pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: presence


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One Day

Reading: Psalm 84: 8-12

Verse 10: “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere”.

The pilgrims are on their way to Jerusalem! There is joy in where they are headed. They are going to be close to the God they love. As today’s passage opens, the people are petitioning God to hear and listen with favor to their prayers. This joy on the journey, this sense of anticipation – is it what we have when we walk out the door as we head to church?

For the pilgrims, the joy is not just in the journey. Being there is God’s house is really the point. Verse ten illustrates the value placed on being in the sanctuary: “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere”. There is delight found in the place of the Lord. There is a sense of peace and strength in God’s house. Do we reflect this attitude on Sunday mornings? If we feel blessed to be in worship, then yes we do!

The psalmist also names the popular alternative. One can choose God or one can choose not to. Instead, one can live a wicked life. This is a life centered on self, filled with gluttony and greed and the pleasures of the flesh. The ego dominates and shows itself in pride and jealousy and anger. The psalmist would rather be one day with God than to spend a thousand days in the tents of the wicked. Yet those tents are crowded. The things of the world look good to those who do not know God. To the faithful, yes, they are temptations.

If we were to modernize the Psalm, what would we replace the tents of the wicked with? Today, for some, it is the cathedral of green pastures and little white balls. For others it is the sea of peaceful waters and sharp hooks. Still others prefer the sense of security and comfort found in the great comforter and soft pillow. Yes, these things do have their appeal. Yes, one sure can spend their days someplace other than in God’s courts. It is a choice.

The Psalm closes with this line: “O Lord Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you”. The world tells us to trust in ourselves, in our possessions, in our titles. But a thousand days of these things is not worth one day in the courts of the Lord. May we trust in the Lord. May we walk blameless today with our God. May we find the Almighty’s favor. Amen and amen.


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Destination God

Reading: Psalm 84: 1-7

Verse 5: “Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage”.

Today’s Psalm has familiar words to music lovers young and old. The opening verse and bridge to the contemporary worship song, “Better In One Day”, spring from verses one and two. A great old hymn also comes to mind as one reads this Psalm. “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” has its roots in Psalm 84. Both of these songs echo the psalmist’s key themes: we are blessed both when we are with God and when we are on the pilgrimage to be with God.

The original purpose of Psalm 84 would have been to encourage pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem. They would have sung it as they traveled. The opening lines remind them of the goal – the temple. They would also be reminded of the ‘why’ behind the journey – to be in God’s presence. Verse two expresses this desire well: the soul yearns and the heart and flesh cry out. For those who have arrived, for those “who dwell in your house”, they are filled with praises for God. This joyous end of the journey would be much anticipated by the pilgrims.

The next stanza, verses five through seven, addresses the realities of life for some of the pilgrims. Verse five reads, “Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage”. This blessing is also ours. Once we decide to set our course with God, we too gain strength and encouragement for the journey. Once we profess our desire to walk with God, then we too are blessed. But the journey is not always joyous, not always easy. In the earliest texts of Psalm 84 the journey would have passed not through the valley of Baca but through the “valley of sorrows”. It was a dry place where the pilgrim’s tears would “make it a place of springs”. God’s presence would have been the “autumn rains” that filled them with blessings and joy. Even in sorrow, God is present. As these pilgrims journey on towards their destination, they know God’s presence as they “go from strength to strength” as they continue towards God’s dwelling place.

Whether we are like the sparrow that has found a home or if we are a pilgrim on the journey or if we now find ourselves passing through the valley, we know the same destination. This day and every day may we yearn for and cry out for God, ever seeking to dwell in God’s presence, drawing strength upon strength from the Lord our God. How lovely it is to dwell with the Lord!


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Not Just Safe

Reading: 1 Kings 8: 1, 6, 10-11

Verses 10-11: “When the priests withdrew… the cloud filled the temple of the Lord… for the glory of the Lord filled the temple”.

Today’s passage is about the ark of the covenant – that ‘thing’ that represents God’s presence – coming to the temple that Solomon built. There is a lot of ceremony and celebration surrounding this event. I’d imagine everyone from Jerusalem and the whole countryside came to witness and praise God for this happening. Even God shows up. Verses 10 and 11 offer testimony: “When the priests withdrew… the cloud filled the temple of the Lord… for the glory of the Lord filled the temple”.

The idea of God “being in the house” continues to this day. When a new church is built there is always a dedication service where the building is consecrated to God and ministry. Each Sunday during our opening prayer I invite God’s presence to come and dwell in that space and in our hearts. For centuries in the not too distant past churches and cathedrals were built to a grand scale in an odd competition to have the biggest and most impressive structure that somehow said something about that church’s relationship with God.

Counter to these notions is our belief that God is omnipresent – that God is present at all times in all places. We can encounter God in church but also in the woods, under the overpass, on the mountain top, at a concert in the park, in a bar… Even God himself questioned the idea of a home, saying in 2nd Samuel 7, “Did I ever say, ‘Why have you not built me a house'”? Perhaps God saw the down sides of a place to “dwell”.

While it is true that a community of faith needs a place to gather for worship and fellowship, the building has too often come to represent God and our faith. Put another way, it has compartmentalized our faith. It is where we go to be in God’s presence. It has too regularly become the only place we go to be in God’s presence. While the sanctuary is definitely a holy and sacred place where one can be present with God, it is far from the only place. I believe that connecting to God only on a Sunday morning is far from God’s intent for how we are to live out and experience our faith. The building is comfortable and safe. Yes, it has its place and purpose. But God does not desire for us to have a faith that is just comfortable and safe. When we look at Jesus, Paul, John, James, Peter… we see a faith that was lived out in the world, amongst the lost and the broken. May this be an important part of our faith life as well.


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God’s Presence

Reading: 2 Samuel 7: 1-14a

Verse 9: “I have been with you wherever you have gone”.

David has an idea to build a home for God. God’s first “residence” was a mobile tent that traveled around the desert for forty years. Once the Israelites crossed into the Promised Land and allocated areas for the tribes of Israel, they settled down and established themselves. Years and years later, David has this idea to build a permanent home for God. The ark still resides in the tent. A more proper home might be in order.

Mankind has always built places to worship. Some have been outdoors and very simple. Others have been huge, ornate buildings that took hundreds of years and lots of money and resources to complete. Once upon a time, church building was even a bit competitive in the western world. I don’t think David’s motivation was along these lines. I think that it was a feeling that God should have a permanent home.

The idea that God “lives” someplace on earth – and in just one place – seems a bit preposterous. Our God is the God of all people, places, and nations. The true “church” is the place where followers of Jesus Christ gather to offer praise and worship. It can be a circle of milk crates in an abandoned lot as easily as it can be in the grandest church ever built. As verse nine reads, “I have been with you wherever you have gone”.

This extends to us personally as well. We can each connect to our loving, personal God one-on-one. This too can be anytime, anyplace. As we go forth today, may we find the pleasure of being in God’s presence often. May we seek to worship God in many ways and in many places this day. Amen.


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King of Glory

Reading: Psalm 24: 3-10

Verses 8 and 10: “Who is this king of glory?… the Lord strong and mighty… He is the king of glory”.

Today’s Psalm is about connecting to God. It begins by asking who can approach God and stand at His altar. The psalmist tells us it is those with clean hands and a pure heart. It is one who does not worship idols and who does not swear falsely. It is one who seeks to connect to God. Because of what Jesus did on the cross, we can confess and repent and find forgiveness anytime. At all points, we can be made holy and pure again, able and ready to stand in God’s glorious presence.

The Psalm also reminds us of why we connect to God. The one with a clean hands and pure heart will receive blessings and will be lifted up. The psalmist writes, “such is the generation of those who seek Him”. The Lord does not bless with the things of this world – they are temporary. God blesses the faithful with joy and peace and contentment and hope – all things we cannot find in idols or other things of this world.

The last few verses speak of who it is we seek to connect to – the Lord God. The psalmist writes, “Who is this king of glory?… the Lord strong and mighty… He is the king of glory”. The Lord God is in control indeed strong and mighty. He will be present to us in our battles and will help us emerge victorious when we trust in Him. God is the king of glory. When in God’s presence we experience and dwell in His glory, but here in this time and place, we only experience a taste of God’s glory. When we stand in God’s heavenly presence, we will know His true glory.

Connecting to God and being daily in His presence brings us much in this life. Each day may we begin by trusting all of our being to the King of glory, the Lord our God. Amen.


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Celebrating

Reading: 2 Samuel 6: 1-5

Verse Five: “David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord”.

Quick history review: When Israel was fighting with the Philistines, they sinfully brought out the ark of the covenant basically as a good luck charm. The battle did not go well and the Philistines captured the ark. But the ark was a curse because they put it in one of their god’s temples. So they returned it. Years later Saul dies and David becomes king. He defeats the Philistines and begins to consolidate his power to Jerusalem. In today’s passage David is bringing the ark to Jerusalem, aligning his political and spiritual power.

To the Israelites, the ark represents God’s presence with the people. It is one of the most holy and sacred objects for the Jews. Instead of just sending some priests or Levites after the ark, David makes a big deal out of it. As we read today, he gathered 30,000 men to parade the ark ‘home’. It had been residing in Abinadab’s house in a small town near Jerusalem. The return was a joyous and festive occasion. Verse five tells us, “David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord”. All of Israel came to the parade. It was a great event to bring the ark to the capital city. This action brought exuberant praise and worship if God. It was like a homecoming for the presence of God.

Today we feel like the sanctuary is the place where we most easily and readily find and experience God’s presence. It is a holy space frequently home to prayer and praise and the sharing of God’s Word. It makes sense that we feel God’s presence in the sanctuary. The questions that come to me through this passage today are: Do we worship in the sanctuary with “all our might”? Do we come to joyously celebrate God’s presence with us? Are we exuberant each Sunday in our worship of God?

Today may we wrestle with these questions and where our thoughts and the Holy Spirit take us.


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Anywhere, Anytime

Reading: Psalm 48: 9-14

Verse Nine: “Within your temple, O God, we meditate on your unfailing love”.

The Israelites viewed the temple as God’s dwelling place. It was a sacred and holy place. When the psalmist writes, “Within your temple, O God, we meditate on your unfailing love” to open our passage today, he would have really meant it. The temple was the place to connect to God and to worship God. After the period in exile and the dispersal of Jews around the known world, synagogues also became places to meditate and reflect on God’s word and to praise and worship God. Yet even then there remained the connection with the temple as the home of God.

As we jump forward to our time and frame if reference, the church sanctuary is often the place where people feel close to God. Yet it is a place of God’s presence and not necessarily God’s being. The sanctuary is a holy and sacred place, but we do not feel like any of our sanctuaries are the home of God.

This shift has led to two important things for me. It has helped my sense of God’s omnipresence. The idea that God can be present in all places speaks to me of the vastness and unlimited nature of God. This ties into the unfailing love idea expressed by the psalmist. It also speaks of God’s presence in many other places besides the temple or synagogue or chruch. God can be intimately connected to during a walk on the beach, a hike in the woods, on a yoga mat in the living room, at the corner coffee shop… God can be and is encountered in many ways and in many places.

This shift also means that we can help others encounter God anywhere and anytime. This means we can minister to the broken and lost and hurting as instruments of God’s unfailing love wherever we encounter them. God is there too. Through loving others we can help them to meet and connect to God wherever they are at and whenever our paths cross. In doing so we are living out our faith and living into verse thirteen, telling of our God to the next generation of believers.

Lord God, bless us with opportunities to connect with you wherever we are and to witness to your power and presence with all we meet. May it be so today. Amen.


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Our God

Reading: Psalm 48

Verse Fourteen: “For this God is our God for ever and ever; He will be our guide even to the end”.

For many years the Jewish people found joy in the city of David. It was the place that God called home. It was the place of safety and refuge in times if war. Situated high upon the hill it offered both a commanding view and a strategic military advantage. In fact, we read that for enemy kings, just seeing Jerusalem brought terror and trembling.

As a people, the Israelites saw all of this as God’s handiwork and of His presence with the chosen people. Because it is the city of God, they feel like Jerusalem will the there, as it is, “secure forever”. The city is also the home of the temple – God’s home. In the temple the people can meditate on God’s unfailing love and can be in God’s presence. For many people of faith today, this is how we feel about and in our places of worship. The sanctuary is not just another room in a building we call a church or synagogue or mosque. It is the space where we sense God’s presence with us.

The psalmist closes with two encouragements. First, to “walk about Zion”. For the reader, this was Jerusalem. For us, where is our Zion? Where is that place that you feel most connected to God? Spend some time there today or this week. Sit or stand or walk about in that space, feeling and being in God’s presence. The second encouragement is to tell the next generation. We learn best by doing. Bring a child or a friend to your Zion. Allow them to experience what you experience there. When we take the time to enter into God’s holiness, into God’s presence, we begin to know and feel as the psalmist did when he wrote, “For this God is our God for ever and ever; He will be our guide even to the end”. May this be our God too.


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Deep Loss

Reading: 2 Samuel 1:1 and 17-27

Verses 24 and 26: “O daughters of Israel, weep for Saul… I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother”.

David returns from defeating the Amalekites heavy with grief. Victory was won but it came with a high cost. King Saul and his son Jonathan were killed in battle. In our reading today we can feel David’s pain and grief. Loss is always hard, unexpected loss even more so.

David has had a difficult relationship with Saul the last few months. They first crossed paths when David stepped up to slay Goliath. David soon found a place in Saul’s court, playing and singing for Saul, soothing his troubled mind and soul. David became best of friends with Jonathan, Saul’s son. Over time, Saul became more and more jealous of David as God brought him victory after victory. In fits of anger, Saul would try and kill David. Once, aware of his father’s altered state, Jonathan even acted to save David, betraying his father. In time Saul would gather soldiers, attempting to hunt down and kill David. In spite of all this, David still respected Saul as God’s chosen king. David respectfully waited his turn.

During David’s time in the court, he became best if friends with Jonathan. They were like brothers. Jonathan could have been the next king as an heir to the throne, but he saw God’s blessing upon David. He did nothing to defend his right to the throne. Like David, he was aware of God’s hand at work. Because if this, at times Jonathan protected David from his father Saul’s anger and jealousy. They were true friends. There is a personal pain in the loss of Jonathan.

In today’s poem of lament, David writes, “O daughters of Israel, weep for Saul… I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother”. In the loss of Saul, David calls upon the daughters of Israel and the men of Judah to lament the loss of a great leader and warrior. In Jonathan, David lost his best friend. He personally grieves this loss. There is hurt in his words. This loss is like the loss of a spouse or a child – a deep and profound loss.

This day may we lift up those we know who are feeling what David felt – deep loss, difficult grief. May we pray for those we know who are hurting today, praying for God’s powerful and sustaining presence to surround and carry them this day.


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Good News

Reading: 2 Corinthians 5: 6-17

Verse 17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come”!

To have faith and to live a Christian Life in our modern, post-Christian world can be challenging. Paul reminds us in our passage today that because of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence we have a confidence about our relationship with God. In our day to day life we “live by faith” and we “make it our goal to please God”. Paul explains in verse fourteen that it is Christ’s love that compels us to share that “He died for all”. This understanding leads the believer to “no longer live for themselves but for Him”. When we choose to no longer live for self we choose to surrender our will, our desires, our selfishness, to God. This act of surrender leads a follower of Christ to truly follow Him, wanting to take the love we know and make it known to all.

This surrender also changes our perspective. We see ourselves and those in the world differently. As Paul puts it, “we regard no one from an earthly point of view”. Ourselves and others are not condemned but are saved by Jesus, who died for all. It is in and through this act of Jesus that God reconciled us to Him. In this way our sin is not counted against us, redeeming us to be righteous and holy in His sight. This allows us to have fellowship with our Lord and to look longingly to the day when we are “home with the Lord”. This is the love and the message of hope that we share with the world.

We want all to experience what we have experienced. We want all to experience the transforming love of God. In Christ, we are made new. Paul writes, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come”! In Christ we are made into new creations! We are not of this world any longer; we are simply living in it, trying to help others to come to know Jesus. This is news worth sharing. This is life-changing news. This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. May the Lord compel each of us to share the good news of the love of God in Jesus Christ with all we meet this day and every day. Amen.