Last evening our dear friends returned to their home next door, and we spent several minutes hugging and talking in our adjoining backyards. We caught up on happy and sad news and made plans to do things together while they are here. In the midst of that joy, my husband suddenly looked past me with a startled look on his face. I followed his gaze and was shocked to see that an entire section of railing and glass slats had fallen from our bedroom balcony onto the middle deck. It was laying across chairs. My heart skipped a beat, remembering that I had let our dog out on that balcony only hours earlier. I had watched her from the bedroom as I put laundry away but could not see the missing panel from that vantage point. I am so glad she plopped down for a rest in her normal sunny spot in the middle and did not try to explore the new opening! We have no idea when it fell and never heard anything. Luckily nobody was sitting in the chairs when it did. Even more surprising is that none of the glass slats broke on impact. Praise the Lord for that!

It is good to praise God in good times and bad. In times of sudden disaster, praising God might not be the first thing that comes to mind, but it is a healthy habit to get into. Praising God in the storms reminds us that God is in the storm with us, and that is something for which to be thankful.

Psalm 113 (Common English Bible)
Praise the Lord!
    You who serve the Lord—praise!
    Praise the Lord’s name!
² Let the Lord’s name be blessed
    from now until forever from now!
³ From sunrise to sunset,
    let the Lord’s name be praised!
⁴ The Lord is high over all the nations;
    God’s glory is higher than the skies!

⁵ Who could possibly compare to the Lord our God?
    God rules from on high;
⁶     he has to come down to even see heaven and earth!
⁷ God lifts up the poor from the dirt
    and raises up the needy from the garbage pile
⁸         to seat them with leaders—
        with the leaders of his own people!
⁹     God nests the once barren woman at home—
        now a joyful mother with children!

Praise the Lord!

Psalm 113 is the first of the “Egyptian Hallel” psalms. These were so named for their references to God’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt during the exodus, and the people’s response of praise (as in “Hallel-uyah”, meaning praise the Lord). Indeed, the word “praise” occurs three times in the first verse. This collection of psalms includes Psalm 113 through 118 and is used by Jews at all major festivals, but especially at the beginning and the conclusion of the Passover. For Christians, Psalm 113 is used for the celebration of Easter. Mark 14:26 tells us that Jesus and his disciples went to the Mount of Olives after “singing songs of praise” at the Last Supper, since it was a traditional Passover meal. It is very likely that Psalm 113 was one of those songs.

Our despair over the inequities of earthly life are answered beautifully with the promise of salvation in the verses 7 and 8: “God lifts up the poor from the dirt and raises up the needy from the garbage pile to seat them with the leaders”. We can almost feel the anticipation of Christ’s Second Coming, when he will return and level out every top-heavy system humanity has created. On days when we despair over what is happening (and not happening) in our own government, we can remember to praise God, even when it seems that all “Hallel” is breaking out. God is still in control, praise be! The promise of redemption is offered to all of God’s people … and that is reason to praise, indeed!

So, take heart. God is with us in every moment. Thanks be to God.

Yikes!