Verse Twenty: Psalm 149:2

Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. Psa 149:2 KJV

20 of 44 of H1523

Ever wonder why God made you? I've wondered this too many times to count. And not usually in a positive way either, right? There is no joyful praising the Master Craftsman for His workmanship in you LOL No... If we are honest its more like, "What the hell were you thinking? Why the #&$@ am I here? I am so sick of feeling _____" I usually fill in the blank with "like and idiot" or "clueless" or "like a failure." (My husband is reading this going, "That's a lie! Don't think that!" haha! That's why I love you, baby) Don't get me wrong, I am not doing this everyday (ok...not anymore) but there are times of frustration when nothing is going the way you thought it would or think it should that you really question what the heck God was thinking when He made you, because you sure don't feel like you are accomplishing anything worth living for. 

Anyone else just think of It's a Wonderful Life? I <3 that movie. It's a good reminder. 

I guess this verse just really hit home for me today because it reminded me of how many times I have done the opposite and just how much I have learned about this in the past year.  

In order to rejoice in something, you have to accept it. Interesting word accept. I can think of so many times this word has been used as a portrayal of resistent resignation. (to" tolerate or submit to (something unpleasant or undesired)") But that is one usage out of many for accept. Others can be more positive like "regard favorably or with approval." My favorite, however, is the origin of the word:  

ORIGIN late Middle English: from Latin acceptare, frequentative of accipere ‘take something to oneself,’ from ad- ‘to’ + capere ‘take.’ 

"Take something to oneself."  

Is being made by God something that I can accept? That I can bring to my self?  Can I take who He made me, what talents He did or didn't give me and what that means? That's hard enough just accepting it, but this psalm isn't even saying "Accept what God made you and deal with it best you can." It's saying accept it and then be all excited about it! 


"I can't be all excited about it, there is nothing about me to be all excited about." Imaginary person then goes on to list all the reasons they suck (and by imaginary person I mean me in one of my depression spirals, so I'm not judging here). So whats the answer? Same psalm, different verse: 

Verse 4 For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.

The Lord takes pleasure in you! He probably knows what He's talkin' about, right? ;) All Knowing God verses Me, I think I'd bet on All Knowing God knowing what He's doing. If He thinks there is something to delight in then there must be something. OH! And interesting tid bit here, there original hebrew for the word "pleasure" in this verse includes "to be pleased with, be favourable to, accept favourably" Oooooo way to tie it in there, Lord... So lets see...

If God takes pleasure in me and accepts me....then that means there is something to take pleasure in and accept .... which means I'd be believing a lie if I believed otherwise... Which means I should go ahead and believe Him and accept myself as a creation God spent time on and made... And if I can do that, then life really starts to look up, I start to see me the way God sees me, see my life the way He does, and everything gets a lot more beautiful :) How awesome is that?? Thank you, Jesus!