Written by April Dawn White
Stop! Before you read anymore please click play the song Good, Good Father. Let the song play in the background and please continue reading.
When sorrow like sea billows roll, praise and gratitude move God’s hand to push back the dark clouds.
Good, Good Father, a song written by Pat Barrett and Tony Brown of Housefires, soothes the aching soul. This week, this song has helped to push back the swirling clouds of darkness in my mind.
Each time I sing this song, snippets of Scripture verses rise to the surface of my mind. This morning I chose to annotate this song. Annotate simply means to analyze or dig for deeper meaning. The next several pages explode with Scriptural truth packed within the lyrics to this beautiful song. I choose to share the video featuring Amy Renee of Bethel Church. I love how she sings “He is faithful, faithful, faithful. He is able, able, able” (four minutes into the song). This is not part of the original lyrics, but shew its good stuff!
This blog is overflowing with truth. You may have to return to it again and again to take it all in. My hope is that each time, God will speak to the specific area in your heart.
God is a Good Father:
“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1, NIV)
“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (Matthew 6:26, NIV)
““What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.” (Matthew 18:12-14, NIV)
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.” (2 Corinthians 1:3)
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” (John 14:1-2, ESV)
“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:9-11)
“Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.” (Psalm 103:13)
God’s Tender Mercies:
“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:35-36)
“Remember, O LORD, thy tender mercies and thy loving kindnesses; for they have been ever of old.” (Psalms 25:6, KVJ)
“Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.” (Psalm 40:11, KJV)
“The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.” (Psalm 145:9, KJV)
God Whispers:
“After the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was a voice, a soft whisper.” (1 Kings 19:12, NET)
“A word was brought to me in secret; my ears caught a whisper of it.” (Job 4:12, NET)
“He hushes the storm to calm and to a gentle whisper, so that the waves of the sea are still.” (Psalm 107:29, AM)
God Speaking at Night:
“By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.” (Psalm 42:8, ESV)
“For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, while they slumber on their beds, then he opens the ears of men, and terrifies them with warnings, that he may turn man aside from his deed, and cut off pride from man; he keeps back his soul from the Pit, his life from perishing by the sword.” (Job 33:14-18, RSV)
“I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel; my heart also instructs me in the night seasons.” (Psalm 16:7, NKJV)
“You have tested my heart; You have visited me in the night” (Psalm 17:3, NKJV)
“When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches.” (Psalm 63:6, NKJV)
“He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.” (Psalm 121:4, NIV)
Pleasing God:
“For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the afflicted ones with salvation.” (Psalm 149:4, NASB) He brought me out to a spacious place; he delivered me, for in me he takes delight. (Psalm 18:19,ISB)
You’ve Never Alone:
“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5, NKJV)
“He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.” (Isaiah 40:11, NIV)
Loved by God:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16, NIV)
“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:37-39, NIV)
“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesians, 2:4-5, NIV)
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8, NIV)
“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17, ESV)
Searching for Answers Far and Wide:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Philippians 4:6, NIV)
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will
be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2).
“In all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:6, NIV)
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5,NIV)
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28,NIV)
“’For I know the plans I have for you’, declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV)
God Knows Our Needs Before We Speak:
“Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!” (Matthew 6:8, NLT)
God is Perfect in All of His Ways:
“As for God, his way is perfect: The LORD’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.” (Psalm 18:30, NIV)
“He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.” (Deuteronomy 32:4, NIV)
God’s Fingerprints Are All Over My Life:
“You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.” (Psalm 139:1-6, NIV)
“For you created my inmost bein
g; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with you.” (Psalm 139:13-18, NIV)
God is Able to Complete the Good Work He Started in Me:
“There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.” (Philippians 1:6, MSG)
“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6, NIV)
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” (Ephesians 3:20, NIV)
God is Faithful:
“I am faithful, declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 3:12, NIV)
“The Lord is trustworthy in all He promises and faithful in all he does.” (Psalms 145:13, NIV)
“The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy.” (Psalm 111:7, NIV)
I know this post was longer than most. I hope you came away feeling a stirring in your heart in a new and fresh way. If so, please reply with your favorite theme or verse.
~April
Images courtesy of Pixabay.com