I’m so excited — in the fullness of time, we are doing final nesting for the new ‘baby’ — Living God’s Story of Grace, the second in the Living Story series. This morning, my editor asked me to send him a copy of the permission which Michael Card kindly granted, to use a portion of the lyrics from his marvelous song about God’s surprising baby that came to a faithful/faithless couple who had given up waiting more than once before he arrived. This morning this gem played in my heart…beautiful lyrics by Michael Card…Sing it in your head today as you remember how God has surprised you with his grace. (If you don’t know the remarkable story, read at least Genesis 21, but better — read the whole unfolding story in Genesis 12-21. (Or definitely, check out the study in Living God’s Story, soon.
They called him laughter
“A barren land and a barren wife
Made Abraham laugh at his wandering life
A cruel joke it seemed then to call him the father of nations
A heavenly prank, a celestial joke
Cause grey hair and babies leave no room for hope
But hoping is something this hopeless old man learned to do
Chorus:
They called him laughter
For he came after
The father had made an impossible promise come true
The birth of a baby to a hopeless old lady
So they called him laughter
Cause no other name would do
A cry in the darkness and laughter at night
An elderly couple sat holding him tight
An improbable infant, a punchline, a promise come true
They laughed til they wept then laughed at their tears
This miracle baby they’ve wanted for years
Would make a messiah who’d give us impossible joy…
What about you? What stories in the Bible or in your life make you laugh at the hilarious beauty of God?
![Do you seek the Lord in affliction?
The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, and his ears toward their cry. Psalms 34:15
Precious Father,
We confess, in the midst of affliction
we tend to turn our eyes on the trials and tragedies
piling up before us.
As we finish praying through Psalm 34,
help us to see you seeing us,
help us to hear you hearing our cries.
We confess, we sometimes think,
“well, I’m not very righteous,
so maybe this doesn’t apply to me.”
To that wayward thought,
help us to hear your response:
“Those who look to [me] are radiant,
and [your] faces shall never be put to shame” (Psalm 34:5).
Indeed, because our Savior who knew no sin
became sin,
we who look to him for salvation;
in him, we have “become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21).
As your righteous people,
help us to look to you
to see the many benefits you bestow on us:
When we cry out for help,
you deliver us from trouble (Ps. 34:17).
When we experience “many afflictions,”
we know we are in good company
because of our Savior who suffered (Ps. 34:19).
When we face evil, we have peace
that we will never be condemned (Ps. 34:22).
Lord, help us to keep our eyes fixed on you
and ears sharp
to hear your voice
even as you have first turned your merciful gaze on us,
your listening ears toward us.
In Jesus’ comforting name we pray. Amen.
Read Psalm 34.
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