Worship in the Temple

Worship in the Temple

When the Babylonians destroyed the temple in Jerusalem the Hebrew people were devastated. The Psalmist describes his reaction to this horrible event:

“They (the Babylonians) behaved like men wielding axes to cut through a thicket of trees. They smashed all the carved paneling with their axes and hatchets. They burned your (God’s) sanctuary to the ground; they defiled the dwelling place of your Name ... They burned every place where God was worshiped in the land.” (Psalm 74:6-8).

Israel was horrified because the temple is where God dwelled among his people. With the temple gone, would God’s presence ever be felt in the land again? This was a legitimate fear for the people. The Psalmist continued: “We are given no miraculous signs; no prophets are left, and none of us knows how long this will be.” (V.9). Apparently he wondered.

The temple was central to Israel’s relationship with God and to it’s own identity as a people. God was present in his temple. So long as the temple stood, the Israelites knew God was dwelling in their midst, and they felt free from harm. What would life be like if the temple was destroyed?

From later OT writings we know that even without a building God could still, and did, commune with his people. But from the perspective of an ancient Hebrew, the temple was central.

- A faithful Israelite wanted to live righteously so he could commune with God in the temple: “Lord, who may dwell in our sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous.” (Psalm 15:1-2)

- The heart of a faithful Israelite yearned for communion with God in this special building. “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God ... I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.” (Psalm 84:1-2; 10)

- The Israelites who lived in communion with God and worshiped him felt secure in His protective care. “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore.” (Psalms 125:1-2)

Worship in the temple provided ancient Hebrews a sense of the transcendence of God. “In the temple, instead of want they found surfeit; instead of abandonment, care; instead of pollution, purity, instead of victimization, justice, instead of threat, security; instead of vulnerability, inviolability; instead of change, fixity; and instead of temporality, eternity.” (Madigan and Levenson, Resurrection, 93-94).

After the Babylonian destruction and exile, Israel did return to the land and were allowed to rebuild the temple. God was again present.

Christians don’t have a central building, an earthly structure, where God’s presence is located. Instead, God dwells in and among his people (1 Cor. 3:16 & 6:19). God dwells in his church, in you and me. God communes in and with us.

Can we bring that same zeal the Israelites had for their building to the church? Here, in the midst of other believers, we find abundance, care, purity, justice, security and eternity. We find these blessings not because of the perfection and faithfulness of other believers. We find it because God is perfect and faithful. “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty!”

Warren Baldwin

MOVED TO WORSHIP

MOVED TO WORSHIP

Praise the LORD. Praise, O servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD. Let the name of the LORD be praised, both now and forevermore. From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised. The LORD is exalted over all the nations, his glory above the heavens. Who is like the LORD our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes, with the princes of their people. He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the LORD. Psalm 113.

Are you afraid of God? I don’t mean do you fear him. To fear God means to respect him and hold him in awe. The Bible speaks of the fear of the Lord as the beginning of wisdom and of being in relationship with him. Deuteronomy asks, "And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God will all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?" (V.12-13) This verse connects fearing the Lord with having a relationship with him.

But some people are afraid of God, much like we might be afraid of an angry grizzly bear or a murderer holding a weapon. They view God as harsh and judgmental and fear that God will vent his anger against them in cruel ways. Most of us have a sense of our own sin and wrongdoing, and we may fear that God will judge us harshly and punish us painfully because of that sin, rather than forgive us if we repent.

We are we the first people in history with such a view of God. Ancient people, such as the Sumerians of Mesopotamia, were afraid of their gods. I say gods because they had many gods, not just one. They feared that their gods were cruel and vindictive. In the ancient mythologies gods were very much like human beings in their attitudes and even sinful behavior, and if they didn’t feel like they were getting enough attention from the people they could punish them severely. They would exercise their power in cruel ways.

To appease the anger of the gods the people would worship. But, their worship was not motivated by love and gratitude for the good things the gods did; their worship was motivated by fear. They hoped to appease the anger of the gods so the gods would not vent their anger against them.

