I love the Lord, because he has heard
my voice and my pleas for mercy. ~Psalm 116:1
It is the last week of April and Passover, the Hebrew celebration commemorating the Israelites being delivered from slavery in ancient Egypt. This week I have been in the reading on Psalms 113-118 which are known as The Egyptian Hallel: A Cantata of Salvation.
Each of these six Psalms stands alone, but together offer a glimpse of a nation exalting the Lord their God, who has heard their cries for mercy and made provision for their exodus.
The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens!
When Israel went out from Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
Judah became his sanctuary,
Israel his dominion.
The Lord has remembered us; he will bless us…
For great is his stedfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
The Lord is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us.
You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you.
~Psalm 113:4; 114:1-2; 115:12; 117:2; 118:27,28
These verses also commemorate why the Lord is so loved.
This week, I fondly remembered my own exodus from a life without God to a life filled with so many reasons to proclaim “I love the Lord, because ___.”
I love the Lord because just as the heavy winter snow on the mountain peaks is melting, so also, the harsh realities of grief are becoming less weighty!
I love the Lord because when my worried heart has no more words to pray, the Holy Spirit takes over and interprets my groaning!
I love the Lord because in messy emotional moments, the peace of Christ brings life-giving perspective!
And always, I love the Lord because from his fullness I have all received, grace upon grace!
After a full week of celebrations and commemorations, Passover ends at sundown. For Christ-followers the fullness of so many gifts and graces that it is only fitting each new day to fill in the blank, “I love the Lord, because___.”
For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ~John 1:16