Friday, August 7, 2009

August 7, 2009

"Your righteousness reaches to the skies, O God, you who have done great things. Who, O God, is like you?" Psalm 71:19
Indeed, who is like our God?
In my Bible reading I am in the Psalms for the O.T. portion and in Romans for the N.T. part. That is some good reading!
But, as I was reading this morning I kept coming back to verse 19 of the 71st Psalm. Sitting here at my desk and looking out at a clear blue cloudless sky, I am blessed by the knowledge that His righteousness reaches to the sky - and beyond! Even the vast universe is inadequate to contain His righteousness.
For someone who often gets it wrong it is comforting to remember His righteousness. He is always right! He can always show me the right way! He can even redeem the wrong I do and bring good from it!
For someone who has had wrong things happen to him, it is a blessing to know that his righteousness can make wrong things right.
In a world where so much seems to be wrong and where evil appears to be exponentially expanding, it is reassuring to know that His goodness is more powerful than all the badness that surrounds us. His rightness will have the last word in a world of wrong.
I want to take a personal privilege to testify to one of the right things God has done in my life. Today is the 34th birthday of my oldest son, Matthew. He is a great blessing to me.
Growing up without a dad, I wanted to have a son that I could be a father to. For awhile it looked like that might not happen. But they were wrong and God was right. He made a way for us to adopt a brand new baby boy.
He was born on August 7, 1975 and we brought him home on August 10. We named him Matthew, which means "gift from God". Indeed he was - and is! For 34 years now he has been a source of great joy and pride. I couldn't have asked for a better son. God did it right!
Matthew deserved a better dad, but for the things I did right, I give glory to the God whose righteousness "reaches to the sky". For the things I did wrong, His grace and power have made them right. How did he do that? Today, Matt is a great dad to his four girls and his son. He is the dad I wished I would have been. I am sure he learned from the mistakes I made. He will raise his son, to be an even better man.
Matt lives in the Minneapolis area and I don't get to see him nearly enough, but through the miracle of electronics, we stay close. He is a good husband and a successful business man. He's doing a lot of things right!
Matthew James Snyder, I bless you on your 34th birthday! I love you very much! And I bless the God, who in His great rightness, gave you to me!