Lord God Almighty, yes, we want to be where You are, we want to be in Your presence. Are our souls yearning, fainting, to be in Your presence, to commune with You? We know that You desire our company. This we know because You say that,
"...where two or three are gathered together in the Name of Jesus Your Son, that You are in the midst of us" (Matthew 18:20).
You are always in the midst of us. You were already there, waiting, in fact. You wait for us to come. You desire us to come and are there to greet us when we do show up. Forgive our, NOT always yearning in equal earnestness in reciprosity. We were not punctual. We didn't take it seriously and entered Your presence somewhat irreverently. Sorry, LORD. That may not sound terribly sincere but Father, there are those who are repentant in heart. Hear them; hear us.
Now we have learned You are here already, standing in the midst of us; eagerly desiring us to gather around You. May we have that equivalant eagerness to be with You, with fervancy and as if we truly will faint if we don't "get there" at the appointed time (of course, better late than never). This yearning because our hearts and souls cry out to You, wanting to sing Your praises in worship.
Oh God, You are wonderful, even the sparrow and the swallow with her young wanted to be near You and built nests near Your Temple because You care for them. You care for us too.
Thank-You. Thank-You.
We want to be near You too, like those birds that some may think aren't worth much but are worth so much to You. To be under the shadow of Your presence, to bathe in Your love and to be with You; we come, we shelter.
You never leave nor forsake us. Thank-You. You love us and we love You back. May we love You with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. May we come to love You in all these ways because You first loved us. You gave us Your Son to buy us back, redeem us, and rescue us from the slavery of sin and unrighteousness. Rescuing from the consequences of our sin: which is suffering; which is death; which would be everlasting Hell in time to come, in the after earth life -- for all eternity!
How grateful and happy we are that You rescued us. You gave us that One Perfect Gift -- Your Son, Jesus Christ. You always give perfect gifts and Jesus is the epitome of perfection.
It is this Gift accompanied by the gift of faith so that we can learn to trust Him, so that we may know You better. Furthermore we can have the understanding and insight and therefore the proper response to Your will and ways and presence.
Speaking of which, to have the proper response that stems from a heart full of joy, gratitude and love for all You've done for us, as we join other like-minded brothers and sisters-in-Christ, coming together to be where You already are; waiting for us. And so we break and partake of the bread in remembrance of Jesus' body broken for us on the cross. We drink of the wine, symbolic of Jesus' blood shed for us; that life-giving blood sacrifice. Thus, we remember on any given Lord's Day. Thank-You for such a precious Gift.
There are times, yes, when we are on "pilgrimages through the Valley of Baca" - the ups and down's of life that can be pretty brutal betimes. Cruel. Tragic. However, there are also times when things are good; let us never forget You in those times either. Keep us on the cutting edge of living our faith in You, with our eyes fixed on You and in Your presence may we be found. Whether we are up, or down, in the Valley of Baca, or in a "place of springs", with "refreshing autumn rains," by a course of water, we can be refreshed and drink from You, our Living Water. May all of us who are thirsty, come to Jesus our Living Water, and have life through Him.
We know that You hear us, Lord God Almighty. You hear our prayers. May we remember to look upon You as our Shield and Guide; Jesus Your Anointed One, Who is Priest, Who is King, and Who is our Advocate and Savior. In Him we trust and find refreshment.
May we serve You in whatever way You have for us, even if it is like this Son of Korah of Psalm 84, even humbly as a "doorkeeper in Your house". Then we could be ever near You. It's better than in a mansion full of bickering, arguing, fighting, back stabbing, unhappiness and wickedness -- apart from You! Let us be found in Your house, gathered together with those who also wish to be in Your presence through Your Holy Spirit.
You bestow favor and honor upon those who seek Your face, who seek to be in your company. You do not withhold good things. You do not withhold them.
At times we are misguided and think in terms of material "good things" but Lord, Your rich blessings are spiritual, enduring and everlasting. Being with You is going to be for all eternity in Your Heavenly mansion with streets of gold. That eternity has already begun, now! We can be with You in the quiet stillness of our "closets" or gathered together with the two's and three's, which could be a bit "noisier". This, to walk and talk with You even in our lowly earthly abodes and church buildings.
We thank You for Your Holy Spirit Who helps us lead that blameless life the sons of Korah wrote about in this Psalm. May we follow in Jesus' footsteps by doing as He would do; following His footprints of submission to and pleasing You.
Forgive us Father, because we are not fully perfected yet. Nevertheless, we thank-You for Your Holy Spirit, for Your Words that also help us. May we be submissive to You, be obedient to You and Your words so we can have that sanctification needed. We thank-You for our justification through faith in Jesus Christ that has made us righteous in Your sight and allows us to come boldly and confidently into Your presence, to be near You anytime we want and for however long we wish.
Yet Lord, the other side of that coin is sanctification and we need all the help we can get from You, from Your Holy Spirit, from Your words and from following after Christ. The onus is on us to plug into these and You for our own good and growth in our spiritual life, I know, but may we be galvanized to do so.
May we continue to be blessed as we continue to trust in You, our everlasting Abba Father. We are delighted to be in Your presence. We love You. Help us to ever say that truthfully from our hearts. We pray this in Jesus name, and Lord, we do yearn to be in Your presence. May we dwell daily therein.
~ERC March 2021~
Based on Psalm 84:1-12 (ESV)
Sing, I Just Want to be Where You Are, with Don Moen.
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