Perfect Father

This Father’s Day I want to focus on the Perfect Father. I have been blessed with a great dad. But he wasn’t perfect. My children endured a dad who tried hard, but was obviously far from perfect. It has been said that a child will sooner find a Father in God if he has seen something of God in his father. My prayer today is that my own children are able to thrive in a relationship with their Heavenly Father in spite of the imperfections of their dear old dad.

There are hundreds of descriptions in Scripture of the character and nature of our Perfect Father. Today I offer up Psalm 146 from the New Living Translation. Notice verses 3-4, which tell us what we may expect from others. In contrast, verses 5-6 remind us why God is always worthy of our trust. See how this Father interacts with various people in verses 7-9. We’ve all found ourselves in one or more of those groups from time to time. In each case, He provides just what is needed.

The psalm is bookended by calls to praise, with verses 1-2 as a personal commitment and verse 10 as a reminder to the nation. On past Father’s Days, I’ve sometimes filled this space with Dad jokes; other times I’ve paid tribute to dads, notably my own. This time around, I guess I was just struck with the beauty of our “Good Good Father” who sees and knows and cares and is ever able. Rest in His goodness today.

Praise the Lord!

Let all that I am praise the Lord.
2     I will praise the Lord as long as I live.
    I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath.

3 Don’t put your confidence in powerful people;
    there is no help for you there.
4 When they breathe their last, they return to the earth,
    and all their plans die with them.

5 But joyful are those who have the God of Jacob as their helper,
    whose hope is in the Lord their God.
6 He made heaven and earth,
    the sea, and everything in them.
    He keeps every promise forever.

7 He gives justice to the oppressed
    and food to the hungry.
The Lord frees the prisoners.
8     The Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are weighed down.
    The Lord loves the godly.
9 The Lord protects the foreigners among us.
    He cares for the orphans and widows,
    but he frustrates the plans of the wicked.

10 The Lord will reign forever.
    He will be your God, O Jerusalem, throughout the generations.

Praise the Lord!