One thing have I asked of the Lord that I will seek after.
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.
For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble.
He will conceal me under the cover of his tent.
He will lift me high upon a rock.
Amen.
I have a picture in my living room.
There it is.
As you can see, it's looking out a window.
There's sunlit lawn and shrubs and trees in the background.
And then right outside the window, you can see another little tree
with a bird sitting on the branch singing away.
There's a, you can see the little like, I guess it's an oil lamp
and some glasses on the windowsill.
And then there's a page from, it looks like a page from a hymn book there.
Although it's just that blank, that sheet of paper with a pen and the ink beside it.
Like someone has just written it out or, yeah.
And there's lilies on the desk.
White.
And you can see there's a lot of like contrast of light and darkness in there.
The light is outside and coming into the darkness of the room and shining on that hymn.
So, the hymn is, you might guess, this is my father's world, which is what the painting is called.
We just sang it, but let me just read a couple of verses.
This is my father's world and to my listening ears, all nature sings and round me rings the music of the spheres.
This is my father's world, the birds their carols raise, the morning light, the lily white, declare their maker's praise.
So, yeah.
This hymn was written by a guy named Maltby Babcock, a Presbyterian minister in the late 1800s.
He was, when he was a young pastor, there he is.
When he was a young pastor up in upstate New York, right near Niagara Falls, and up near Lake Ontario there,
he would go for walks in the countryside, and apparently that's when he wrote this poem,
although it wasn't published until after he died in around 1900.
The poem had like 16 stanzas, two lines each, and so when it's said as a hymn,
they have to select some of the verses, the best known ones.
So, yeah, a very well-known hymn.
It celebrates creation bearing witness to God's reign and goodness and beauty and praising him.
It also talks about God speaking to us through creation.
There's the lines that we sang,
This is my father's world, he shines in all its fear, in the rustling grass I hear him pass.
He speaks to me everywhere.
You're probably familiar with this idea that God speaks to us through creation.
There's various passages in the Bible that speak about that, like Psalm 19,
saying that the heavens declare the glory of God.
In Romans 1, Paul says,
Ever since the creation of the world, God's eternal power and divine nature
have been understood through the things that he has made.
In Acts 14, Paul says that God has not left himself without a witness in doing good,
giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons,
and filling you with food and your hearts with joy.
In fact, in the Te Deum that we just prayed,
there was the line,
Heaven and earth are full of the majesty of your glory.
That's all great, but you're probably wondering,
what does this have to do with Psalm 27?
It doesn't talk about flowers and butterflies and cute furry creatures,
or even thunderstorms and sea monsters,
which the Bible says speak to us about God.
Although there are monsters, I guess, or monstrousness in this psalm,
talks about evildoers intent on devouring flesh,
armies, false witnesses.
It's obviously about someone in danger crying out to God for deliverance.
It seems a long way from like this dreamy pastor wandering through the countryside
or someone looking out the window at their pretty garden while sipping a cup of tea.
Well, so we'll look at the psalm,
and I'll see if I can connect it back to the view out the window and the hymn.
We're going to go through it verse by verse,
so if you have your Bible or your phone or whatever,
you can follow along.
There are Bibles here if you need them,
and we'll be looking at Psalm 27,
but let's just pray before we do that.
Father, we thank you that you are our light and our salvation,
our mighty fortress and our rock.
We need fear nobody and nothing,
but we want to have our holy fear of you.
We come to you and your word with sin-stained souls and darkened understanding,
and we thank you that in Jesus you have washed us clean
and are renewing our hearts and minds according to your will.
Please give me grace to speak the truth
and give us all wisdom, courage, and faith to hear you speak
and to live according to the truth of your gospel.
In Jesus' name, amen.
So the Psalms, we're doing a summer series on the Psalms.
The novice preacher is the one who's starting the series,
which seems a little off, but anyway,
this is like the, what do they call it, the pilot in a TV show,
and you don't know if it's going to be any good or not,
but anyway, so don't judge the rest of the series by this.
So anyway, so we'll be looking at the Psalms.
I'm not going to give a whole overview of them,
but as you know, you're probably familiar with them.
