“Do not hide your face from me
in the day of my distress!
Incline your ear to me;
answer me speedily in the day when I call!
My days pass away like smoke…
My heart is struck down like grass and has withered…
I lie awake;
I am like a lonely sparrow…
All the day my enemies taunt me…
For I eat ashes like bread
and mingle tears with my drink…
My days are like an evening shadow...
But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever;
you are remembered throughout all generations…
Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord:
that he looked down from his holy height;
from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,
to hear the groans of the prisoners,
to set free those who were doomed to die,
that they may declare… the name of the Lord,
and… his praise…
He has broken my strength in midcourse;
he has shortened my days.
‘O my God,’ I say, ‘take me not away
in the midst of my days—
you whose years endure
throughout all generations!’
Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you will remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
but you are the same, and your years have no end.
The children of your servants shall dwell secure;
their offspring shall be established before you.” Psalm 102:2-4a,7-9,11-12,18-21,23-28
“The steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children’s children.” Psalm 103:17
The day, my days, an evening shadow, my sleep, or lack thereof. Man is made to live and work and grow and rejoice within the structure of days into which we are born. Distresses are present, worries rise from past actions, immediate pressures, and future uncertainties, all bound within circadian cycles. But days with the eternal God are as a thousand years, and His years have no end. We order within the finite, and He the infinite. We number by days, and He, by generations of everlasting. (Genesis 1:27-31; 2 Peter 3:8)
Let us remember the But You of the enduring God. Our hope comes by setting our confidence in the Lord who is enthroned forever, remembered and mighty throughout every generations past, present, and future. His glory threaded through our today has always been and will always be. The earth and heavens that are the work of His hands are our secure abode now because of those hands. Our transient days, whether quickly vanishing in pain, or loneliness, or sorrow, are swallowed in His steadfastness and meaning.
Knowing that the Lord reigns, enduring in steadfast love and fulfilling His every intention, gives great confidence and compulsion to serve His purposes. While we have breath, what are we doing to establish His word in our generation and the next? How submissive are we to His rule of hearts and schedules, how faithful to declare His name and praise? (Isaiah 14:24; 46:11b)
Lord, help me hope in Your everlasting purposes, and contribute to Your praise by telling present and future generations of your steadfastness, redemption, and glory.
As the rain and snow 