As part of their worship and appeasement the ancient Sumerians, built temples or shrines to honor and worship their gods. Then, they would build their houses around the temples. The whole town was built around the shrine. They made it as elaborate and beautiful as they could, hoping the god or goddess would like it. The hope of the people was that if the god liked it, he wouldn’t destroy the town because he wouldn’t want to destroy his beautiful temple! The bottom line is, the Sumerians did not worship their gods because the gods were good and kind, but because they were powerful and vindictive. They were afraid.

Contrast that with the beautiful sentiment of Psalm 113. Here, the Psalmist extols the wonderful virtues of the God of heaven. God is powerful enough to be enthroned in heaven, but he is also kind enough to lift the poor from their misery and seat them with princes. He is also mindful of the barren women longing for children.

The God of Psalm 113, the God Christians worship, is a good God who sees the suffering of people and is concerned for their welfare. He loves his people and is moved to help them.

We are moved to worship this God not because he is powerful and mean, but because he his powerful and kind. He provides for our needs and we respond in love and appreciation. "Who is like the LORD our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?" What a blessed people we are to have a kind God like this, one who elicits in us the desire to worship, not because we have to, but because we want to, with a heart overflowing with gratitude.

Warren Baldwin

East From West

East From West

"As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." Psalm 103:11,12.

This verse is cooling for someone sweating under the intense heat of sin, it is freeing for someone struggling under the oppressive weight of guilt, and it is refreshing, like a gust of cool air, for someone suffocating from shame and embarrassment.

How far is the east from the west? Well, that can’t be calculated. The distance is impossible to measure. Not only is the east far from the west, it runs in a different direction, meaning the two can never meet. "East is east and west is west, and never the twain shall meet."

That means that when God removes our sin, it is so far away from us it can never entangle and ensnare us again. It is gone and traveling in an opposite direction from us. Never shall we meet that sin again.

Of course, we may, and likely will, sin again. That is why we keep a penitent heart. That is why we keep crying out, "Lord, forgive me (us)." In his kindness God keeps forgiving! "He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities." (103:10). In his grace he removes our sin as far away from us as the east is from the west.

There is another angle to this verse. In the original language of the Old Testament the word for "from us" also means "from himself." (Holladay, Psalms Through 3,000 Years, p.325). So, not only does God remove our sin "from us," he also removes it from himself. Our forgiven sin is as far from God as the east is distanced from the west. Our forgiven sin is completely and irrevocably removed from God’s presence. Do you realize how powerful that reality is?

Personal shame is a constant companion to many of us. Shame is the realization that deep down inside ourselves we are much more sinful, evil and despicable than the image we cast to the world outside ourselves. Shame is what causes us to turn our head and avoid eye contact. It is what makes us cry in private rather than share our sin and pain with someone else lest they reject us. Shame is that feeling that we are dirty and will never be good enough for ourselves, others, or God. Shame is one of the most potent self-destructive secret attitudes.

There is a good reason for shame. Shame is the realization that we are sinners. It can be the motivating factor that drives us to our knees before a trusted friend to pour out our hearts. It is the driving force behind our cry for mercy before the throne of God. But once we have poured out our hearts to a brother and God, shame has served its purpose. The sin behind the shame has been sent east as we travel west. We need to send shame packing with it.

Because of shame a husband could not look his wife in the eye and beg, "I am sorry for my sin, please forgive me." He left her instead. Shame caused an abused 14 year old girl to abort her baby and begin a run of dangerous relationships for ten years. A young drug addict whose baby ate some of her drugs was driven to the brink of insanity by the shame of her irresponsibility.

I wish I could go back to all three of these people and say, "Hey, guess what! God can remove your sin. And with that, he can remove your shame. He removes it from you and he also removes it from his presence. That means God welcomes you into his presence. There is not one sin, not one bad decision, not one instance of abuse that you have suffered, that has to keep you from the loving compassion of God."

"As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from himself. That means we can lift our heads, look God in the eye, and say, "Thank you." It means we can live again.