It's a collection of 150 poems or songs
that were part of the worship of the Jewish people
starting from the time of King David.
David, in the Psalms, a lot of them are attributed to David,
about half of them say of David or a Psalm of David
or something like that.
We don't really know what it means exactly when it says that,
but people think that, you know,
at least the kernel of a lot of the Psalms were written by him
or maybe even the whole Psalm.
But, you know, sometimes they're shaped by the later experiences
of the people of Israel.
But these are the things we know about David.
He was a skilled musician.
He was hired or he was brought to the court at first
when Saul was king
because Saul was being attacked by evil spirits
or an evil spirit from the Lord, actually, it says.
I don't know how that works.
But anyway, but David played music for him
to bring him peace and to calm his mind
and his soul.
So he was obviously played the lyre,
which is like a guitar kind of thing.
We know that he was a wild dancer.
In 2 Samuel chapter 6,
when they were bringing the ark back to Jerusalem
or to Jerusalem for the first time,
three times in that chapter,
his wild, crazy dancing is sort of vividly described.
We know that David put up a tent in Jerusalem
to accommodate the ark as a place of worship.
It was a sign of God's presence with his people.
In the next chapter, 2 Samuel chapter 7,
we see that David wanted to build a temple for God.
But through the prophet,
God told him that that job would be left to his son.
But if you read Chronicles,
we see that David helped in the preparation
for the building of the temple
by supplying a lot of materials,
and he planned out the liturgy
and the musical leadership of it.
So he was a passionate worshiper,
a dancer, and a poet.
Humanly speaking,
he was also violent
and promiscuous and deeply flawed.
But nevertheless, the Bible,
because of his humility and his contrition,
he's described as being a man after God's own heart.
So these are things we know about David,
who it said wrote this psalm.
So let's take a look at it
and what he says to us.
There are 14 verses,
and the books that I was reading,
commentaries and that kind of thing,
all see it as being divided into four sections.
I'm a musician,
and so when I sort of naturally go to musical
sort of ideas and images and concepts
that help me understand things sometimes,
and so when I was thinking of these four sections
in the psalm,
I thought of kind of like a symphony
or a sonata,
which is the same idea,
but just for one or two instruments,
where you've got a big piece of music
that's divided into four separate,
we call them movements.
So it's like four separate pieces of music,
but they come together
to form one artistic expression.
And as I was reading through this psalm,
it kind of struck me
that these four sections
kind of flow that way.
In a symphony,
you have the first and the last ones
are generally more energetic
and upbeat and loud
and positive feeling.
Generally speaking,
this is usually how it goes,
whereas the two in the middle
are a little slower,
especially the second movement
is more like reflective,
and then the third movement
is more like a dance,
actually, typically,
and then moves us to the last one,
which is, again,
energetic and upbeat.
So just indulge me a little here,
and we'll go through
the four movements of this psalm
and see if that helps us understand it.
So the first movement,
we meet the enemies, okay?
Verses one to three,
you can follow along.
The Lord is my light and my salvation.
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life.
Of whom shall I be afraid?
There's evildoers assailing
to eat up my flesh,
adversaries and foes,
but when they do,
it's they who stumble and fall.
And even though an army
is encamped against me,
my heart shall not fear.
Though war rise against me,
yet I will be confident.
So obviously,
there's a tone of confidence
and trust in the Lord,
his light and his salvation.
At the same time,
obviously,
there is danger and opposition.
All right?
Why would he be talking about fear
unless there's something
to be afraid of?
And I think this is something
that we can all relate to,
this sense of danger and trouble,
which naturally leads to fear
and enemies.
Obviously, in the news,
we see there's actual wars
going on in the world
and in the cities,
there's violence in the streets,
in our homes,
maybe not in your home,
but obviously,
we're aware of situations
where there's violence
and conflict.
Perhaps you might be,
like the psalmist,
a victim of slander,
enemies speaking evil of you.
It could be that your enemy
is a disease
or something in your body,
in your mind,
in your spirit.
So David was familiar
with that idea
through his helping Saul
overcome that attack
from an evil spirit.
