Psalm 40;1-5 ''I waited patiently for the LORD;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay,
And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.
He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear
And will trust in the LORD.
How blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust,
And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.
Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders which You have done,
And Your thoughts toward us;
There is none to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of them,
They would be too numerous to count.''
Psalm 40;10-11 ''I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;
I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great congregation.
You, O LORD, will not withhold Your compassion from me;
Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me.''
In Psalm 40, David is praising God for his salvation but I also want to apply it to this past year that I was blessed with. As most of you know, 2011 has been a year of recovery for me. At the beginning of the year, I wasn't even strong enough to go to church for an hour. I sent my voice recorder to most of the services so I wouldn't miss out entirely. Then before long, my hair started falling out. I learned to become a little less vain through that unwanted trial. Things began to improve slowly but surely. I began to venture out in short intervals and enjoy life again beyond these four walls of the basement. I did have many wonderful friends who visited me during my home-bound months that helped sustain my sanity. I think it was in June, or maybe July, that we took the motorhome to church camp for two nights and then to Branson for a few days. I'm not saying my endurance was great but it was a blessing to go at all. I did do better than expected. In September, I turned 40 and had a great birthday party with about 40 friends. What a great show of love and three friends traveled a great distance to be there. Finally, this Christmas season has been filled with great joy. Attending all the fun events has meant so much to me.
This is just a short recap of how God has been gracious to me this year. As David said His thoughts for me have been too numerous to count this year. I just want to give God all the credit for not withholding His compassion for me this year. What a year it has been and I trust that whatever 2012 brings, He is in control and it's for my benefit. May you put your trust in His hands in 2012 as well.