Warren Baldwin

As The Deer

AS THE DEER
Psalm 42&43

As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs after you
You alone are my hearts desire and I long to worship you
You alone are my strength my, my shield
To you alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my hearts desire and I long to worship you.

This is one of my favorite songs. As we sing it I can close my eyes and just be lifted by the beauty of the lyrics, the flow of the melody, and the harmony of the church. If I am singing it alone I miss the harmony of the church, but the song still has the power to lift my spirit.

I think I can enjoy this song so much because I sing it from a heart that is joyful. I live in a place I choose to live. We can afford to visit other places where we have loved ones, like Tennessee, Florida, Wyoming and Montana. Other than a few annoyances here and there, my health is good. My children are all healthy and doing well in their school work, jobs and sports. Cheryl and I enjoy the evenings we have at home alone. My life is good.

So when I sing this beautiful song, As the Deer, I sing it from a heart that is basically at peace, content, and grateful. Everything isn’t quite the way I would like for it to be, but if things continued on like they are until my death, I would die a very happy and satisfied man. This song resonates from a heart at peace.

Suffering Behind the Psalm

But the man who wrote this song was not a man at peace. His life was disturbed and disrupted. He reveals in his opening statement that, "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you." (V.1). A deer, or its cousin the elk, is a stately creature. They are as fun to hunt with a camera as with a rifle. My photo albums bulge with pictures of deer or elk in fields, in mountains, in Yellowstone National Park, in people’s front yards. But when a deer is really, really thirsty, it loses some of its stately appearance. When a deer or elk is run by hunters or coyotes, and it craves water, it sweats and pants. It’s tongue hangs out and it gasps for air. It loses it’s attractiveness. But a thirsty deer isn’t trying to look attractive, it is desperate for streams of water to slake it’s thirst.

Something has run the life out of the psalmist. He has lost his composure and his stateliness. He pants for air and water to slake his spiritual thirst. He never tells us exactly what has happened, but he gives some colorful insights.

Physical Pain

"My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me." (42:10). Aching bones is a physical ailment. I’ll never forget walking into this church building one night after the pews had been moved into the hallway. I didn’t know they were there when I walked over to the light switch. The first I learned of it was when my right knee met the corner of one of the pews. As I rolled around on the floor I cried with the psalmist, "My bones suffer mortal agony!" I didn’t say, "As my foes taunt me," but I did add, "As some of the guys would be laughing if they were here to see this!"

The phrase, "My bones suffer mortal agony" can refer to physical ailment, but it can also function as a metaphor for deep-seated emotional pain or distress. Loss, abuse, failure, shame are all experiences and emotions that can cause us to feel agony so deep in our souls it feels like our bones ache and muscles throb. The Psalmist gives some indication of such emotional pain. He fears (42:33), mourns (42:9), feels forgotten and rejected by God (42:9 & 43:2) and he feels oppressed (43:2).

Longing for Home

Some explain the Psalmist’s oppression as being literal bondage in Babylon. In 587 B.C. the Babylonians invaded Palestinian. They destroyed everything of significance in the capital city of Jerusalem. The walls, houses and public buildings were destroyed. The most painful experience was to see the temple demolished, with stones and lumber littering the ground. The center of Israelite spiritual life was gone, leaving Israel without its heart.

As the survivors stood in the heart of the city they could see columns of smoke arising where once there were houses with children running and playing and mother’s baking bread. Today many of those children were lying in the streets, their mothers lying next to them. The laughter was gone. All one could hear now was the weeping of survivors. Was this the mourning of the Psalmist? Then, a bellowing voice announced, "Move!", and thousands of Israelites were marched out of the city toward captivity and slavery in a foreign land.

Perhaps it was in Babylon, hundreds of miles away, where the Psalmist wrote, "My soul is downcast with in me (42:5). He remembers the lines of people crowding the temple for worship. He says, "How I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God." (42:4). This man was not only a faithful worshiper: he led in worship. His heart burst with joy as he worshiped and fellowshipped with his brothers.

But now he is away. Instead of brothers greeting him with "Shalom," enemy soldiers of Babylon taunt him: "Where is your God?" (42:3). He cries out, "Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?" (42:10). Here, in a land spiritually dry and barren, the Psalmist longs for home.

