Psalm 28:7-8 Be Their Shepherd And Carry Them Forever

The Lord is my strength of his people;

He is the saving refuge of His anointed.

Oh, save your people and bless your heritage!

Be their Shepherd and carry them forever.

(Psalm 28:7-8)

This morning I took great comfort in these words as I was praying. The Lord is indeed the strength of his people. Looking back over life I can appreciate the strength displayed by my dad. He was not a big man but he did have a strength about himself in virtually every area of his life. He was strong in character, strong emotionally, strong in discipline and in many other ways. He even displayed great strength during the final days of his life. But, like us all, my dad also had his weaknesses just as I do. And to be honest, some of my greatest connections with my dad were not always in his strengths but in his weaknesses as well. I only saw my dad cry once and I will never forget it. I only saw my dad's hands shake once and those memories are etched into my mind forever.

I remember as a young child my dad would let me climb all over him. As I got older, however, my dad had to begin to set some healthy boundaries. I was getting too heavy so I could not jump on his back. My arms were getting too strong so I had to stop punching him when we were wrestling. And I will never forget the day when we were at the lake when my dad told me that I could no longer get on his shoulders and jump off them into the water because I was too big.

I am now the father of two teenagers and they are now much too big to carry on my shoulders or to hold in my arms when they get tired when we are out. Their nanna always says, however, that they will never be too big to climb up in her lap. Some things they will never outgrow. And hopefully I am displaying to my ids in different ways strengths that they still take comfort in. Hopefully I will always be a person that they will come to and confide in when they have questions or when they need to shelter where they know they are safe.

Our verses today remind us that God is the strength of His people. We never outgrow God. He is the Shepherd who carries us forever. We may mature in many ways but the Lord always has room upon His lap for us to sit. When we are tired and in need the Lord will never respond to us by saying, "Your too big for me to do that anymore."