Our family is journeying through a rough season. My grandpa has had worsening dementia and within the last year he has had to be moved to a nursing home. This move has been impossibly hard for my grandma and just this weekend we moved her into the home of my parents. Being in the nursing home doesn’t make dementia go away, obviously, and my grandpa has had quite a few problems since being moved there. Sometimes he tries to leave because he thinks he needs to be at work. Mostly he doesn’t like to eat, which has led to weight loss and ultimately a few serious falls.
This journey of ours is not unique in the story of humanity, but it is brand new for us. Ours is by no means the most heart-wrenching story, but it has threatened to overwhelm my grandmother, who had not spent a night alone in decades.
My parents are also being stretched again. Last year, my dad’s dad was killed in a head on collision. He had lived with my parents for about 10 years, so we were all very close. My parents have opened their home now for over a decade. They have done so willingly, and God has shown them grace, but it takes a toll.
It is because difficulty is not unique that I write this post. I personally know others who are dealing with unimaginable griefs. You probably know some, too. I am talking about the kind of things that make me think, “I could never make it through something like that.” And yet, people do.
Our pastor preached from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-28 on Sunday morning. Verse sixteen jumped off the page at me. “Rejoice evermore.” That’s it. And that seems really hard. But our pastor also mentioned that worship is about bowing before the Lord and giving Him the honor and awe that He is due. With that in mind, I opened a commentary to read about 1 Thessalonians 5:16.
John Gill wrote that we rejoice “in the Lord Jesus Christ, in the greatness, fitness, fullness, and glory of his person, in his blood, righteousness, and sacrifice, in what he is in himself, and is made unto his people, and in what he has done, and is still doing for them, and particularly in the salvation he has wrought out.”
He then went on to write, “there is always reason, and ever a firm ground and foundation for rejoicing with believers, let their circumstances or their frames be what they will; since God, their covenant God, is unchangeable, and his love to them is from everlasting to everlasting invariably the same; the covenant of grace, which is ordered in all things, and sure, is firm and immovable; and Jesus, the Mediator of it, is the same today, yesterday, and for ever.”
This is the shift in focus that is required time and again if we are to rejoice evermore.
A few years ago, I did a writing activity to help me focus on God and His goodness. From time to time, when my perspective needs to be realigned, I get it out and read it again. The activity was pretty simple, and I’d encourage anyone and everyone to try it for yourself.
I looked at Psalm 136, and read it several times through. There are twenty-six verses, and each one ends with: “for his mercy endureth for ever.” After reading the psalm a few times, I wrote my own psalm of mercy, if you will. Although it was an intensely personal experience, I will include the finished product below. My experience was that it is super hard to be in my feels and down on life when one is actively trying to write of ways that God has shown him incredible grace and mercy.
If you are hurting today, or just generally find it impossible to rejoice right now, could you take a few minutes to ponder Psalm 136? Would you endeavor to write your own psalm of mercy? Even if writing is hard for you, I promise that if you make the effort to think of ways God has been good, faithful, and merciful to you, you will be overwhelmed by His grace. And you will rejoice.
Though I rebelled and strayed from Him,
He gathered me lovingly to Himself
And no remembrance of my wrongs has He: for His mercy endures forever.
He alone is my God; my King: for His mercy endures forever.
He pours out blessings to add to his grace
Overcoming my sin and annulling my shame: for His mercy endures forever.
He planned in His wisdom to give me a wife: for His mercy endures forever.
He formed her and guarded her;
He blessed her with parents who feared Him;
Who were guided by Him while teaching her right: for His mercy endures forever.
In an act of infinite and unfathomable blessing,
He joined her to me for protecting and keeping: for His mercy endures forever.
As He promised, her worth is beyond imagining: for His mercy endures forever.
She is the fairest jewel in my crown
That I neither fashioned, nor earned, nor purchased: for His mercy endures forever.
Praise be to God for His goodness and love: for His mercy endures forever.
Praise Him for His steadfast pursuit of me: for His mercy endures forever.
Praise Him for His infinite wisdom: for His mercy endures forever.
Praise Him for His righteousness I wear: for His mercy endures forever.
He destroys the power of sin: for His mercy endures forever.
He encourages the hopeless and lifts the downtrodden: for His mercy endures forever.
He lifts up my head and counts my tears;
He conquers my enemies, my self, and my fears;
He provides for my needs in ways I cannot see;
He has counted me faithful to minister: for His mercy endures forever.
When I was not seeking His will, he ruled and overruled.
In my unworthiness, He brought me into fatherhood: for His mercy endures forever.
He has lavished upon me with His love
He has given me the desires of my heart: for His mercy endures forever.
He has filled our home with singing and laughter.
Health and security have been His provisions: for His mercy endures forever.
My children are made in His image: for His mercy endures forever.
For my wife and my children my heart overflows,
To know where I have been and what He has given,
I can only express broken thankfulness for His mercy that endures forever.
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