Psalm 42

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, "Where is your God?" These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng. Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. ~Psalm 42:1-5

This was the passage that I found myself reading to my grandfather today to open a time of worship together. I believe with all my soul that this is a testimony to his life at this moment, as if David, the psalmist had looked forward to this moment in my grandpa's life and wrote these words. In all of my 31 years, and many before those, my grandpa's soul has panted for God. And today when he is unable to "lead the procession to the house of God" we his family had the awesome privilege of bringing a time of praise and worship to him in his hospital bed. It was a time to say through it all we "will yet praise him" for His redemption and for His very being.

As I add all of us up there were about 20 of us in that room throughout the nearly four hour praise and worship time. We gathered around grandpa. We sang. We read our favorite scriptures and we prayed. I know that it is in God that my grandpa is drawing his strength. The joy of the Lord filled that place today. It was truly a blessing. It was a blessing to see a man in so bad off, praise God and love others before himself. Towards the end when many of us needed to leave we all gathered around Grandpa touching him if close enough, if not touching someone who was touching him and prayed for his healing, his comfort, his strength. We praised God for who God is and for the blessings that He has already poured out on Grandpa's life and we asked for a continuous of that blessing. And in all of this we asked for God's perfect will to be done in the surgery and in all of our lives.

Uncle Jeff and Grandma at one point went out to the bathroom and as they returned they said they could here Criss playing and singing down the hall. When we would ask the nurses if we were too loud, they'd say "We ain't heard nothing!" They heard they were just enjoying the moment right along with us.

I only wish that our entire family could have been present in that moment to experience the presence of the Holy Spirit touch each of our lives.