A Prayer of Praise

Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father–
the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob;
the God who saved Moses from the Nile,who rescued your people from Pharaoh,who forgave Aaron for the golden calf, who delivered Jericho into the hands of Joshua;
the God who strengthened Samson and gave courage to Gideon and Jael, the wife of Heber;
the God who showed kindness to Ruth and made Ruth so kind;
the God who cast down Eli and raised up Samuel;
the God who rejected Saul and chose Jesse’s son;
the God who gave king David a heart like yours and gave Solomon wisdom when he prayed;
the God of Elijah’s guts, Elisha’s miracles, and Josiah’s faithfulness;
the God of Job’s patience, Isaiah’s predictions, and Jeremiah’s lamentations;
the God of Ecclesiastes’ questions and Psalm 23’s answers;
the God who sent the Israelites into Babylon and brought them back again;
the God who promised that the valley of dry bones would live and the glory would return to the temple;
the God who saved Daniel from the Lion’s den, the three men from the fiery furnace, and Gomer from herself;
the God of John the Baptist’s boldness, Paul’s brain, and Stephen’s angelic face;
the God of Mary, Elizabeth, Mary and Martha, and all the other godly women who loved Jesus;
the God of Peter, Andrew, James and John, and all the other men who messed things up at first, but followed Christ faithfully until the end;
the God of apostles and prophets, saints and martyrs;
the God of rebels and reformers, puritans and patriarchs;
the God of life and death, of giving and taking away;
the God of electing love and second chances–
Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever.
Kevin DeYoung