You’ve been true to Your word. You’ve shown me Your Son and Your love and the meaning of the great divine sacrifice. It’s a meaning that shakes the very core of my being. It’s a meaning that’s as close to my life as the breath in my lungs and the blood pumping through my veins. It’s a meaning that nothing, not life or death or any power in the universe can separate me from. It’s a meaning that has the power to carry me through my life until my last, feeble breath. It’s a meaning that gives me peace and makes me whole – makes my body and my spirit and my mind move towards it, yearn for it, love it - move because of it with all the strength that I have. But You don’t need my strength. You need my humility. You need my heart. You need my eyes to watch and trust Your hand, Your work, Your weaving throughout history, throughout the universe, the plan for the redemption of men and the explosion of Your glory.
The meaning is hard to say with human words and it certainly isn’t in the tradition of the wisdom and greatness of man. The meaning is light in darkness, strength in weakness, hope in wretchedness, love in the face of hate, courage in the face of fear, faith in the face of doubt. It is the meaning of His uncovered face, loving us into the casting out of fear and the healing of our bones. It is a meaning that looks to His face to work those paradoxical moments into our hearts, our minds, our existence. He looked on our wretchedness and wept with compassion. It is a meaning that is just as weird, farfetched, mad, wild, romantic and fantastic as it is clear, wise, beautiful, logical, just and good. A god died for the shattered souls of men. The God died so that we could know Him because knowing Him was the only way we could ever live a greatness, a glory, a completion, a wholeness, a healing, a filledness, a satisfaction, a pleasure in the fullness of Another. It was the only way we could learn to love.
David’s thousand-year-old song is mine today. He is my home, my sun, my shield, my food, my joy, my strength. Because of Him I can pour out water on the dry places. Because of Him my heart and body sing for joy.
Psalm 84
How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, yes, faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living God.
Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at Your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in Your house,
Ever singing Your praise!
Blessed are those whose strength is in You,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
As they go through the Valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
They go from strength to strength;
each on appears before God in Zion.
O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
Give ear, O God of Jacob!
Behold our shield, O God;
Look on the face of Your anointed!
For a day in Your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the
house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does He withhold
From those who walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts,
blessed is the one who trusts in You!