Maybe there's conflict
in your family.
Some people wonder
if this psalm
was about
when David's son,
Absalom,
rebelled against him
and tried to
take over the kingship.
Or perhaps it's your boss.
That can be an enemy
for some people.
I was just talking to people
at the eight o'clock service
and they were telling me
that one of them,
their boss had just resigned
and that was a good thing
because they had given them
a lot of trouble.
And David's boss,
Saul,
caused him a lot of trouble.
In fact,
he was intent
on killing him
even though David
was nothing but loyal
to him.
So we're not sure
what are the enemies
that are referred to here,
but it could be a neighbor.
David fought against
these neighboring nations
like the Philistines.
So I'm sure
there's different ways
that we can relate
to what the psalmist
is going through here.
But whatever is the enemy
that we're facing,
we know that the Lord,
the creator of the universe,
and the one
whose love
is steadfast and faithful
is our light
and our salvation.
He brings wisdom
and truth,
deliverance
and vindication.
Our life
is in his hands.
The more we realize
what he's done
for us in Jesus,
forgiving our sins
and winning us
eternal life,
triumphing over sin
and death
and the evil one,
we can enter
into the ringing confidence
of the psalmist
who knows that in God
we're more than conquerors.
This movement,
musically,
would be like a rousing,
maybe march
by Beethoven
or something like that,
exuberantly triumphing
over the threat
of war
and destruction.
The second movement,
starting at verse 4,
brings a tone
of peace
and stillness
and tranquility
as the psalmist
invites us
through his prayer
to God
for the one thing
that he desires
above all else,
to be in God's presence.
One thing
I ask of the Lord
that I will seek after,
to dwell in the house
of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty
of the Lord
and to inquire
in his temple.
It's almost like
just this silence
comes in
and you're just
in this stillness,
gazing,
delighting in God
and inquiring,
that is,
seeking to learn
from God
and grow.
there's echoes here
of Psalm 23,
which is just
a few psalms before
in the Psalter
where David talks
about God
leading him
beside streams
of still water,
restoring his soul
and he talks
about at the end
of that
that he will dwell,
he's confident
of dwelling
in the house
of the Lord
all the days
of his life
and there are enemies
in Psalm 23
as well,
right?
You prepare a feast
before me
in the presence
of my enemies
so in spite
of the conflict
and the things
around us,
God,
when we enter
his presence
and fix our gaze
on him,
gives us this peace
and also
a sense
of protection,
deliverance
and grateful worship.
In Psalm 16,
11,
it says that
in God's presence
is fullness of joy.
Think of that
old hymn,
chorus,
turn your eyes
upon Jesus,
look full
in his wonderful face
and the things
of earth
will grow strangely dim
in the light
of his glory
and grace.
David
reiterates his love
for God's presence
by using five
different descriptions
of,
well,
going into
that holy place.
He talks about it
as a house
of the Lord,
a temple
which is
not necessarily
talking about
the temple
that eventually
Solomon built
but just a more
general idea.
It could also be
translated a palace.
It's a place
where a king
or a divinity
would live.
A house,
a temple,
a shelter,
a tent,
so shelter
is the idea
of being covered.
A tent
is more
the idea
of being
like a place
of hospitality
and welcome.
Like Abraham,
actually,
we've been reading
about him,
how he's pitched
his tent
and invited
strangers
to come in
with him.
And finally,
a rock,
so God's
presence,
God's house
is like a rock
or a fortress,
a safe,
strong place.
So,
we can sense
in this music,
if it was
set to music,
it would be
still and calm
and peaceful,
but also these notes
of joy and praise,
I will offer
in his tent
sacrifices
with shouts of joy,
singing and making
melody to the Lord.
There's a tone
of gratitude
for what God
has done.
I guess the question
is,
if it was David
who wrote this psalm,
this longing
to be in God's house,
is it meant
to be sort of
taken as a literal
thing
or
more of a
poetic expression
of wanting
to be in God's
presence?
I mean,
the tent
was there
in David's
lifetime
because he says
to Nathan,
the prophet,
you know,
look,
God's living
in a house
of tent,
but I'm in
a house
of cedar.
