As you begin time in the Word today , ask the Lord to prepare your heart and His Spirit to be your guide as you read the 3rd stanza of Psalm 119, verses 17-24. You are a stranger in the earth. You are a sojourner, as the psalmist reminds us in verse 19. If these definitions define us as believers, what defines Christ’s journey on earth? He was the supernatural God walking among us. He is the Word. He is the Alpha and Omega. We long for Jesus now that he he has moved on to heaven. The psalmist writes in verse 20, “My soul is crushed with longing after Your ordinances at all times”. He is our ordinances now. He lives within our inner being and guides us to understand and obey His ordinances.
This morning listening to a sermon series on Palm Sunday, I was reminded about the description of earth in the end times. No longer will be be sojourners. No longer will we be strangers on this earth. God promises us a “new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth passes away, and the sea will be no more.” (Revelations 21: 1) Maybe there will be no more sea, because there will be so many believers in heaven. We will need more room, so the sea will dry up to make more room for God’s people. I like this version of my imagination.
Speaking of imagination, God created our minds to experience images. We dream, we daydream, we process. How comforting it is to remember a previous joy and contemplate on that feeling. The same is true with God’s word. Take the following words from Psalm 113:3, ” From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised.” Now close your eyes, imagine the setting sun and then rising. Draw back on your memories, a sunset you recall sitting on the beach with your family near the sea. Go there in your mind and sit a moment. Recall how you felt having your loved ones so close by. Recall how you felt seeing God’s master strokes and colors fill the sky. He gives us this capacity to remember. Now say the verses above in your mind, “from the rising sun to the setting sun, I will praise your name.” You’re doing it right now, meditating on God’s word. Go even further, and put these words to song. Maverick City Music did this one for you, there’s a beautiful praise song by Maverick City Music, with these similar words.
Great is your faithfulness King Jesus. Your Words remain the same today, tomorrow, and forever.
