Praise be to you, Lord, for how faithful and good, wise and powerful you are. We see this in the expanse of the heavens, which you stretched out for billions of, not just miles, but light years. You filled it with stars, (Psalm 33:6) gathered them into galaxies and the arranged them into formations—and you know the name of each of these trillions of stars (Psalm 147:4); you know their number and you keep them in place.

As you can administrate all that, so you are certainly able to deal with the small details of my life. Being outside of time, you know every event that will come and can shape them to be useful in our lives--or prevent them if it is best.

I think of the many times I’ve had close calls in driving, including one this week: but you prevented an accident each time and kept us safe. And I’m sure there are thousands of times you have protected us in every area over the years that we were not aware of it.

You are certainly the Deity of details, the Shepherd of strength, the Lord of lavish love. You are the One we can trust, rest in and rejoice in. As Psalm 62:2 says, “You only are our rock, our salvation, our high tower” and as long as we stay in that tower “we will never be shaken.” And how do we stay there? Choosing to Trust. How do we show our trust? By offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving, giving thanks in and for all things. Simple but so against the natural grain of human nature.

Thank you for your patience with us, Lord. Help us to be people of praise and thanksgiving in the light of who you are.