Year 2, Day 237: Psalm 106

Psalm 106

The last three days (or so) of study have really been powerful for me.  Perhaps it is because I am in the process of moving and I am going through many changes.  That makes me vulnerable and therefore in great need of spiritual support.  Although, if it takes stress for me to have a deeply moving connection with God, then I think there is something genuinely wrong with me, too!

However, over the last few days I’ve really been focusing a lot on looking for God in the midst of the stress of life.  In the comment section for my post on Psalm 105 I was able to do some internal processing on what it means to have a good day or a bad day.  It is great to have these moments each day where I can feel myself being stretched by the world and then feel that my response is to equally stretch spiritually in the Lord.  A few years ago I would have retreated into my introverted shell and shut out the world.  Now my response is to stretch even more and look for God in the day.  That’s so cool!

The reason I went through all of that processing above is to set up my reaction for the beginning of Psalm 106.  “His steadfast love endures forever.”  Yet at the same time, “Who can utter the mighty deeds of the Lord?”  Or even, “Who can declare all of His praise?”

Those opening words struck me today.  With all that God is doing in my life right now, I still can’t praise Him enough!  I am still missing stuff!  There’s still more to learn!  As cool as it has been to grow in the Lord the past few days, I’m still not getting it all!

For the record, that isn’t a complaint.  Nor is it meant in a self-degrading “I’m not smart enough to get God” kind of way.  I mean that prior paragraph in an exciting way.  There is still more for me to learn!  I can get up tomorrow knowing that my growth in God is not complete!  I haven’t “arrived!”  There is a purpose to life – and that purpose is to realize that there is a tomorrow that I can use to draw me even more closely to God.

This line of thinking is literally unfolding as I type the words, so please endure my stream-of-consciousness approach to this blog post for just a little while longer.  As a pastor, I am well aware that one of the most difficult times of life is retirement.  The year or so after retirement is usually such an incredible struggle for many people.  The reason is simple, although we’d all deny its truth if given the opportunity.  When we retire, we lose identity and purpose.  When we retire, “we arrive.”  We’re done growing and were done being stretched by our job.  This is why most of the people that successfully transition into retirement either go back to work in some form {Greeter at Walmart is the popular choice these days}.  Some people do volunteer work {often hospital or animal care is a popular choice for volunteering, too}.  The way to successfully transition into retirement is … well … to realize that retirement isn’t good for most if not all people.  Sure, we can retire from one job, but we still must do something with our life!

Here’s my point.  Human beings long for the day when we can retire and live the easy life.  But most of us don’t actually do well without the challenge of growth.  We need a job to stretch us.  We need a volunteer organization to dive into.  We might even look for a new “family” to help raise as our own family grows older and leaves the nest.  We think we want to arrive, but “arriving” is really not that healthy for us.  We need that challenge of tomorrow.

This is precisely the power of these opening verses in Psalm 106.  Who can fully declare all that the Lord has done?  Nobody!  I can’t; you can’t.  But that means that there is more to learn about God today, tomorrow, and tomorrow’s tomorrow!  I am really inspired by the challenge of these opening words!  We shall never be done growing in the Lord.

What’s neat is that all that I’ve talked about so far isn’t even the main point of the psalm!  This psalm is actually a call to repentance.  This psalm is a listing of the national sins of Israel.  It recounts how the people rebelled, had a lack of faith, demonstrated distrust, lusted after other gods, didn’t take God’s ways seriously, mixed with the secular in ways that compromised the faith, and genuinely disobeyed.

Any of that apply to our own life?  Have I not been rebellious from time to time?  Have I ever lacked faith?  Have I ever demonstrated distrust?  Have I lusted after other gods {perhaps not literally, but have I ever put anything before God}?  Have I ever not taken God’s ways seriously?  Have I ever mixed with the world in a way that compromised the faith that God gave to me?  Have I ever been genuinely disobedient to God?  Indeed.  Guilty on all accounts.  I have no defense but the grace and forgiveness of God, because I am guilty.

But here’s the way I shall tie the main gist of the psalm to my comments to the opening few verses.  What an incredible opportunity to then praise God!  Look at all the ways I have been disobedient to God – and trust me, I’m sure I haven’t recounted them all!  How forgiving has God been in my life?  How forgiving has God been in your life?  How many things has God forgiven in the lives of His faithful across the globe throughout time?  How many displays of His grace have we yet to learn about?

Who can fully declare the works of the Lord?  There is more for me to learn about God’s grace and love, and I am eagerly anticipating the challenge today, tomorrow, and the days to come!

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