The year of our Lord, 2013

I love this time a year. I love the chance to reflect. To look back on the good and the bad, the blessings and the hardships. I love the chance to be intentional going forward. To look at what is to come, with a view on what has passed, and to make changes and resolutions going forward.

And while I don't have a typical resolution list, I do take the chance to look back over the year and celebrate the triumphs. With that in mind, I can look at the new year dawning and make plans, figure things out, take a chance to start fresh. 

In our worship over the past few days, as a couple, individually, and as a church body, we've been talking about Psalm 139.  It's always been a favourite of mine, and now maybe more-so then ever.

One of the things that struck me the most is the need for complete confidence, a trust in what is true and a bright hope in what that means for the future.

O Lord, You have searched me and known me.

You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.

You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.

For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.

You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.

As we look back over the past year, examining the events of our lives and the events of the world, we have to end with, "we trust You Lord."  In all the things that happened, we know You are there.   Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?

If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.

If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,”
Even the night shall be light about me;
Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

He made us, fashioned our lives, and thinks thoughts of us.  What a thought!  He, the almighty God, the everlasting Father, thinks of us.  He knows the year that we've had. He's planned the year that we've had.  And He knows, better then we could ever dream, what lies in the year ahead. 

For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.

My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You.

And in all the hard that lies ahead, in all the trials of the past, He was there.  He ordains each moment of our lives for a purpose. He wrote it all in His book. The good, the bad, the ugly. All written down and known.

Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God!

Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men.
For they speak against You wickedly;
Your enemies take Your name in vain.

Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
I hate them with perfect hatred;
I count them my enemies.

And at the end of the day, at the end of the year of our Lord 2012, we need to say, WE TRUST YOU LORD!  We live in complete dependence on You and what You have in store for us in the year 2013.  We need His guidance for every part of our lives, His help to lead us on the right path. 

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.

So we stand here, amazed in His presence, and we begin. One step at a time. He knows the path. He knows the road that lies behind and He's created the path that lies ahead. 

Go with God.