"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!"
For those of us who are older- this verse likely reminds you of the worship song written by Matt Redman by the title of "Better is One Day".
This psalm is written from the perspective of an Israelite journeying to Jerusalem to worship God at the temple. If you read the entire psalm, you cannot get past the longing and desire for the psalmist to be in God's presence. Remember at that time, the temple was THE place where God had promised to dwell among His people. The Psalmist simply says that he'd rather have a moment in the Lord's presence than an eternity anywhere else in comparison.
Have you ever been bitten with the travel bug (aka wanderlust)? When you see beautiful pictures of pristine beaches, snow-capped mountains, crystal blue lakes, isn't it easy to wish you were there? When life gets hard in any way (and if it isn't so for you now, it will be at some point in your future) isn't it easy to wish you were somewhere else? We've all seen those bumper stickers or license plate frames that show some rendition of "I'd rather be (fill in the blank)", be it fishing, skiing, traveling etc.
But not only does the Psalmist prefer the Lord's presence than anywhere else- he'd also rather render himself a menial servant in house of the Lord than to live contrary to God's ways. As a predominantly white-collared congregation, many of us at EACF are often conditioned to look ahead for our next job opportunity, the next promotion/raise. As high-achievers (whether pressured from within or externally), we're perhaps used to success and the tangible fruits thereof.
While such things are certainly not wrong in and of themselves, and can even be gracious gifts granted by God, perhaps we need to be all the more diligent to ask ourselves whether the goodness of God leads our hearts to humbly serve Him? Is God's goodness to us in and through the Gospel moving us towards a self-emptying attitude like Christ's (Philippians 2:3-10)? Will we trust the Lord to be the one who grants us favor and honor, and not run after such in our own strength according to our own desires?
Will we lay down our mistrustful suspicions that somehow choosing God's way will make us miss out on something better (aka FOMO)? "No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly." Will we take God seriously on His promises?
This idea of walking uprightly does not mean that God's favor rests on the degree of our good behavior- rather it describes the life of those who choose to live life according to God's ways. This encompasses confession and repentance, seeking to honor the Lord in and through our brokenness and rebellion; as I've encouraged us to do here and there on Sunday mornings- familiarize yourself with the Psalms, and you'll get a multifaceted picture of what life is like walking with God.
May we as EACF grow in our trust in the Lord, not just as individual members but as a body together, and find ourselves truly blessed by our gracious God in more ways we could have asked or imagined!
Grace,
Mike
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