As I look around, in the year 2,024 AD, the thing I see missing the most in people is happiness. Even people that should be happy, aren’t. We have more comforts than ever before; we have more advances in medicine and knowledge; struggles and wars have always been a part of our world, and peace is an elusive dream, yet there’s something else. Take away the Instagram smile and the perfect Facebook post, and there’s a lack of happiness showing on many people’s faces. It’s a heaviness, or longing of some kind.
This Psalm for the New Year is taken from Psalm 84, written approximately 3,000 years ago. It was written on the “Gittith,” known either as a musical instrument resembling a Spanish guitar or as part of a festival. I like to think it was for a festival, not so different than our New Year’s celebrations today. God created and encouraged festivals and times of remembrance among His people. God gave us seasons and days, stories and songs, emotions and longings, all to be recorded in the Bible for us to have.
The book of Psalms is about real life – rejoicing, mourning, seeking, celebrating, and wondering. It is a guidebook for our emotions from God. It is not filtered or fake. As you step into each new day, start by praying this prayer of Psalms, and then read a Psalm a day for the first 150 days of the new year. It’s written for you, and will help guide you through the year.
