The Long Walk Home

The god we sometimes think about is a small god. A god who can’t do much and who is generally confined to our imagination. The God of this Psalm is entirely the opposite of that. This Psalm calls us to stop and let God out of the box. To stop and wonder.

Words that are unfamiliar rush out at us: reigns, enthroned, exalted, holy. Words that seem dusty and belonging more to royalty than to any direct experience we have.  That might be the point. We are faced with the unfamiliar. Before we come to know the personal intimate touch of our God we are called to sense his unfamiliarity.  To know that he is altogether not like us.

He reigns. He is enthroned. He is exalted. He is holy.

Majestic words. Like the crowning glory of sunshine streaming through clouds over stormy seas. Like the highest mountain bursting out of clouds. Like the roaring blaze of a forest fire. These are things we can only stand in awe of. Things that are bigger than us. Much much bigger than us. These are words that call us to see that there is more to this God than meets our eye. He is not to be contained.

The response to his majesty, to his reign is awe. Trembling. Shaking. And praise.

Exalt him. Worship him. Know he is holy. Stop and look. This is a God who stops us in our tracks, who blows away the self absorbed world we inhabit. This is a God who steps in with his otherness, his holiness, his reign. We must stop and gaze. He is great, exalted and magnificent. We are small, on our knees and trembling at his footstool.

Stop. Roll the words around on your tongue. Walk away from the computer screen and sit. Feel the weight of another, not like you, in charge. Feel the smallness. Feel the majesty of God.

This is the God who is over the nations, who is great and awesome, who established justice in this world. He is still over the nations today. The call is still to praise his name today.

There is more. This God who is so majestic, so other, so awesome can be spoken to, is involved in our lives.

This is the God who came close to us. The Psalmist reminds us that this is the God who spoke to Moses, Aaron and Samuel, who answered their calls. This is the God who is a forgiving God, who doesn’t give up on his people. We are not left in terror, we are take from our trembling to see more and more of the wonder of God stepping into our lives. Caring about you and me, forgiving our sins, washing us clean.

The response is not carelessness, is not to take this for granted, is not to walk away. The response is clear. More awe, more worship, more praise of him.

Exalt the Lord our God. Worship him. For he is holy. Praise him, thank him, honour him, fall on your knees before him because he is God.

To ponder:

Is the god you worship the God who makes the nations tremble?

Is your god too safe? Are you willing to be small before the majesty of our God?

What does it really look like to exalt God?

Actions: Go and find somewhere bigger than you. A massive building, a seashore, a huge mass of people. Sit and ponder the God who is infinitely larger and more wonderful.

See the full set of pictures and reflect on Jason’s cartoon .

The Psalms are our songbook on the way home. They are probably the most familiar section in our Bible, known for providing help in times of trouble and are generally seen as a comforting place to go.  The trouble is, only some of the Psalms provide such comfort. Yes, they contain amazing promises of God’s help in times of trouble but look a bit closer and they contain some hard songs to sing. Songs that challenge our view of the world.

I found that out whilst thinking about what to write for this website. To be honest, I wanted a ‘thought for the day’ style reflection on the Psalms, a kind of spiritual cup of tea on a cold wet day. A warm duvet moment. The Psalms certainly do provide elements of that comfort but they also shake us up a bit. They are about God, and how to live in his world when everyone else around you seems to think you are crazy, wants to kill you or scoff at you.  Not much has changed. Here in England we live in a world where many people think you are slightly unhinged if you believe in such a God, a God who is God of everyone and who is everywhere. The Psalms help us wrestle with this reality and call us believe in the face of such circumstances.

I’m going to randomly pick Psalms to look at here. I’m going to start from Psalm 99 and look at 10 in a row from there. I’d love to just pick the ‘nice’ ones. I’d love to ignore the bits about wiping the godless from the face of the earth, but I can’t. They are in our songbook and they are relevant to the journey home.

The depth and breadth of human life and experience that the Psalms display is massive. Here there are songs of hope, joy, pain despair and all the rest of the emotions we go through as people who live in this world trying to work out what God is up to and what He is like.

Hopefully these reflections will cause us to stop and think. To help us look around and cling to hope and reality. To learn from people who have walked this way before us and be encouraged by their struggles, cries, groans, joys and delights.  To be encouraged to meet with the God the Psalms display at every turn and be helped to cry out to Him.