Certainty in the Midst of Chaos

As I write this, I am sitting in my car looking out at a pond. Usually, it is the very picture of tranquility, with ducks and geese gliding along in the water, spreading only the daintiest ripples across its glassy surface. Today it is choppy and swift-moving like a river. The high winds that have stirred the waters have combined with the August heatwave to create the perfect conditions for fire. To my left, the rumpled pond reflects the clear blue of a cloudless sky, while to my right it has taken the unnatural greyish orange and purple from the heavy clouds of smoke that are slowly encroaching over the sky from the nearby fires.

It’s a picture of uncertainty, of instability, of the glaring fact that there is very little we poor mortals can actually control.

But then, there’s God. I ran across this psalm today, and couldn’t help but stop in the middle of all the chaos and uncertainty and revel in the unchanging goodness and mercy of the Lord:

“Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me bless His holy name.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits:

Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; Who healeth all thy diseases;

Who redeemeth thy life from destruction: Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;

Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

The Lord executeth righteousness and judgement for all that are oppressed. He made known His ways unto Moses, His acts unto the children of Israel.

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

He will not always chide: neither will He keep His anger for ever.

He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him.

As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us.

Like as a father pitieth His children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him.

For He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust.

As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.

For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.

But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him, and His righteousness unto children’s children; To such as keep His covenant, and to those that remember His commandments to do them.

The Lord hath prepared His throne in the heavens; and His kingdom ruleth over all.

Bless the Lord, all ye His hosts; ye ministers of His, that do His pleasure.

Bless the Lord, all His works in all places of His dominion: bless the Lord, O my soul.”

Psalm 103

It can be so easy to skim Scripture and miss the blessing of thinking deeply about what it means for us. I hope you read that psalm slowly, drinking in the truth of God’s goodness and mercy. Truly, “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)

With God’s mercies to think on, the anxiety and fear melt away from the uncertainty of what I know or expect or want to control. Then, I am left with the simple certainty that the God who has the power to command the winds and waves is in control, is merciful, is good, and loves me with the love of a perfect Father.