2 Samuel 7:18-22

“Therefore, you are great, ADONAI, God; for there is no one like you, and there is no God besides you – everything we have heard confirms that.” (2 Samuel 7:22, CJB)

During this season of yearning and expectation, it can be so easy to become discouraged. There is so much about this world that needs to be renewed and restored, and the enormity of the world’s brokenness is breathtaking. When the pain of creation threatens to overwhelm us, David’s shouts of praise remind us that the God we worship, the God whose coming we anticipate and celebrate, is greater than everyone and everything else. Scripture testifies to the wideness of God’s mercy, to the surpassing greatness of God’s power, and to the wonder and majesty of the one who has promised to bring all things to wholeness. As we continue to plead for the coming of our good and gracious king, let us never allow the weight of the world’s woes to keep us from lifting our voices and our lives in thanksgiving to God, whose salvation is for all and whose reign is from everlasting to everlasting!

Come, thou long-expected Jesus, born to set thy people free; from our fears and sins release us; let us find our rest in thee; Israel’s strength and consolation, hope of all the earth thou art, dear desire of ev’ry nation, joy of ev’ry longing heart. (Charles Wesley)

– Pastor Andrew Chavanak, St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA), Falls City