#139: As Before

Let my prayer be as the evening sacrifice that burns like fragrant incense, rising as my offering to you as I lift up my hands in surrendered worship! Psalms 141:2

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen a new normal in place. We look back to the days when Sunday mornings were times we looked forward to because we would be meeting with the brethren in God's holy temple. But to mitigate the spread of the virus, churches have been closed. This in itself is a pointer to what really matters.

The psalmist in today's text was in the same condition as we are in. This psalm was written by David in one of his exiles away from civilization and from the Jewish normal; hiding from Saul who so desperately sought to kill him. He could not join the congregation in the morning and evening sacrifice. He could not even afford to be making sacrifices and burnt offerings too as it may attract the attention of Saul's vigilantes.

He made a simple request to God. He wanted God to look down on him, not in isolation from the brethren. He wanted God to perceive his prayer as though he was uttering them in the midst of his brethren and in the evening sacrifice, He prayed that anytime he lifted up his hands to heaven, God should look down upon his gesture as though he were offering sacrifices in the temple.

How true is this about us. Does God have respect for our personal worship as He did for David, or are we only giants in large congregations? In the midst of the lock down due to the pandemic, have you been able to bring God's presence and make heaven on earth as before (in church services)?

Jesus said that God is looking for worshipers; irrespective of where they worship, whether in Jerusalem or on a Samaritan Mount, in church, crusade, synagogue, tabernacle, temple or your closet. What matters most to God is that you worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:21-24). This is a challenge to us. Daniel and Joseph found themselves in strange lands; they were captives for that matter, but away from the temple in Jerusalem or family altars and devotions as in the case of Joseph did not mean an end to their relationship with God. They were able to get visions from above, they were able to attract heaven even in a gentile land. It is therefore no excuse for us. Though we cannot congregate as brethren together, it should be a reason to examine ourselves and build our personal altars so that we are not severed from our source of strength, mercy and loving kindness.

Consider this lamentation that the Jews had in Babylon: 

Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept as we thought of Jerusalem. We put away our harps, hanging them on the branches of Poplar trees. For our captors demanded a song from us. Our tormentors insisted on a joyful hymn: "sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!" But how can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a pagan land? Psalms 137:1-4

Are we like these Jews? Are we only comfortable to sing the LORD's song in church? If we are going to sustain the fire, we must take our personal walk with God serious. It is the fuel that will sustain us in this pandemic while we believe God to keep us alive till the pandemic is phased out.

Thought: May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you (ALWAYS, IRRESPECTIVE OF WHERE I AM - IN CHURCH OR IN MY CLOSET), O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14