In 1877 American soldiers defeated the Northern Cheyenne in the Dakota Territory. The government decided to move the Cheyenne to the reservation of their brothers in Fort Reno, OK. The change was devastating to the morale and health of the Indians. Instead of the dry, cool climate they were used to in the Dakotas, the Cheyenne now had to endure the heat and humidity of the southern climate. Instead of getting to hunt the deer and buffalo of back home, they had to live on the scanty rations provided by federal agents. Some Indians became so hungry they killed their own dogs and horses to feed their families.

Little Wolf, a leader of the Cheyenne, wrote,

"A great many have been sick, some have died. I have been sick a great deal of the time since I have been down here - homesick and heartsick and sick in every way. I have been thinking of my native country and the good home I had up there where I was never hungry, but when I wanted anything to eat I could go out and hunt buffalo. It makes me feel sick when I think about that, and I cannot help thinking about that." (Thomas Goodrich, Scalp Dance, p.296).

So great was the pain in Little Wolf’s heart that he and three hundred other Cheyenne men, women and children escaped the reservation, determined to go home.

That may be the longing of the Psalmists heart in this song. "I want to go home. I want to go worship. I want to be with God’s people. I pant for the worship of my God the way a deer pants for water and an Indian longs for home."

Beaten by Life

The Psalmist may have been in physical pain. He may have been subjected to captivity in a hostile, foreign land. Either of these explanations could be true. But there is one more possibility: the psalmist may simply have been beaten down by the traumas of everyday life.

How many of you enjoy reading the news today? Bailouts, Stimulus packages, market drops, job layoffs, suicides, outsourcing of jobs, projected food shortages, bank failures ... somebody stop me!! How much of this kind of depressing news can a people bear? Everyday news sources give us more reason to be sad, angry, depressed and distrustful. I read only so much of it then put my hands up and say, "Enough!" I don’t believe in hiding my head in the sand. I believe that we as Christians more than anyone should be able to face reality and say, "Oh well." Because the reality in the newspapers, even if it is true, is only a temporary reality for us. It is not ultimate. God holds the ultimate reality in his hands, and that includes us! So I read the news to be informed, but I can’t read so much of it that I allow it to form my view of what is real and permanent. Only God has the right to that much influence over our minds.

If we let it, life will beat us down and crowd out any sense of God. That happened to Nicole. Nicole grew up in Romania during the height of communist power. He parents were nurtured by the communist system, so they were atheists. Nicole had little chance to be anything but an atheist. She was married and had a teenage son when she began studying with missionary Charles Jackson. After the second session she said, "Charles, I must tell you that I don’t believe in God, but I want to." (21st CC, p.35)

Nicole spend her years in an atheistic, oppressive system looking for something of substance and value. She married and had a child. That is certainly important, but even our family can not take the place of a relationship with God. They can enhance it, but not replace it. She looked for meaning in a career, becoming a biochemist. But something was missing. Nicole didn’t know it, but she was panting for streams of water.

It doesn’t have to be something as extreme as communist oppression that leaves us feeling devoid of meaning, fearful of life, and despairing of joy. The daily trauma of rejection by friends, fear for our jobs, and discontent in our homes can leave us feeling beaten by life.

Where can we turn when any physical ailments, periods of exile or being beaten by life assail us?

Yet Will I Praise Him

The Psalmist has a thrice repeated phrase, "Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God." (42:5, 11; 43:5).

The Psalmist refuses to allow the vicissitudes of life to determine his spiritual outlook. An aching body, distance from his worshiping brothers, or a debilitating personal struggle may weaken him, even overwhelm him at times, but never defeats him. He keeps turning back to God, his source of strength.

He doesn’t wait until the pain is over or the misery is lifted. He doesn’t praise God because his struggle is lessened. He praises God even in the midst of his despair.

He is spiritually dry in a barren land. He is thirsty, ridiculed, disturbed, downcast, forgotten, mournful and oppressed. But he is first of all a believer, and he will never forget the God who ultimately delivers.