I mean,
he could have
moved into
the tent
if he wanted
to,
but,
and to,
you know,
I'm sure
that would have
been a nice
refuge for him
from all the
wars and battles
that he had
to deal with
and politics
and wives
and this kind
of thing.
And he longed
for peace
and justice,
a time when
God would put
things right.
And,
of course,
this hope
of justice
and peace
was developed
more and more
through the Old
Testament,
through the
prophets.
They envisaged
the holiness
of God
flooding the
nations
in a future
age of
righteousness.
But,
during David's
time,
the access
to the temple
and God's
holy place
was only
for those
who were made
richly clean
and priests
could only,
of course,
go into the
most holy
place.
But,
this idea
of him
offering
sacrifices
to God
as a king
actually
points us
to Jesus.
Often,
we use
that expression,
he's the
prophet,
priest,
and king.
And,
by his
sacrifice,
like he
says here,
I will offer
sacrifices.
And,
as we sort
of heard
in that
Hebrews
text,
Jesus
makes a
way for us
all to enter
into God's
presence and
dwell with him
forever.
Looking at
the cross,
we see his
beauty,
and following
him,
we can
inquire and
learn from
him,
meditate on
his life,
death,
and resurrection,
and we rest
on him as
the rock of
our salvation,
delighting in
his deliverance
and exalting
over our
enemies by
faith in
him.
This fourth
verse here,
one commentator
says about
that singleness
of purpose
and the
priorities within
that purpose,
that is,
to dwell in
the house
of the
Lord and
to inquire
of him.
He says it
is the
very essence
of worship
and of
discipleship.
And so I
invite you to
think about
that,
what it
means to
want to be
in God's
presence and
to delight
in him,
gaze on
him,
and inquire
of him.
It reminds
us actually of
Jesus when
he was a
child.
he spent
time in
the temple
and was
actually thought
that was the
natural place
for him to
be,
was surprised.
Remember when
his parents
said to him,
where were
you?
He said,
well,
where else
would I
be but in
my father's
house?
And it
says that he
was sat at
the feet of
the teachers
listening to
them and
asking them
questions.
And that's
what God
wants us to
do,
wants us to
spend time
with him,
whether it's
in his
word or
gathering in
Bible studies
or in
church.
The New
Testament,
of course,
says that we
are the
temple of
the Holy
Spirit,
so we
don't have
a temple
to go to
anymore,
but as we
gather with
each other
and by the
grace of
God,
the Holy
Spirit is
with us,
we can
spend time
with God
and sit
and learn
and,
yeah,
that's kind
of what we're
doing today,
right?
Gathering
together.
And so we
thank God
for Jesus
setting us
that example
and the
psalmist,
the essence
of worship
and of
discipleship.
That's the
second movement.
Third movement,
which I put
the title,
a hungry
heart
seeking rest
in God.
This is
verses 7
to 10.
So the
threat of
trouble is
returning here,
right?
We see it
in verse 7.
Hear,
O Lord,
when I cry
aloud,
be gracious
to me
and answer
me,
so he
needs help
from God.
But it's
tempered here
not so much
by this
ringing confidence
in the
opening section
but almost
a note of
contrition
and a
longing for
connection
with God
that seems
to be born
out of the
experience of
God's presence
that we just
saw in the
second section.
It's not really
clear why the
psalmist is
concerned that
God might
cast him
off or
forsake him.
But
he's
earnestly
seeking
God's
face but
he says
don't hide
your face
from me
which of
course is
his longing.
But we do
know that
in scripture
we see that
when people
behold the
holiness of
God and
his awesomeness
often the
response is
well a
kind of
holy fear.
Peter when
Jesus caught
that miraculous
catch of
fish he
fell at
his feet
and he
said go
away from
me Lord
for I am
a sinful
man.
Or in
Revelation
John
sees the
vision of
God
the glorified
Christ and
he falls at
his feet as
though dead.
And so
I think he
comes he
realizes that
to dwell in
God's presence
also means to
deal with
the sin in
his life.
