Each summer during my childhood, from around age 8 to age 16, my parents would pack me off for a week to Caroline Furnace Lutheran Youth Camp. There, I would join a group of boys my age from all over the state and we would spend a glorious week swimming, sleeping in tents, eating and serving meals together, doing crafts, and learning about Jesus. Sometimes we would do lessons in workbooks and then talk about the answers to the questions, but sometimes we would just sit and think about God. Do you ever just sit back and think about God? Today's two passages gives us a peek into the life of a king who did just that. Let's listen to one from 2 Samuel and then one from the Psalms:

…King David went in and sat before the Lord; and he said: “Who am I, O Lord God? And what is my house, that You have brought me this far”? (2 Sam. 7:18)

What are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? (Psa. 8:4)

After I gave my life to Christ in 1971, I would often sit under the stars at night and consider God and my thoughts were very much like David's thoughts in these two passages. Why, God? Why would You care about me? For that matter, why would You care about any human being? Why have You reached down into my life and brought me into Your Presence? More than fifty years have passed since those starry nights and I still don't know the answer. Why would Someone as wonderful as Jesus care about someone who didn't care about Him at all? And yet, He has been my faithful Companion and Friend for all of my life. He listens to me. He answers my prayers. He encourages me to do things I might not ever do on my own and then surprises me by giving me grace and faith to do them. He forgives my waywardness even when I know I'm doing wrong. I come to Him later, asking His forgiveness yet again, and He forgives me, again. His love for you and His love for me is relentless. I can never do anything that will make Him love me more or make Him love me less. Why? Because that's the kind of King Jesus is...and that is very Good News!