You Crown The Year With Your Goodness
The year is coming to an end; for many, it is a time of thanksgiving and reflection. I always go back to read Psalm 65:11 at the end of every year. It is a powerful prayer and declaration.
You crown the year with Your goodness, And Your paths drip with abundance. –Psalm 65:11, NKJV (emphasis added)
I looked up the definition of ‘crown’, and according to the Merriam-Webster 1828 dictionary, a crown is a royal or imperial headdress or cap of sovereignty. God treats the year like royalty and rewards it with a crown of His goodness. Figuratively speaking, this is beautiful. It depicts a picture of the year ending beautifully, crowned by no other but God Almighty, the King of Kings. No one can give a crown filled with so much goodness as our King of Kings. I was once given a silver crown as a little girl. It matched my little pink dress perfectly. My mum got me to sit down as she put the silver crown on my little head. I felt like the most beautiful princess in the whole world. Nothing and nobody could annoy me that day. Not even my brothers! This verse personifies the year. God crowns the year with His goodness, and nothing can diminish that.
In one sense, we can always say that God crowns the year with His goodness. It is simply what He does every single year. He is good, and we have experienced His goodness throughout the years leading up to this year. Therefore, we should be incredibly grateful as we come towards the end of 2022. God’s goodness is immeasurable. But reading this verse and knowing that God crowns the year with His goodness also makes me think about how we respond to this verse when our year has been full of trials and tribulations. What if you have suffered an immeasurable loss? What if your health, wealth and family faced challenges you never thought would come your way? Should we still testify and praise God that He crowns the year with His goodness?
I say yes! As Christians, it’s important to always meditate on the goodness of God. Even if we experienced more challenges this year than any other year, if you sit down and meditate on God’s goodness, you will know that God was with you throughout. He orders your steps, comforts you and goes before you. The presence of trials in your life is not proof that God’s goodness has been withheld from you. Christ promised the following in John 16:33 ‘…In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world’. We are not exempt from trials as long as we are in this world. But we are commanded to take heart because Jesus has conquered the world. The promises of God will give you joy amid difficulty. Holding on to His promises enables you to see and experience His Goodness despite your situation.
So despite the challenges you face in any particular year, you can testify at the end of each year, ‘You crown the year with Your goodness’. It’s a given! Looking at this personally, 2022 was a fantastic year! So many changes occurred in my life, and I entered new beautiful seasons. God has been good. But it certainly didn’t come without its challenges. This has been a year of great blessings and great difficulties that required great faith. But we should never allow our challenges to overshadow God’s blessings. The impact of your challenges can eliminate your joy if you are not equipped to renew your mind in His word.
Psalm 65:11 is both a promise and a prayer. It is a promise you can only fully experience by deliberately meditating on His goodness. The hustle and bustle of everyday life compels us to always be in a rush. We have less and less time to be still and take a step back to appreciate God, breathe and relax. But this is a must for Christians. If you haven’t taken a step back at any stage this year, the end of the year is a perfect time! Sit down and meditate on how He crowns the year with His goodness in your life. How did God make this promise a reality in your life? This verse is a prayer in a year when you have faced challenges that tested your faith. It is a prayer of faith where you know that God is good despite what you see around you.
I enjoy writing out key prayer requests throughout the year, ticking them as God answers them, and going back at the end of the year to remind myself of what God has done. Like the Psalmist in Psalm 77:11,’ I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.’ The author decided to remind himself of what God had done. This remembrance was not limited to what God has done in His personal life but encompassed what God has done in the past. Personal testimonies are powerful and should not be forgotten. But let’s not forget the miracles of God in scripture. As we meditate on God’s goodness, thank Him for crowning this year with His goodness and expectantly wait to experience His goodness again next year!
Take a pen and paper and write down all the beautiful things God has done this year. Then on a separate sheet, write out the titles of the miracles and events in scripture that the Holy Spirit brought to your remembrance this year as you walked through different seasons. Your list will most likely be longer than you had initially thought! And once again, let’s praise God for crowning the year with His goodness.
