Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Jerry Rhinehart:
Psalm 147:1-6 (NIV)
1 Praise the Lord. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him! 2 The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the exiles of Israel. 3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. 4 He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. 5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit. 6 The Lord sustains the humble but casts the wicked to the ground.
We’ve spent the week focusing on God’s power and might, his ultimate authority over all. We see Jesus standing in the face of evil and destruction, speaking and teaching with this same authority. (Mark 1:27) As we focus on the awesome magnitude of God’s power, let us not lose sight of how God chooses to use this power. God gathers his people, seeking to bring home the outcast. God heals the brokenhearted and cares for the hurting. This same God has named every star in the sky and, more importantly, knows each of his children by name. This means YOU! Your God, strong and mighty, seeks to care for you in every way. May you come to see God as your constant companion, your strength and redeemer, your comfort and healing, this day and every day. Amen.