Certainly
reading these
verses would
suggest that
when he's
talking about
the temple
in the second
section it's
more of a
poetic idea
because otherwise
he would still
be there right?
But now he's
back talking
about the
dangers that
he's experiencing
and the
trouble
but he
knows that
God is
faithful
and he
says even
if my
father and
mother have
forsaken me
but you can
also translate
it if my
father and
mother forsake
me yet the
Lord will
still take me
in.
This desperate
hunger for
God comes
from knowing
that no one
else but him
can save
and we're
utterly
dependent on
God's grace
for salvation.
Be gracious
and answer
me he
says.
Once again
we're pointed
to the cross
here when we
think about
Jesus on the
cross he was
utterly forsaken
by his
disciples,
his family,
he's thrown
completely on
the mercy of
God.
And as we
read he
cried aloud
to God
to the
one who's
able to
save him
from death
and was
heard because
of his
reverent
submission.
And God
did save
him.
At first he
descended into
hell of course
to take the
punishment for
our sins
but then he's
raised on
Easter Sunday.
He tasted
the depth of
what it meant
to be forsaken
by God
for our
sake.
But then
God delivers
him because
of his
righteousness.
This
sacrifice
and self
giving love
allows us
to seek
and see
God's
face.
To be
welcomed by
God into
our true
heavenly
home,
his presence
forever.
Not made
right by our
efforts but
by the
mercy and
faithfulness
of Christ.
So as I
said this
third movement
is like a
dance.
and I
see that
in sort
of the
way the
conversation
goes back
and forth.
You know,
you have
said,
Lord,
seek my
face.
My heart
says to
you,
your face,
Lord,
do I seek.
There's a
sort of
back and
forthness
and it
leads us
out of
that still
place into
more moving
forward in
life,
which is
kind of
how the
third
movement
of a
symphony
works.
So,
finally,
fourth
section,
fourth
movement,
a
steadfast
obedience,
faithful and
courageous.
I guess
I'll read
these words.
Teach me
your way,
O Lord,
and lead
me on a
level path
because of
my enemies.
Give me
not up to
the will
of my
adversaries,
for false
witnesses
have risen
against me
and they
breathe out
violence.
I believe
that I
shall look
upon the
goodness of
the Lord
in the
land of
the living.
Wait for
the Lord.
Be strong
and let
your heart
take courage.
Wait for
the Lord.
One thing
we notice
here is a
movement in
who the
psalmist is
addressing.
So,
in the
first verse,
he's talking
to God,
praying that
he'll teach
him his
way,
which gets
back to
that
verse
four where
he talks
about inquiring
of the
Lord,
that theme
of discipleship.
So,
teach me
a way,
lead me
on the
path of
life.
So,
he's praying
to God
and then
he's sort
of talking
to himself
almost.
I believe,
he's just
reiterating
his faith,
I believe
that I
shall look
upon the
goodness
of the
Lord
in the
land of
the
living.
And then
thirdly,
he speaks
to other
people.
Wait for
the Lord.
Be strong.
So,
there's a
movement
through here
out of
what God
has done
in him
and God's
teaching him
to exhorting
other people
to that
faith.
But yeah,
there's a
sense of
almost like
a march,
like moving
forward in
life.
what else
was I
going to
say about
this?
Oh yeah,
so the
enemies,
so again
it echoes
back to
that first
section
because in
the first
section
he talks
about the
enemies
stumbling
and falling
when they
attack him.
But now
he's praying
for God
to uphold
him as
he goes
forward on
the path
of faith
in spite
of the
enemy
attacks.
So there's
a sort
of echo
there of
what we
saw in
the first
section.
Also,
we see
a connection
with the
beginning
part in
this idea
of vision
because he
says,
he's talking
about,
I will
look on
the goodness
of the
Lord in
the land
of the
living.
And at
the beginning
of the
psalm he
talked about
God being
his light.
And so
God gives
us light to
see his
goodness.
I just,
what I see
here is that
as redemption
works through
history,
we return
from the
wilderness to
the garden,
right,
because of
what Jesus
has done.
