Wilderness Wanderings

"Your covenant laws are your gift to me forever. They fill my heart with joy" (Psalm 119:111).

In my last several Wilderness Wanderings, we have looked at what God might have meant when he called David, "a man after my own heart." I say, 'what God might have meant' because the Bible does not define this phrase. We are, of course, not talking about salvific things, as if we need these in order to be saved. Rather, we have been wondering what things God saw in David that delighted him.

My assumption is, that as Christians, we too, want to cause God to delight in us. So far, we have mentioned three things: obedience, humility, and integrity. Today, I want to conclude with this: David worshipped God.

When I say this, many of you will think about David and his harp, out with his sheep at night composing those psalms that still are so dear to God's people. Psalm 8, "Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth". Psalm 139, "You have searched me, Lord, and you know me". Psalm 32, "Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered." Psalm 23, "The Lord is my shepherd. I lack nothing." Psalm 51, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love…against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight…" Psalm 24, "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world and all who live in it…" And so many more.

We may also think about the joy filled worship of God's gathered church which we miss so much these days. For us, worship was hearts and hands lifted up to God in praise, bowed down in prayer and confession, listening attentively to his Word read and expounded, gifts of money given and building up the people with words of encouragement and with prayer. Much of this all taking place in our church buildings.

The church has struggled to find ways of doing this without gathering in those central locations. How do we do it virtually? It appears hollow. We have a deep sense that people need physical contact. Somehow physical presence makes it more real.

These days of COVID have afforded us opportunity to question our assumptions about worship. Can we worship God without those Sunday corporate gatherings? Well, having asked the question, you know I'm going to say yes to it. However, let me hasten to say that these weekly corporate worship services are very helpful for Christian discipleship.

But, in and of themselves, they do not make us worshippers of God. Plenty of times in the Bible, God chastises his people for engaging in the formal acts of worship but indeed, not worshipping him at all. Take some time to read through Amos 5, Isaiah 58 and Matthew 6, and you will get a fairly clear picture of what I am saying.

David was a worshipper of God not because he composed songs that became part of the Bible. Rather, he was a worshipper because he loved God and his love led him to obey God. A significant reason for corporate worship services is to fan into flame a deeper love for God and desire to obey him. It is my hope that the services we put online still help with that.

Obedience is lived out by blessing others, especially those in need. Amos and Isaiah both take a strip out of Israel because they pretended to worship God in their corporate gatherings, but all the while they are thinking about how to get ahead financially. They did not care for the least of these, as Jesus would later say.

He also said, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me…streams of living water will flow from within him@ (John 7:37,38). We cannot worship God and not go forth to bless those around us.

"So, how you doin?" That was the question I started this little series with. Now you have four things to ponder as you answer that question: obedience, humility, integrity, worship. "How you doin?"

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; If I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, If I settle on the far side of the sea, Even there your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me And the light become night around me," Even the darkness will not be dark to you; The night will shine like the day, For darkness is as light to you. (Psalm 139:7-12)

Where can I go?

Well, that's a good question these days. The answer is: not very far. With borders still pretty shut and vacation options outside the province or country still pretty limited, no one is going very far.

For some, that's just a shrug of the shoulders, problem of privilege sort of thing. But for others over these past months, it has been a much deeper and more difficult reality.

Over these past months when the "where can I go?" question had an even more strict answer, some were forced to miss the birth of a grandchild. Some were unable to travel to a funeral, or to a loved one who was dying. Some were unable even to visit with their hospitalized spouse. We have been wounded by the restrictions of movement we experienced in these past months.

Of course there are some who have faced these things before: many who first immigrated here to Canada did, as when a boat ride to North America meant no return ticket. Many new immigrants to Canada still do experience that reality. The reality of being unable to be present for the most significant moments of life and of death in their families and among their friends. Mostly that reason was because of the cost. Now that reason is also because the means of transportation and the openness of borders are simply not as readily available. What can you do? Where can you go?

And again, some of that hits closer to home. Some of us have children who have immigrated to foreign countries. We lived up until a few months ago as global citizens, freely able to move about the world as if borders didn't exist anymore. But now the map has frozen. Children are cut off from parents, siblings are cut off from one another, grandparents are cut off from grand children.

Sure we can video call, and that's great. But it's just not quite the same thing as sitting down for dinner together, or leaning in for a tight embrace. Our lives diverge.

And even on the more everyday, local level—we simply aren't going as many places or seeing as many people. Friendships have been harder to keep up. Family relationships too. It's not just borders that have been closed, but a lot of the doors to common meeting places and homes have been too.

