‘O Lord Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in You…’ (Psalm 84:12)
Read Psalm 84
For the people in Old Testament times the Temple was the most sacred and holiest place on earth for they believed it to be the dwelling place of the Lord. At the very heart of the Temple in the Holy of Holies was the Shekina, the Glory of God, the visible manifestation of the presence of God. They did of course know that ultimately neither earth nor heaven could contain God; that God didn’t dwell on earth in the way they did. Nevertheless, God had been pleased to ‘put His name’ in Jerusalem in this way and therefore the Temple would continue to be revered in the way it was.
The Psalmist begins by declaring how much being in the Temple means to him, his whole being cries out for it; to enter the courts of the Lord was for him to approach the living God Himself. Today in the circumstances we find ourselves in we may well echo the words of the second verse. We all miss not being able to enter the Lord’s House to come together for worship and pray that we will soon be able to do so once again.
In the meantime, however, perhaps we can recall the words of John 1:14, The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us…’ We may not be able to gather in the House of God today but we can still come to the Lord – anytime, anywhere – and we can still ask of Him, ‘Hear my prayer, O Lord God Almighty…’ and share with Him all that is in our hearts, knowing that by His Spirit He is with us. We can still give thanks for His strength and provision, and for His blessings, especially in these days upon those who are finding things so stressful at this time. And we can still hold in our heart that God is our shield and that He continues to bathe us in His light. All we need do is to trust in Him; trust in Him for all things and He will watch over us.
Lord, we give You thanks that we can come to You at any time day or night, wherever we are, and know that You are there. Help us to continue to put our trust in You at all times and to hand all things over to You, for we ask all these things in Jesus name…Amen.
Question Of The Day: Why did Hannah name her son Samuel?