The yearning of the Psalmist’s heart pours forth in 43:1: "Vindicate me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation; rescue me from deceitful and wicked men." Notice his pleas for deliverance: vindicate me, plead my cause, rescue me. This man needs help. And he knows the one place he can turn: to God.

Near the end of the movie Old Yeller a tearful older brother, Travis, stands over the yellow dog’s grave. He is trying to make sense of the death of this precious dog that brought so much joy and help to his family. How can you explain how much love you can feel for a dog? How do you explain the friendship and comradery? How do you make sense out of a dog’s tragic death?

As Travis was mourning his friend his dad walked up behind him. "Your mom told me about Old Yeller. She told me about how strong and brave you were. I’m proud of you son."

"Dad, why did this happen?"

"I don’t know son. All I can tell you is that sometimes life picks you up and slams you down so hard it feels like your insides is busting all apart. All a man can do at a time like that is get up and get back at life." I’ve watched Old Yeller many times, and that scene melts my heart every time. I’ve stood with people over the grave of several Old Yellers. I’ve stood with family members over the graves of young husbands, young wives, and even children. I’ve listened to people pour out their pain about lost love, lost jobs, lost money, lost hope. What do you tell them?

Travis’s dad would tell them, "Get up and get back at life."

The Psalmist would tell them. "Get back to worship. We must be reminded that the grace and mercy of God is the ultimate reality. He holds the victory over every pain we experience right now. You are spiritually dehydrated. The worship of God is your refreshment."

As the deer pants for streams of water,
So my soul pants for you, O God.

Warren Baldwin
March 8, 2009

When Foundations Fall

WHEN FOUNDATIONS FALL

"In the Lord I take refuge. How then can you say to me: Flee like a bird to your mountain. For look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart. When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?" Psalm 11:1-3.

This passage challenges how we perceive the major events in our lives should flow. These major events are the foundations of life.

I expected my mother and father to stay together until death did them part. No where in my mental, emotional, spiritual or social programming did I have even a little room for them to not make it together in life. From before I was a baby until I was into my forties my mother and father were together. Their stability gave me stability, a foundation.

I expect the same tenacious spirit to prevail in my marriage to Cheryl. There is no room in my mental, emotional, spiritual or social programming for us to not make it together in life. I can’t envision one of us saying to the other, "Good-bye." As in the case of my parents, and Cheryl’s parents, it will have to be death that causes us to part.

I expect my country to be moral, upright, and to have concern for the citizens of the country. Politicians should honor their promises, lower taxes, curb spending, and promote industry at home. My kids should have as much of an opportunity to get a college education, a good job and a decent retirement as I have had.

I expect Christianity to always be the spiritual and ethical force that drives our culture. Jesus should be honored in the movies, the Nativity scene should be displayed in the town square, and the Ten Commandments should be displayed in the nations’ courthouses. Above all, the Bible should be upheld in our churches as the supreme source of our preaching and teaching.

These things I’ve named are foundations for life. The strength and stability they offer allows us to live, to gain confidence in ourselves, to make wise choices, and to live wholesome lives. These foundations are life. We expect them to follow a certain course. But do they?

As essential as these institutions are, marriages do fall apart, national leaders do work for their own selfish agendas, and communities and churches can dishonor Christ and the Bible. What do the righteous do when these foundations no longer support their faith and life?

Someone suggests to the Psalmist, the writer of the psalm, "Flee like a bird to your mountain. For look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart." The Psalmist rejects the advice to panic, run or hide. But he does admit, "There will be times in life when the foundations do fall, and the wicked intentionally seek to undermine your faith, your family and your future. What can you do?"

He says, "The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord is on his heavenly throne" (V.4). No matter how bleak the scenario in your home, community, church or nation, nothing is bigger than God. Earthly foundations may crumble but the throne in heaven never does. Our ultimate foundation, God, is still at work preserving the faithful. So, when the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do? We can live in peace and confidence, knowing that our path is secure in God’s power in our lives.

Warren Baldwin