All that to say, this remains a profoundly lonely and isolating time for many of us. And many of us carry the wounds of some of the harsher separations of the past months too. For some of us, that sense of separation even extends into the future.

It is for just those of us who have had the question of "where can I go" answered with a door slammed shut by this pandemic that the words of Psalm 139 speak anew.

It is spoken to the individual—to me: I am addressed. But it is spoken as a Psalm of the community—every one of us can truly speak these words as our first person prayer.

Our parents who remain settled on the far side of the sea. Our children who have risen on the jet's wings to the heavens, flying off into the dawn. Even the separations we ourselves have faced and continue to face that may feel like the shroud of darkness creeping down around us, isolating us further and further from the world. Even for us: Psalm 139's words are ours.

No matter where we or our loved ones go, even if we can go nowhere at all but deeper into the darkness—even there God's hand will guide us. Because no matter where we are—He is there. No matter where our loved ones are—He is there. Even the darkness is not dark to Him; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to our God.

So, where can I go? Nowhere that God is not already present, nowhere that God cannot find me, meet me, scoop me up and save me. No matter what: in body and soul, in life and in death, we belong to Him.

I will praise you with an honest heart as I learn about how fair your decisions are (Psalm 119:7).

What did David do after he was anointed king of Israel? He went back to his sheep. This shepherding was in his bones, as they say, he remained one all his life. As a different psalmist once sang, "[God] chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens; from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance. And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them" (Psalm 78:70-72).

In this devotion, I suggest that integrity is a third quality David had. This is part of a short series exploring what it might mean that David was a man after God's own heart. In the middle of the summer, it offers us an opportunity to allow the Spirit to examine our hearts. We might ask ourselves this question, "Are our hearts turned towards God?" or to use New Testament language, "Are we looking towards Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith?" (Hebrews 12:2).

The online dictionaries define integrity as "the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles" or "the state of being whole and undivided". This appears to fit with what we have been saying about David and would certainly define the word in Psalm 78. Its often been said that someone with integrity acts the same way in private as they do in public.

King Saul did not have integrity in any understanding of the word. When he sinned, he asked Samuel to forgive him and return with him, so that the people would not know that that he been disobedient. When Samuel refuses, Saul gets even bolder and says, 'yes, look, I sinned, I confess, so now honour me before the elders and before Israel' (1 Sam. 15:24-30). David, on the other hand, was willing to confess his sin and take responsibility for it.

Let's go a little deeper. There is the matter of kingship in Israel. God was Israel's king. So, when Israel asked Samuel to anoint a human king over them, he is unwilling. God intervenes, giving permission for a king and recognizing that Israel was rejecting Him as their king (1 Samuel 8:7).

God had already anticipated that Israel would do this, and so, through Moses God had given this instruction to a future king, "When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left" (Deuteronomy 17:18-20).

There is no record of David ever doing this, however, his many psalms convey a man who loved God's law. Furthermore, the concern in a human king was that such kings would replace God as Israel's true king. When David was established as king of Israel, his first official act was to bring the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6). He established the worship of God as the central feature of his kingship, clearly telling Israel that her true king was God.

So, we might say, that a person of integrity is someone whose heart is aimed towards God in obedience and worship. But how do we get to such a place? I think Jesus leads us there in his conversation with that woman at the well in Samaria, "God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth" (John 4:24).

Jesus is making two points here. We have direct access to God through His Spirit and our own spirit. We don't need a physical place or objects or people through whom we access God. Further, Jesus is the truth. However, we tend to hide the truth about ourselves from him. Like Saul, we want to make ourselves look better than we are.

In our worship traditions in the Reformed churches, there is often time in the service given to confession. This is good. But I have found that many are distracted by all the other people around them. Even though no one is asking us to say anything publicly, it is still difficult to be honest in a crowd. It may be even more difficult if we are worshipping with family. Further, it often takes longer than the minute given in the service, for us to hear the Spirit pointing out our sin. Confession needs more time in our lives, than the few minutes given to it on Sundays.

Christian integrity is honesty before God about ourselves; to let God see the truth of who we are. Than he forgives and we can receive his grace. How has confession gone in your life during this COVID season? Have you made time for it? Remember, God already knows more about you than you do yourself. Trying to hide ourselves from him is a futile exercise. Let him see our sins. Let him extend his grace to us.

