SCRIPTURE:   Happy (blessed, fortunate, prosperous, to be envied) are the people whose God is the Lord! Psalm 144:15 AMPC

THOUGHT: The same Psalm of David that ends with our verse for today begins with “Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.” Between the beginning and end, it talks about deliverance from foreigners who mouths are full of lies, the way the nation will look when God delivers, and the new song David will sing when it happens.

I love it that David the king didn’t rely on his own strength and wits to deliver himself and his people. Even if war had to be made, David wasn’t sitting around doing nothing, he was trusting God to train his hands and fingers. In the end of this short song, after acknowledging how sometimes war will come and sometimes enemies seek to overwhelm and God’s deliverance is needed, comes the conclusion that happiness, blessing, good fortune, and prosperity – enough to make you the envy of others – follows the people whose God is the Lord.

I like that reminder on the first day of a new year. If it’s happiness you and I want in 2024, the equation is simple: belong to a people whose God is the Lord and all that belonging implies.

PRAYER: Oh God, how we need to be reminded on the cusp of a new year that whatever comes, it’s not about our strength – it’s about us allowing you to train us; it’s about us being your people, trusting you, and you being a God who keeps promises.