1Praise the Lord, all you nations;
extol him, all you peoples.
2For great is his love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
Praise the Lord.
Psalm 117:1-2
This week we are midway through the Art & Scripture series: one Bible-inspired painting, every Monday, this entire year. I’m so thankful for this milestone! Behind the scenes, it’s always a challenge to post something week after week.
I thought it would be nice to paint something inspired by the middle of the Bible. Psalm 117, short and powerful with only two verses is the chapter right in the centre of the entire Bible (source). It’s a Psalm of praise for His love and faithfulness, how fitting!
I’ll be completely honest with you: this week was the first week I thought I wouldn’t have a painting to post. The artwork that I had envisioned in my mind didn’t turn out how I planned and I’m painting at a slower pace with a fair amount of pain — my neck still gives me a hard time after surgery (physio should take care of it). On top of that, it was my first week back at work and my days seemed just too short. I even attempted to work on a second painting last minute to no avail. Don’t we all have seasons like this? Things get hard, challenges abound, we seem to be engulfed by so many demands and deadlines…
However, I should learn from Him. Once again, my eyes should be fixed on what’s eternal. He is faithful and I want to be faithful too, even in my imperfections. He is the one who is never late, who is always loving me and I can rely on His faithfulness day after day because He never changes. His love for me, His love for YOU never changes. In awe of that, I am compelled to praise Him, despite my circumstances. All of my being was made to adore him and when I do that all the rest seems so small and insignificant in the great scheme of things. Today I am praising Him with my imperfect painting, as imperfect as I am. I chose sunflowers because of a sunflower field that I like to visit in the summer. It’s mesmerizing and it displays the Glory of God beautifully. My painting, of course, doesn’t make it justice but, as I said, I’m choosing to be faithful with this project because I want to learn from Him.
Have a great week!