Sunday 9 March, 2014

1 The Lord is great. He is really worthy of praise. Praise him in the city of our God, his holy mountain. 2 Mount Zion is high and beautiful. It brings joy to everyone on earth. Mount Zion is like the highest parts of Mount Zaphon. It is the city of the Great King. 3 God is there to keep it safe. He has shown himself to be like a fort to the city. 4 Many kings joined forces. They entered Israel together. 5 But when they saw Mount Zion, they were amazed. They ran away in terror. 6 Trembling took hold of them. They felt pain like a woman giving birth to a baby. 7 Lord, you destroyed them like ships of Tarshish that were torn apart by an east wind. 8 What we heard we have also seen. We have seen it in the city of the Lord who rules over all. We have seen it in the city of our God. We have heard and seen that God makes her secure forever. Selah 9 God, inside your temple we think about your faithful love. 10 God, your fame reaches from one end of the earth to the other. In the same way, people praise you from one end of the earth to the other. You use your power to do what is right. 11 Mount Zion is filled with joy. The villages of Judah are glad. That’s because you judge fairly. 12 Walk around Zion. Go all around it. Count its towers. 13 Think carefully about its outer walls. Just look at how safe it is! Then you can tell its people that God keeps them safe. 14 This God is our God for ever and ever. He will be our guide to the very end.

v14 For that is what God is like…

David gives a very pictorial description of God. The city of Jerusalem – is to be inspected, observed, counted – every detail attended to – so that it can be described to the generations to come… why… because David says: “this is what God is like.”

Pictures are such good ways to describe God – they help me “see” Him better, know Him better. They make God more tangible, when in so many ways He is intangible. He wants me to know Him better. To the people of David’s day – He was speaking their language. The temple was a place they could visit and walk around. David was inviting them to know God better through what was familiar and accessible.

God is accessible in my world. I can examine, in detail, tangible things that help me know God better. Lord help me open my eyes to the things around me that reveal who You are. I want to know you more. I want to be able to say more often – “See this – this is what God is like!”

Written by Ps. Linda Quinn