It's only
by grace
that we
receive salvation,
deliverance,
and blessing.
This note
of courage,
wait for the
Lord, be
strong and
let your
heart take
courage,
wait for
the Lord,
again,
it bookends
the psalm
which started
asking,
who will
I fear?
So,
that's
symphony
in four
movements,
Psalm
27.
So,
back to
our
hymn
and the
hymn
writer,
Maltby.
he was
an admired
pastor and
preacher and
poet and
musician,
kind of like
David,
but he had
enemies,
maybe not
human ones,
but vicious
enemies.
The enemy
of death
stole,
he only had
two children,
neither of them
survived out of
infancy.
he struggled
with the
enemies of
doubt and
depression.
One of the
lines of the
hymn that we
didn't sing,
but it's in
the poem,
he says,
why should my
heart be
sad?
And so
obviously
there's a
sense that
he dealt
with sadness.
He dealt
with enemies
of injustice
and poverty.
He
pastored a
big urban
church and
was very
concerned for
the poor
and kind
of wore
himself out
with his
efforts in
caring for
the persecuted.
And he
died very
young.
He was
only 42
when he
died.
He got
a bacterial,
like some
neurological
infection and
he succumbed
to darkness
and exhaustion
and he
died.
But in
his life,
in the land
of the
living,
he waited
for God.
And we
see in the
hymn that
God was his
confidence and
his salvation
like the
psalmist.
And that he
was listening
for his
voice,
just like
David was
when he
says,
and looking
at him,
he shines
in all its
fear,
he speaks
to me
everywhere.
God,
the ruler
of the
world,
his father's
world,
was the
ruler of
his heart.
I just
want to talk
about light
and darkness
a little bit.
And so
if we look
at the
picture again,
one thing
I didn't
mention
before,
but you
might have
noticed,
is that
the shadow
of the
window,
the bits
of wood
across the
window,
which are
called
mountains,
by the
way,
if you
need some
architectural
information,
I learned
that,
they make
a cross
on the
hymn as
it lies on
the desk
there.
And the
artist is
saying that
it's the
cross by
which we
really see
God most
fully in
this world.
And it's
that last
verse we
sang,
Jesus,
the battle
is not
done.
Battle against
these enemies
is not
done.
Jesus who
died shall
be satisfied
and earth
and heaven
will be
won.
So it's
like the
light out
there is
coming into
the darkness
here and
that's what
God is
doing through
Jesus and
as we live
out our
lives in
faith,
the light
of heaven
is coming
into the
darkness of
our world.
And obviously
there is still
dark but we
carry his
light and
his salvation
with us as
we bear
witness to
Jesus.
this idea
of the
light coming
into the
world and
putting things
right was
captured by
the artist
Louis Tiffany,
heard of
Tiffany
Glass.
So Tiffany,
after the
hymn writer
Maltby
Babcock
died, he
was commissioned
to make a
stained glass
window in
his memory.
There it
is.
So this is
in the church
that he
pastored in
Baltimore.
It's one
of, I
think, the
two biggest
stained glass
windows that
Tiffany made.
Down the
bottom, you
probably can't
read it, but
it says his
name, Maltby
Davenport
Babcock.
So this
picture, this
stained glass
is called
the Holy
City.
It's in
reference to
Revelation
chapter 21
where John
sees the
holy city,
the new
Jerusalem,
which is
replacing the
Jerusalem where
David lived and
where the tent
was, were
formerly the
signs of God
presence with
humanity.
But now
this new
Jerusalem is
coming out of
heaven from
God as a
bride adorned
for her
husband.
I'll just
read the
rest of
that little
passage there.
It says,
a bride adorned
her husband,
and I heard a
loud voice from
the throne
saying, see,
the home of
God is among
mortals.
He will dwell
with them and
they will be his
peoples and
God himself
will be with
them.
He will wipe
away every tear
from their
eyes.
Death will be
no more.
Mourning and
crying and pain
will be no
more.
No more
battles, no
more enemies,
for the first
things have
passed away.
And the
one who
is seated
on the
throne said,
see, I'm
making all
things new.
