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Truth Treasures – September 2026

Stephanie O'Donnell

Welcome to Truth Treasures,, a monthly post where I feature goodness from around the web which I hope will be helpful to you, as well as some personal tidbits, and other treasures. I pray you will be blessed and God will be glorified. Feel free to pass it along!

Reflections: Beheld

“The LORD is high above all nations, His glory above the heavens. Who is like the LORD our God, who dwells on high, who humbles Himself to behold the things that are in the heavens and in the earth?” Ps. 113:4-6

Did you catch that? As infinitely vast as the heavens are, God has to stoop low to behold them. There are at least 100 billion galaxies in the known cosmos. Each galaxy swarms with stars and planets, darkness and light, cosmic dust and meteorites; all dancing and swirling in synchronized harmony. Planet earth spins within a solar system inside one of these galaxies, the Milky Way, whose mind-boggling diameter is 100,000 light years (that’s 587,860 billion miles!).

I have to say it again, for my own benefit, if not for yours: The LORD our God has to bow down to look upon the things in the cosmos. But that’s not all. He who humbles himself to behold the magnitude and immensity of the heavens, stoops even lower to behold the things that are in the earth—including you and me. He’s not tossing a scornful glance. He isn’t belligerent, nor demeaning. He beholds.

God is mindful of the fallen earth and its inhabitants. In His care, He stoops to look upon depraved humanity, yet He doesn’t stop there. The next three verses of Psalm 113 tell us God acts. “He raises the poor out of the dust, and lifts the needy out of the ash heap.” (Ps. 113:7) He acts on behalf of those who cannot act for themselves. How? The cross—when we were dead in our trespasses and sin, Christ died for us. We are without hope, and Christ offers us life everlasting. He redeems us from the ash heap of our sin, making us forgiven and free.

I came to Psalm 113 in my regular reading one recent morning. The day before, I had prayed with a dear friend who is not well. On top of a dire malady, she is struggling to sleep. I prayed the Lord would bless her with sleep. The vibration on my phone early the next morning said simply, “I had a great sleep!!!” The words of Psalm 113 blessed me in a way I don’t think I am able to express. I saw the truth of it’s words live out in front of me. God is so high and mighty and unfathomable, so much so that He has to stoop to behold the cosmos. Yet, this same God is so personal and loving that He responds to the weak, but heartfelt prayers of His children, and gives the simple blessing of sleep to one servant in an obscure location in this vast cosmos.

I don’t know what that does for you, but this reality revives my dull heart. I am left in awe and cry with David, “Who are You that You are mindful of me?” My heart sings because of the amazing love the LORD, Creator of the heavens and the earth and all that is in them, has bestowed upon a wretch like me.

“Praise the LORD!…Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and forevermore. From the rising of the sun to its going down, the LORD”s name is to be praised.” Ps. 113:1-3

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Coffee Cup Scriptures in Context

This is a new section here in Truth Treasures inspired by something I heard in a recent sermon preached by Jonny Ardavanis. He called the trite, shortened, out of context Scripture that covers mugs, posters, etc.,”Coffee Cup Christianity”. In this section, I’d like to set some of those popular verses in their original context in an attempt to help us glean the original and true meaning. (Hint: It’s not about us).

Coffee Cup Version: His mercies are new every morning…..His compassions fail not….. great is His faithfulness. Makes us feel good doesn’t it, as we wearily savor the aroma and first sip of coffee, and hope for better, comfortable, safe things today?

Scripture in Context: This verse is found in Lamentations 3:22-23. Lamentations is a five chapter book which follows the book of Jeremiah, and is just as its name says, a lament. Jeremiah was God’s prophet who warned of the destruction that was forthcoming, if the people did not turn from their idolatrous ways. The book of Jeremiah ends with the fulfillment of the prophesied destruction, and Lamentations brings the reader into the aftermath.

God’s beautiful Jerusalem, where the presence of God once dwelt amongst His people in the glorious temple Solomon built, is a heap of burning rubble, a scorn to the neighboring nations. Children are starving in the desolate streets (2:11-12). God’s judgment has come upon the rebellious, idolatrous nation. He fairly warned them, and now it has come to pass. The prophet who wrote Lamentations expresses the deep, woeful reality he and those remaining in this once great city are experiencing:

“He has broken my teeth with gravel and covered me with ashes. You have moved my soul far from peace; I have forgotten prosperity. And I said, “My strength and my hope have perished from the LORD.”” (3:16-18)

The writer is in dire circumstances; yet even so, his hope revives as he recalls the character of God:

“This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion”, says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.” (Lam. 3:21-26)

The coffee cup version of Lam. 3:22-23 is all about me and my happy feelings. The verse in context is about God and His righteousness, justice, love and mercy; His faithfulness to His Word.

Go ahead and drink from the mug with these encouraging words from these precious verses (I do); but why not pick up a Bible and read the short book of Lamentations while you sip coffee from that pretty cup. There’s a great, and real, lesson of history to learn there.

Context makes a difference, and the difference matters.

In Case You Missed It: Posts from a current series

Life Through My {Camera} Lens

Be still, my heart. When my daughter told me she was going to have her 3 year old riding a horse this summer, this is not what I imagined. I was certain she meant that mom and girl would be together in the saddle; or in my wildest thought, that girl would be in saddle and mom would be tightly holding the horse with a lead. Instead, we have this horsy-loving, fearful-of-nothing girl riding all her by-self. She is too little to control the horse with her legs, so she has learned to steer with the reins. As you can see, she’s quite thrilled by it all! Long live the cowgirl.
Like mother, like daughter. Here they are together, coach and rider, mama and cowgirl—dressed in their show shirts with their faithful horse, Sage, who’d rather be sleeping than showing on this fine, late summer day.
Like father, like son. Maybe it’s because as I write this post it’s the week between my kids’ birthdays; maybe it’s because my first born is about to turn 30, and my daughter just turned 28; but I’m feeling a little nostalgic as I look over these moments from the summer; my kids with their mini-me kids that look and act so much like their mom/dad did when they were three. The childhood of my own kids feels like yesterday, and an eternity ago, all at the same time. Sometimes that strange feeling of déjà-vu floods me, as I walk and talk with my grandchildren. (Kristin shares eloquently her experience with this same feeling here.)
It blesses me so to see my grown children teach and love their little ones, yet I feel the ache at the same time: the pang of regret, the dizzying speed of fleeting moments never to be grasped again. Maybe you know what I mean?
God’s Word softens that pang with these words from the wise Preacher, and I’m reminded that even the ability to enjoy life—each fleeting moment— is a gift: “I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—
it is the gift of God.” (Ecc. 4:12-13)

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Published by Stephanie O'Donnell

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