Journal entry for December 10, 2025

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

Oh, give thanks to the God of gods! For His mercy endures forever.

Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords! For His mercy endures forever. Psalm 136:1-3

Heavenly Father some days feel like "gospel" days and some feel like "Psalm" days. Today feels like a "Psalm" day for me. A day when I need to flood my mind with thoughts of You and Your greatness.

I have read different english translations of this Psalm to try and get a different feel from their usage of words, but none does justice to the Hebrew word Checed, which was used where translators use mercy. Checed means; Lovingkindness, mercy, steadfast love, loyalty, faithfulness, goodness.

Translators have to pick one word, when in reality there is no one English word that encapsulates all of what You are. Your lovingkindness endures forever. Your mercy endures forever. Your steadfast love endures forever, Your loyalty endures forever. Your faithfulness endures forever, and Your goodness endures forever.

It is You alone who have done great wonders. You by wisdom made the heavens. You laid out the earth above the waters. You made great lights, the sun to rule by day, the moon and stars to rule by night.

Father, when I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him?

As I hear in the news of another college campus shooting today, I have to turn my gaze heavenward. I have to look to You and into the Psalms to lift my spirits. To remind myself that the one who walks this earth like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, while he wreaks havoc here on earth, is not the Lord of lords. His time is limited.

He is the opposite of Checed. He is hatred and evil. He goes after the young. Those who have such potential. The young represent hope and a future for a society. Image bearers that can shape cultures. He kills and destroys while You give what he cannot take away, true life, and a hope beyond the here and now.

Thank You Heavenly Father for being You. Thank you that on gloomy days (everyday) I can turn to You to find hope and encouragement. To remind myself of who is really in control and who wins in the end. You are my Rock and my Comfort. Please be with the loved ones of those who were shot in Kentucky. Please comfort them and draw them to Yourself. May the one the devil used to perpetrate this evil be torn from his grasp and come to be a follower of Jesus. I pray in Jesus name. AMEN