You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise;You perceive my thoughts from afar.You discern my going out and my lying down;You are familiar with all my ways. (Psalm 139:1-3)

In these days of drifting through the summer of COVID-19, we may find ourselves a bit lost and lonely. Knocked out of the rhythms that ground us, out of the relationships that enliven us, and forced to take ways unfamiliar to us.

For some, it has raised our anxiety. Heightened our loneliness and sadness. Stirred up our fears.

Partly, that is because we have lost places of community where we are known. Gathering with other people for school stopped abruptly. Gathering with people for work disappeared initially and has changed now in many places even where work goes on. Gathering weekly for worship with our church family disappeared too. And all our weekly activities of groceries and appointments are a bit more cold and distant now too as our faces and expressions become hidden behind mandatory masks.

In these days: it is harder to know others, and it is harder to be known by them. We don't have as many places to meet, and when we do meet them much of what aids the art of knowing is hidden and restricted. No hugs. No hand shakes. No close proximity. No smiles visible to communicate warmth or joy. It's hard soil for growing relationships of knowing and being known in.

And yet, God continues to chime in: "I still know you!" "Even though your ways are new and unfamiliar, I still know them!" "Even though your rhythms have changed, I have not changed—you still belong in body and soul, in life and in death, to me."

So much of our world has changed and grown colder as we are removed from our rhythms and relationships and things so simple as exchanging a smile on the way. Our world is masked, digitally mediated, and to many of us, unfamiliar.

But God still searches us out, no matter where we are. No matter how lost or alone we feel. No matter the anxieties we face. You may feel increasingly unknown in a world without community, but the Lord knows you. You ways may feel scattered and unfamiliar these days, but these wilderness ways you wander are known and familiar to God.

He remains the God who is familiar with all your ways. The God who knows you, who loves you, you meets you on the journey, and who continues to remind you, even though devotionals like these, that you belong to Him.

I trust in you with all my heart. Don't let me wander away from your commands (Psalm 119:10).

We are taking time in the middle of this summer to do some personal inventory; not counting our possessions, but exploring how our hearts are doing. Our launching point is God's first description of David, 'a man after my own heart.' We are wondering what that might mean and how our hearts might align with God's own heart. Last time we looked at David's desire to be obedient to God's law.

Many of us find Psalm 119 rather boring. It does repeat the same themes over and over. But I think we miss the point. We are not meant to learn content as much as catch the enchantment the composer has with the Word of God. It's a carefully crafted poem which oozes with delight in how God has created and ordered the world. There is nothing better for the psalmist than to follow this God. Here is an invitation to catch the joy of obedience.

If obedience is one aspect of a person after God's own heart, close on its heels is humility. The delight of the psalmist can only come from a place of willing submission to God. Such meekness is not directed primarily towards people, but is an attitude with which we approach God. In our reflections on obedience it was mentioned that David waited for God to put him on the throne of Israel. He would not claim it by force or as his right.

This was an act of humility towards God. Today, let's mention three other occasions where this kind of humility is highlighted. In 1 Samuel 25 David is slighted by Nabal and sets out to get vengeance. On the way, he is intercepted by Nabal's wife who begs her husband's pardon. David recognizes that God has sent her to keep him from doing wrong and he let's go of his desire for vengeance.

Then there is the sordid tale of David sleeping with Uriah's wife and having Uriah killed to cover it up. In 2 Samuel 12 the Lord sends Nathan to confront David regarding this sin. David's response? "I have sinned against the Lord" (13). Again, humility towards God. In the third story, David counts his fighting men. This displeases God, who forces him to choose which punishment Israel will endure. When David makes his choice he says, "I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great…" (2 Samuel 24:14).

In each case of disobedience, David responded with an admission of guilt and a turning back to the Lord. This is something that Saul was not able to do. When he was disobedient, he qualified his confession with an excuse, "I was afraid of the people" (1 Sam 15:24-25). Humility before the Lord acknowledges our disobedience and then turns back towards obedience.

Of course, Jesus, David's greater son, also offers us a portrait in humility. If our history is correct than one of the very first Christian songs is about Christ's humility. You will find it quoted in Philippians 2:6-11. In this song, we sing that Jesus' entire life on earth, from conception to the cross, was an act of humility.

The writer of Hebrews gives this commentary on Jesus' humility, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need" (4:15-16). Followed by, "Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him" (5:8-9).

What David already experienced, the New Testament writers say clearly, "disobedience never has to be the last word." With God there is mercy, forgiveness. We do not need to approach God with fear in our disobedience, but rather, "We enter boldly because of the blood of Jesus" (Hebrews 10:19). Because of his humility, we do not have to live in the identity of disobedience, but as the children of God himself. The song that says we are daughters and sons of the King is right on the mark.

