Preparing For Worship

 

 

Ps 121:1 <<A Song of Ascents.>> I will lift up my eyes to the hills-From whence comes my help? 2 My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade at your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. 8 The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore.

 

I love the “Songs of Ascents”  as found in Ps 120 – 134. These are the songs the people sang on their pilgrimage to the temple at Jerusalem. They are “ascents” because Jerusalem was on a higher elevation and it was a climb to get there. It wasn’t as easy to get to church in those days as it is today.

In our world of Covid restrictions, we just “lift our eyes” to our smart phones, or our computers, or our large screen TV in order to worship on Sundays, and the only thing we have to worry about tripping over are those Legos the kids left on the floor! As far as “heat of day and cold of night,” well, just adjust the thermostat!

Yes, it’s a lot easier going to church these days!

And we are all looking forward to the day when we can once again pile into our vehicles and drive to church. I wonder, what did that drive to church sound like and look like in your vehicle before we were hit with these Covid restrictions? Was there stony silence over some careless words or action spoken the morning of? Was there the sound of the bickering of children in the back seat? Was there a view of a sulking reluctant teen in your rearview mirror? Was the whole family in the vehicle, or was the spouse staying home again?

Maybe that trip to church isn’t as easy as I’m making it out to be. But these songs of ascents have a purpose. They can help us get our focus in the right place. No matter what’s going on in our lives, we can choose to join with the pilgrims in this Psalm and head to church with joy in our hearts because we know that our help is found in the God whom we will meet in a very personal way in church.

This is the God who created heaven and earth and He is on your side. He will keep you from stumbling. He is your Keeper who never dozes off! He will keep you in the heat of day and the cold of night. And check this out, three times in the last two verses we are told that this God that we are going to worship in church will preserve us. He will keep us safe in His arms no matter what’s going on around us.

It is as Jesus said in  Joh 10:28 "And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.

 Maybe it would be a good idea to read one of these Psalms before we pile into the SUV and head off to church. Nothing like a fresh perspective as we head off to church!