"I will Sing Unto the Lord" (Psalm 13:6)

I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me. (Psalm 13:6)

This verse first became important to me when I memorized it as a teenager. These words meant a lot. God was good to me, and I would praise Him!

Since that time, a lot has happened. I finished high school. I married. I became a mother. We had a "happy, Christian home" for some years, but then my husband turned from the Lord. He became an atheist. Years have passed that way, and now I find myself facing divorce.

What a messy life this has turned out to be.

I would never have "chosen" to be in this situation now. It is very painful, and there are a lot of difficult details.

I was reviewing some verses tonight, and I came to Psalm 13:6. I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.

This verse has remained one of my favorites, even more so as I have come to these difficult years.

What, about this life, has lasting importance? It is God.

Nothing I can face in this life can touch that.

Paul says, "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." (Romans 8:18)

I was reflecting on this tonight. I have "lost" much of what I thought was "good". Life has become hard, and one would naturally think there would be less reason to "praise" with such blessings removed. But, I think, as the years have gone on, and many of the hopes I had in this life have been dashed away, God's promises have seem brighter to me. The things that I had hoped in are gone. What is left is Him.

The trials have effectively removed my looking toward "other" things as my "hope" in life in many places, and I can see Him better.

Of course, He is always there, through both "good" and "difficult" times. But when we are forced to look to Him for our hope and joy and strength, we remember what we have believed, that this life and all that is in it is "nothing" compared to the riches we have in Him. He has bought us with the blood of his Son, Jesus. He has purchased "peace with God" (Romans 5:1) and has made us His children. He tells us that this world is only temporary, but that we will live with Him, forever.

What glorious promises!

It is all true, if we are His children, regardless of if we "think" about it or not. But in these past few years, I have found that earthly blessings removed, I can see Him better. I can see that this earthly trial is but "nothing" compared to what he is doing in me, and I am glad.

I can say, today, with much greater meaning, "I will sing unto the Lord, because He hath dealt bountifully with me[!]"