If you have wandered far from God in this COVID wilderness, turn back. Humble yourselves before him. God's mercy is great. He loves you, and wants nothing more than your face to be turned towards him.

A special, extended Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings! The text is Acts 15:1-21 from the New International Version of the Bible.

To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it here on YouTube. Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: immanuelministries.ca

In the future, when your son asks you, "What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the LORD our God has commanded you?" tell him: "We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Before our eyes the LORD sent signs and wonders—great and terrible—on Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land he promised on oath to our ancestors. The LORD commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the LORD our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. And if we are careful to obey all this law before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness." Deuteronomy 6:20-25

Scattered from the community of the church in these days, it's more important than ever to stay faithful in the everyday of our lives. It's also a lot harder.

Without a worship gathering with the community at church, we've lost a good chunk of what gave rhythm to our week. Every rhythm starts with a down beat to kick off a new measure. The down beat of our weekly rhythm was Sunday worship—the first thing that happened to mark the arrival of the first day of a new week. Sunday worship together was the down beat that marked off God's weekly rhythm of grace, a reminder that God had faithfully seen us through the past week and had given us another week ahead.

But now we're scattered from the communal gathering of worship. The down beat has been lost, or if not lost—it's certainly gotten a lot harder to hear. Our weeks and our days flow into one another, out of sync and out of rhythm.

So it's more important than ever to keep the beat at home. To stay faithful to the rhythms of grace in our daily lives. But, as I said, without the big down beat of communal worship on Sundays to set the rhythm of the week, it's also a lot harder to find that daily groove at home.

Moses spoke these words in Deuteronomy to a people who likewise were about to be scattered from the communal drum beat of worship. They too would find it difficult to keep time in the rhythms of grace on their own. But, as we discussed in this past Wednesday's devotion, Moses told them how important it was to keep it alive at home. How important it was to talk about the ways of the Lord when you're sitting around and when you're on the go, when you go out and when you come in, as the first thing in the morning and the last thing at night.

Great idea in theory. Much like being told to just pray more or read your Bible. Sure, that'll work, but how do I do it? If I'm supposed to be carrying the rhythms of faith in my daily life, what does it look like?

Well, the Israelites must have asked Moses that question too, because he shows them what it might look like, giving just a little example. And as it turns out home rhythms look a lot more informal than Sunday worship. They look a lot more like a story. When your kids are having trouble understanding why you're watching a Sunday service online, or taking time out for prayer at the table, or asking them to apologize to or forgive their sibling: then tell a story!

If you're having trouble remembering why you're keeping these rhythms of worship or devotion or what they really mean anyway: then tell a story!

If a neighbour who sees you watching worship on your tablet in your backyard asks you what on earth you're doing: then tell a story!

We tend to beat ourselves up for not doing enough when it comes to our faith rhythms. Which means we that we either go through life as sourpusses or that we give up altogether because it's just too big a burden.

But then that's not a rhythm of grace.

The grace of the rhythm is that the rhythm is already grooving. The beat dropped at the dawn of creation and the trees of the field still clap along. God drummed His forgiveness and grace into the fabric of creation and our lives through Jesus and the Spirit long before most of us even knew how to talk. It's nothing you don't already have: the same old, old story of Jesus and His love.

So if you're having trouble finding the beat at home, start with the story. The story you already know. There's all sorts of places to start…

-God created the heavens and the earth… -God parted the sea and saved the Israelites from slavery … -David sure messed up a lot, but he was still a man after God's own heart… -Jesus came to show me that God was quite literally dying to love me…

My heart is filled with longing for your laws at all times (Psalm 119:20).

I remember a group exercise, probably some ice breaker, in which we were asked what we would like written on our tombstone. I have no idea why someone thought that would be a good icebreaker. Probably, to get into a conversation about legacy. It didn't seem a very helpful question to me at the time, and I still don't think so. A much more interesting question to ask is "What do people say about me right now?" but not as an icebreaker.

On Tuesday, I began a short series on David, the shepherd boy turned king. When the Bible introduces him, he is not introduced by name, but by what God says about him, 'a man after my own heart' (NIV) 'or a man who is dear to my heart' (NIRV).

