I Will Sing to the Lord, for He Has Been Good to Me

Training for Today: Rest

Devotion: I Will Sing to the Lord, for He Has Been Good to Me

Welcome to the final week of our devotions. During this final week, we’ll reflect on the final verse of Psalm 13: “I will sing to the Lord, for He has been good to me.”


These last days of processing our grief together won’t be your last days of reflecting on and remembering your loss. But, it is my hope that the Lord uses this week’s theme to remind you of His amazing intentions for you and a plan for your life that sees beyond our limited human vision.

Though it may feel a little weird, I want you to speak the words of our theme verse out loud. Yep, just do it. In my own response to grief, uttering the words of this verse chokes me up every time. To say that our losses could ever be viewed as something good might seem like an injustice to you. But, with our hearts and souls in mind, God allowed our suffering for that very purpose: to be good to us. Can you recognize the good – God’s good – in your experiences?

As we say the familiar words of Psalm 23, we speak of God’s unending goodness: “Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Though God may have felt distant at the time of your loss, His goodness and love were with you. Though your heart might still hurt, His goodness and love are with you. And, though you might face more pain and loss in the future, His goodness and love will be with you.

Yes, God’s goodness is certainly evident during our earthly trials. But nowhere is it more evident than in the life, suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus! Sins gone, debt paid, travel documents to heaven confirmed – all through Jesus! God orchestrated His entire plan of salvation for your good – your eternal good!

The final point of our devotion today is that, like the psalmist, we should sing to the Lord in response to His goodness. “I will sing to the Lord, for He has been good to me.” It’s time to let your life’s response to loss sing the Lord’s praises:

1 “Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations” (Psalm 100).

Sing to the Lord, for He has been good to you. Through it all, the Lord has, and is, and will be good to you!

Prayer
Dear Lord, I praise you for your goodness! Help me each and every day to recognize that your goodness and love truly do follow me all the days of my life. Let my life sing of your goodness. Amen.