Thank you,
God.
He's making
all things
new, a new
creation, a
new father's
world, which
we will delight
in for
eternity.
And we will
dwell in the
land of the
truly living.
And the
one that the
hearts of the
faithful desire
and seek after
above all else.
will be, our
desire to be
with him will
be fully and
eternally
realized.
We will
behold his
beauty and
learn from him
forever.
Until then, we
wait with courage
as God
strengthens our
hearts by faith
with thanksgiving.
being.
As I wrap
things up, I
just want to
mention this
book that is
maybe my
favorite Christian
book.
It's called
One Thousand
Gifts.
It's by a
Canadian
farm girl
named Anne
Voskamp.
She's from
southern Ontario.
Anyway, she
talks about
what she
calls the
Eucharistic
life.
That's a
life of
gratitude and
a life that's
shaped by the
cross.
When we
celebrate communion,
we call it
Eucharist.
It's a love
feast, a
celebration of
thankfulness.
She talks about
this psalm in
the book,
about verse
four, where it
says the one
thing that I
desire is to
be with the
Lord.
And what she
says about this
verse is,
I want to see
God endlessly.
I long to
merge with
beauty, breathe
it into lungs,
feel it heavy
on skin, to
beat the
door of the
universe, pound
the chest of
God with the
psalmist.
So that I
want to be
with you, God,
is what he's
praying.
Faith is the
gaze of the
soul, and I
want to see
in so I can
enter into
God.
And she
has this
line in
the book,
just five
words, that
I have taped
to the bottom
of my
picture of
the hymn
there.
The line
is, all
the world
is window.
She says,
no material
is opaque.
If we're
willing to
see people,
circumstances,
situations,
relationships,
enemies, all
is transparent.
All of this
globe is but
glass to God.
God, and
Eucharisteo,
thankfulness,
washes the
glass.
It's redemptive
work wiping
away the
soot of our
days.
You know,
Paul says
that now we
see in a
mirror darkly,
but when God
puts things
right, we
will see
face to
face.
And we
can be
mirrors or
windows
ourselves of
God's work
in the
world.
People can
look at
us.
And so
I pray for
myself that
I will be
a window and
also that I
will see
others and
see my life
as a window
to God.
What is he
teaching me?
Lord, lead
me on your
path and
teach me
your way.
Show me
your face,
oh Lord,
do I seek.
God's work.
We need
those glasses,
right, that
were sitting on
the windowsill to
see the glasses
of faith,
the spectacles of
faith to see
what God is
doing in the
world and in
our lives.
And then,
no matter what
are our
circumstances,
we can live in
thankfulness,
singing and
making melody to
the Lord, as
David said,
bringing our
sacrifice of
praise.
We had a
workshop yesterday
about singing
and we talked
about the
sacrifice of
praise.
You might not
always feel
like praising
God, but
when we
remember Jesus,
we have
nothing but
gratitude for
the salvation
that he's won
for us.
I think of
Paul and
Silas, you
know, when
they were
beaten up,
unarmed,
unjustly and
thrown into
jail and
singing hymns
at midnight.
I wouldn't be
singing hymns at
midnight if I
was Paul and
Silas and
being whipped
and beaten.
I'd be curled
up in a ball
feeling sorry
for myself.
But they
knew so much
the grace of
God that they
could sing and
bear witness and
speak words of
peace to their
enemies and
calm when there
was trouble and
earthquakes.
I pray that
we'd be like
that no matter
what our
circumstances.
We'd still be
praising God.
I pray that
we'd be people
of gratitude,
strength and
courage, led
by God on
his level
pathways wherever
life's journeys
take us,
seeking his
face in the
window of the
father's world,
his tender love
being greater
than that of
any human
parent.
second Peter
312 says we
are waiting for
and hastening
his coming and
we can do that
as we rest in
Jesus and put
our trust in
him.
And when he
comes, earth
and heaven will
be one as the
hymn says.
God will
finally put
things right.
Jesus who
died will be
satisfied and
the last enemy
will be defeated.
In him we
have life and
salvation and
so we seek his
face in all our
days.
Amen.