Psalm 145 offers a beautiful portrait of praise to the Most High God. Penned by King David, and the last of the psalms attributed to him, it honors the Lord for his kindness to his people. Like a number of the psalms, it is written with an acrostic structure, meaning each verse corresponds to a descending letter in the Hebrew alphabet.
Something is Missing
But throughout time one of the letters has been missing. It appears a line originally found in the psalm had somehow fallen out. The letter in question is the Hebrew “nun,” or “N” (pronounced “noon”), which would have been located between Psalm 145:13-14. Being that Psalm 145 is about praising God, we imagine some detail regarding praise was no longer available.
A Wonderful Discovery
This absence perplexed scholars until the wonderful discovery by a Bedouin shepherd of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1946. As these long-hidden scrolls were collected and analyzed—scrolls dating back to two or three hundred years before Jesus walked the dusty trails of Galilee and Judea—the missing “nun” was recovered. The line which had dropped out was found, etched ever-so-carefully into a more ancient rendering of this precious psalm. It reads:
The LORD is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.
How true this statement is! The fact this line was rediscovered after centuries of being lost testifies to the truth within its words—the LORD is faithful.
Do You Believe?
Do you believe the Lord is faithful in all of his words and works? Is your life like this psalm, a seemingly well-structured story with one glaringly missing piece—confidence in God’s steadfast faithfulness? Right now is a good time to ask yourself if you are resting confidently in the Lord’s faithfulness to you. Search your soul. Are you more doubtful than trusting, more resistant than restful, more anxious than amazed?
Play the Bedouin
Check to see if there is a line missing in your story. Search for your missing “nun.” Play the Bedouin shepherd, stumble into the cool cavern of God’s Word, and dig up the ancient piece that can fit ever-so-tightly into your story.
That piece declaring God is faithful . . . to you.