Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. Psalm 103:2.

O LORD, our LORD, how majestic is Your name in all the earth, who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens! When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; what is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him? Psalm 8:1, 3-4.

And continuing our 351 Old Testament prophecies, promises of God, fulfilled in Jesus Christ, we come to number 51: The Son of God. 2 Samuel 7:14a: I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me. And, Luke 1:32; Romans 1:3-4: He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the LORD God will give Him the throne of His father David. Concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our LORD.

In our ladies Bible study we have been studying the Exodus of the children of Israel out of their bondage in Egypt. And remember maybe two million in total were traveling in the desert wilderness. They came to Rephidim as the LORD commanded them and there was no water, so they grumbled and complained to Moses that they and their children and their livestock will be killed from lack of water. And we marveled at the next passage: Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. Exodus 17:5-6. Now put it all together: For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink – for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. 1 Corinthians 10:1-4. We talked about Joshua fighting the Amalekites and the banner that went with them. Googling it: The Banner of Love: “In the Song of Solomon (2:4), the phrase takes on a more intimate meaning: “He brought me to the banqueting house, and His banner over me was love.” Rather than a military standard, it symbolizes that God’s overarching presence, protection, and identity over an individual is defined by His love.”

And in our Friday morning Zoom retreat, we watched a video by John Ortberg continuing his series in praying the Psalms; and the Psalm today was Psalm 8 from which the second Scripture verse above was taken. Mindfulness. God is mindful of us. Are we mindful of Him? Being mindful is “love that resists distraction”, focused, sustained attention. Ortberg talked about praise everywhere today but what is actually being praised today? Products! “Miracle” drugs. Rock stars and actors and athletes. The Psalms were set to music so people could more easily remember God and His blessings and His help in times of terrible trouble. What songs do we sing? What help do they give? One of our group this morning asked for prayer for the children of Kenya. Some are burning their own schools. In one school burning, 16 children caught inside died. That is just one nation in a world caught up in the violence of evil. Can we pray for God’s banner, His covering of protection, for our children and grandchildren and the nations so in need of Him yet so ignorant of Him? Reading the Psalms today, I see our world today. And I become even more mindful of our need for Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit. Evil and its hate is being worked into our world right now and we need God and His love covering us. Have we become so used to the darkness of violence and hate permeating everything, covering our world in darkness, that we are blind to God and the Light of His Love, and our need for Him? These words give me hope: Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come. Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Hebrews 13:12-16. Mindful praise directly to God – the LORD – our LORD – whose covering of Love is our protection always! As we see the violence in our world today, stop, pray for God’s help for you and for all of us because our need is so great and His intimate closeness is what brings healing and hope. This today is not a lasting city or place. There is a city which is to come and when Jesus returns, there will be no darkness of evil at all. Can we ponder so great a love and give thanks to God for His mercy? He is the Light we see by when everything goes dark.