His Children Will Be Blessed

“Blessed is the man who fears the Lord…His children…will be blessed.”

Psalm 112:1-2

              I was still in shock—numb and cold, with a chill that neither blankets nor my husband’s arms could warm. My father was dead, struck by lightning while fly fishing with a friend. Now there was a funeral to plan. What do you say about someone you love? How do you condense all the feelings of all the years into a few paragraphs?

              When I gave up on sleep, I got out my Bible and turned to Psalms—always a safe place to go when you’re hurting. I just started reading, for over two hours. Then something grabbed my attention. There were words that described my father to a tee, words that said all of the things I wanted to say and couldn’t. He had been a powerful Christian, a Marine and a well-respected businessman.

              I read on and on, feeling as if I was hearing someone describe my dad; a soothing warmth began to creep over me. That man, God’s man, was the way I wanted to remember him: God-fearing, righteous, upright, gracious, compassionate, generous, just, fearless, steadfast, and honorable and his children were blessed.

              Later, I began to wonder, what kinds of things someone would say about me at the end of my life. That’s something I’ll never know. There are things that I saw in that scripture that made me want to be like my dad more than ever. I have aspects of his personality, but not all.

              As I read it again other things began to stand out to me, things that I could work toward, things that I could pray for God to instill in me. I began to see that what my dad had done were all things that I could do too: take delight in God’s commands, fear God—but like I felt for my daddy, respect and honor because of whom he was.

              God is deserving of my respect and honor. I never wanted to do anything that would dishonor my father. Neither do I want to do anything that will dishonor my heavenly Father. The words of this scripture are a lesson for my daily life.

              Maybe you weren’t blessed with an earthly father that honored God. But you have a heavenly Father that loves you more than any earthly Father ever could. He loves you and wants to bless you.

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