A Prayer of Praise

Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father–

the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob;

the God who saved Moses from the Nile,who rescued your people from Pharaoh,who forgave Aaron for the golden calf, who delivered Jericho into the hands of Joshua;

the God who strengthened Samson and gave courage to Gideon and Jael, the wife of Heber;

the God who showed kindness to Ruth and made Ruth so kind;

the God who cast down Eli and raised up Samuel;

the God who rejected Saul and chose Jesse’s son;

the God who gave king David a heart like yours and gave Solomon wisdom when he prayed;

the God of Elijah’s guts, Elisha’s miracles, and Josiah’s faithfulness;

the God of Job’s patience, Isaiah’s predictions, and Jeremiah’s lamentations;

the God of Ecclesiastes’ questions and Psalm 23’s answers;

the God who sent the Israelites into Babylon and brought them back again;

the God who promised that the valley of dry bones would live and the glory would return to the temple;

the God who saved Daniel from the Lion’s den, the three men from the fiery furnace, and Gomer from herself;

the God of John the Baptist’s boldness, Paul’s brain, and Stephen’s angelic face;

the God of Mary, Elizabeth, Mary and Martha, and all the other godly women who loved Jesus;

the God of Peter, Andrew, James and John, and all the other men who messed things up at first, but followed Christ faithfully until the end;

the God of apostles and prophets, saints and martyrs;

the God of rebels and reformers, puritans and patriarchs;

the God of life and death, of giving and taking away;

the God of electing love and second chances–

Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever.