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| St. Joseph's Langley, BC |
TODAY'S SPECIAL: 1 Samuel 21-24; Psalm 84
TO CHEW ON: "My soul longs, yes even faints
for the courts of the Lord,
My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God." Psalm 84:2
Today is Sunday. It's the day many of us will go to our version of Zion—our place of worship be that a church building, community hall, rented classroom, or someone's living-room. Do we have the gut longing to be there that the writer of Psalm 84 has?
Underlying the strong desire to go to Zion may be an even deeper want.
"This psalm expresses the author's deep longing for the presence of God …. The psalm gives voice to the yearning and happiness experienced in Christ's nearness" - Psalm 84 entry in the Reformation Study Bible, accessed through biblegateway.com's "Study This," emphasis added.
On a scale of 1 to 10 how would we rate our eagerness to go to our Zion today (10 being the most eager)? If our rating is low to medium, why might that he?
- Perhaps our "heart" and "flesh" cry out for someone or something other than the "living God" (Psalm 84:2).
- Perhaps we don't spend any time with God the rest of the week and this feels like an awkward outing to meet with a stranger (Psalm 84:4).
- Perhaps we've been overwhelmed by and waylaid in the dry place of sadness, the "Valley of Baca," and our focus is on our troubles (Psalm 84:6).
- Perhaps we'd rather be somewhere else, even "dwelling in the tents of wickedness" (Psalm 84:10).
- Perhaps we're skeptical that He has good things in store for us; we're not convinced "No good thing will He withhold…" (Psalm 84:11).
- Perhaps, and I think this is key, we don't really expect to meet Him there, to have a sense that we are seen, we are known, that He is gazing straight at us, into us with His all-knowing, all-loving eyes (Psalm 84:9).
As we prepare for church today, and any Sunday, let's expect to actually meet with Him. If we believed that the God of the universe, our Saviour and Redeemer, will meet us there, I think we'd be as eager to attend our Zion as the psalmist was to go to his.
PRAYER: Dear God, help me to prepare myself to meet You in church today. As You seek me out, may I recognize Your presence and hear Your voice. Amen.
PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 84
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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
