be pure and whether they be right.”

Therefore, I will call upon Him for as long as I live.

I love the Lord because He heard the longings, the joys, and the tensions of my youth.

He answered His child, He guided my way --

• He taught me.

• He gave me Godly parents and grandparents to remind me of the lessons I was to learn.

• He positioned His people in my life to show me, to love me, to correct me, to encourage me.

• He enabled me to learn, to grow, to see beyond myself. He has not stopped.

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.”

Therefore, I will seek to obey Him for as long as I live.

I love the Lord because He knows of the uprisings and my downsittings of my adult years--

He hears my grief in loss, my fears,  my lonelinesses, in service, my worries concerning provision, my insecurities, my nastinesses, my hard-heartedness, my failures – He knows it all.

• He comforts me.

• He reassures me of His presence.

• He reproves me.

• He provides for me.

• He forgives me.

• His still small voice whispers peace to my soul.

“Like as a father pitieth his child . . .  He remembers our frame, He knows that we are dust.”

He also hears my joys, my excitements, my successes, my contentments …

• He comforts me.

• He challenges me.

• He loves me.

• He gave me husband, sons, lovely daughters, grandchildren, a home, and purpose to fulfill.

• His still small voice whispers assurance to my soul.

“Therefore, seeing we have a kingdom that cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.”

Therefore, I will thank Him.

I love the Lord because He already knows the future – it is written by His hand, and it will be guided by His promise to never leave me or forsake me.

• He has promised me a future with Him – a table prepared by Him.

• He has promised to walk through the valley of the shadow of death

• He knows each step and in this final wilderness, all I have to do is follow.

Therefore, I will trust Him, and I will not be afraid.

What, then, can I render to the Lord for all of His benefits?

By His grace and undergirded by His hand, 

• I will thank Him – continually

• I will confess -- readily

• I will praise Him – daily

• I will worship Him --abandonly

• I will serve Him -- faithfully

• I will obey Him – instantly

As God enables, I will walk by faith, I will pay my vows to Him, and I will trust in His grace as long as He gives me breath.

“Praise ye the Lord.” Amen

Janet Hicks, 2026

You Belong

 Belonging. Everyone wants it. Everyone needs it. Children and teens break rules to fit in with their friends – even rules with serious consequences. Adults participate in the usage of drugs, alcohol, gossip, slander, and other bad habits to be accepted by others. 

I know a young man who is obsessed with his social life at the expense of other important parts of life like school, work, and chores. But it’s understandable, because he has had a lot of rejection in his life, and he’s trying to fill that hole in his heart with friends. Sadly, friends keep letting him down. They were not made to carry the burden he places on them. They are busy with their own responsibilities and relationships. He gets offended when people do not think of him and check on him when he is absent. He feels let down when people forget to speak to him at a social gathering or when passing on the street. Human beings are good at making other people feel like they don’t belong, intentionally or unintentionally, and it hurts deeply. 

Some people refuse to believe they are accepted even when they are. People might reject others out of their own insecurities as a self-defense mechanism. Someone has hurt them in the past, so it’s easier to block people out. It’s complicated, isn’t it? 

We cannot, of course, control what other people do. We can hone our own social skills, but we might still be rejected or forgotten. 

What does God say about all of this? 

He wants us to love one another, overlook faults, extend grace, and get along. It grieves Him when we don’t. The Apostle Paul has written extensively on this. Only in the power of the Holy Spirit! It’s hard! 

These things I know: God loves you and me. He paid a high price for us, and we belong to Him. He promises to never leave us. People might leave, but God doesn’t. We belong because He said so. We come from a place of abundance. There’s room for all of us and all of our gifts and abilities. He has a plan for my life and for yours, and He has placed us where He wants us to be. We can celebrate the successes of others, because it doesn’t subtract anything from us. And what about those difficult people who want to hurt us by excluding us? God can deal with them in His own way. 

We love to feel valued by others, but our value is not dependent on them noticing us or giving us accolades. We are secure in the love of the Almighty, even when we sit alone. 

joyce hague

Our Times Are Safe in His Hands

For the last few months in my time with the Lord, I have been going through Psalms. About a week and a half ago, I was reading Psalm 31 and got to the verse that said, “My times are in Your hands” (31:15). I was about to leave for the hospital to spend the day with Mom. Two days prior, she had decided to transition into hospice care as the cancer was now in her abdomen and there were no more viable treatment options for her. Additionally, she was dealing with incredible pain, and we knew that her time here on earth might be nearing the end. Here was a verse that spoke right into our situation: Our times belong to the Lord. Mom’s time belonged to the Lord.

            Psalm 139:16 says that “all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.” From before Mom was born in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, on November 29, 1951, the Lord knew that her final day on earth would take place on September 29, 2026, while she was at home with her husband and children. This was God’s plan for her; it was born out of an all-loving, all-wise Fatherly heart. And this truth gives peace in the midst of the sadness. We do not have to understand why this was the time the Lord set for her. Yet we are called upon to trust that the Lord is accomplishing His will and that He is good, even as we grieve and miss her terribly. We know that she is happy and whole in the presence of her Savior and that we will see her again in the place where there are no more goodbyes.

            There is a song we used to sing in Germany based on Psalm 31:15. The chorus says, “My times are in Your hands. Now I can be at rest (at peace) in You.” Believing that God knows the number of our days, that our times are in His hands, helps to quiet our troubled hearts. No diagnosis, no accident, no tragedy will alter the plan God has for us or the days He has numbered for us. There is peace in knowing that God is in control, even over the day of our homegoing.

            As I was studying this passage a bit more this week, I learned that the word used for “times” means more than just the passing of time. While it does relate to the number of days that we have on this earth, it is not limited only to this application. The word “times” is translated “circumstances” in 1 Chronicles 29:30 which references the account of David’s life “and of the circumstances that came upon him.” It is not just the number of our days that are in God’s hands, but also our circumstances. The challenges we face, the disappointments we feel, the grief we bear – these, too, are in His hands. Therefore, with King David, the author of Psalm 31, we declare, “But I trust in You, O Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in Your hands” (verses 14-15a).

I know this truth helped sustain Mom as well, for yesterday, as I was leafing through a journal in which Mom had copied bible verses after her cancer diagnosis, I saw that this passage was one of them. She knew that her times were in God’s hands. In the midst of great sadness, we rejoice that the God who led Mom to Himself through her faith in Christ also led her, in His perfect time, safely home.

-- Amy O'Rear