That's high honour. But, as I said, no one defines what that means. So, for the next four Wilderness Wanderings, I want to reflect on what this might mean. This is a series about 'How are you doin?' How are our hearts doing? Are we able to sing, "It is well with my soul!"? How are we managing this time of COVID as it drags on? Dr. Tam, Canada's Chief Public Health Officer, has been mentioning that social distancing and mask wearing could go on for several years. It seems to me that our hearts need to be in good order, if we are to run this marathon.

Let's begin with what seems like the most obvious: obedience. As that famous phrase from Psalm 119 puts it, "I have hidden your word in my heart". In 2 Chronicles 16:9, we find this, "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him." When David sings the glory of God displayed in both the creation and in God's law, he ends with this prayer, "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight" (Psalm 19). That great psalm about God's powerful and tender presence concludes with a prayer that God remove wrong from David's heart (Psalm 139).

We see David=s obedience clearly in the years before he becomes king. He does not grab the throne. God says, "You will be the next king." But David recognizes that God needs to remove the current king before he can take the throne. So even though Saul has been rejected because he disobeyed God, David continues to honour him as king.

David's obedience foreshadows a central characteristic of Jesus himself. He claimed to have come to do the Father's will (John 6:38). When on the cross he called out, "it is finished", he was declaring that he had been obedient to the end.

The pertinent question for us is, "How do we grow in obedience?" How do we become fully committed to God? Is it even possible to hum with the psalmist, "My heart is filled with longing for your laws at all times" (Psalm 119:20)?

When we try to get started on this path, we tend to try really hard. We look to ourselves to get there. I don't think that is what David did. In Psalm 19, David spends the bulk of the Psalm looking at what God has made and said. It is only when he has composed his praise, does he ask for a pure heart. We don't get a longing for obedience by looking to ourselves. When we see God and who he is, will our heart's get stirred.

So, where has your gaze been lingering these past four months? Is it time to look up again? As the writer of Hebrews once wrote, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus…" (12:2)

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).

I mentioned this before, but I've been struck lately by the absence of congregational worship from the life of the Old Testament. I mean, daily, weekly, and annual rhythms of sacrifice and prayer were always going on at the National gathering place of tabernacle and later the temple. And the weekly rhythms of Sabbath were ongoing in homes across the land. But there's no steady intermediate place. No church or synagogue where a community that was larger than one's household, but smaller than the whole tribe or nation would gather for a weekly service.

Much more emphasis was placed on the two anchor points at the extreme: on the one end—the central worship at tabernacle and temple where the rituals of confession, sacrifice, forgiveness, and praise were rehearsed, and on the other end—the decentralized worship that happened week to week in homes when the Sabbath was observed.

Here in Deuteronomy 6, the people are finally at the doorstep of the promised land. Their wilderness wanderings have come to an end.

For 40 years, they have been shaped by centralized worship. The tabernacle was pitched right in the center of the camp. Anyone could look down the row of tents to see it. Always—daily—the rituals were being rehearsed and repeated there again, and again in the sight of the people. Always—daily—the conversation with God was being kept as He and Moses spoke face to face in the tent of meeting. Always—daily—the people were on pilgrimage with their God and their God with them. The ordinary stuff of everyday life was entirely and visibly intertwined with the sacred realities of God among them.

But, they were about to be scattered.

Here on the plains of Moab, overlooking the promised land, Moses began to remind the people of what they would need most when they became scattered across that land. They would no longer be one big camp together in one place surrounding their central place of worship at the tabernacle—they would be scattered to their own homes, days away from each other. They might not see a priest or the tabernacle for months.

So, how would they stay faithful as God's people when scattered?

Moses gives some ideas right here: It's about staying faithful in the everyday ordinary stuff of life. To love God. To keep God and His ways not just on your lips, but in your heart. But also to keep God on your lips: telling of His stories and commands when you're sitting around, when you're on the go, when you're parenting, when you're going out, when you're coming in, when you turn in for the night, and when you get up the next morning. Make a note on your hand to remember if you have to.

The life of faith has to be lived where you are every day of your life. Especially when we're scattered.

Pastor Michael and I pray that these devotions have helped to make your faith walk an everyday part of your life. Keeping rhythms of faithfulness is hard to do when we're scattered from centralized worship and one day blurs into another. So, it's good to keep praying for and speaking with one another on ways that we can encourage each other to keep the faith where we are, each day of our lives.

"I have looked to you with all my heart" (Psalm 119:58).

"So, how you doin'?" That's a question you'll hear asked around this place. It's become an invitation to slow down and take stock. It doesn't allow for a generic, 'I'm fine' kind of answer'. Rather, the question is an invitation to reflect on the heart. How are things deep down in your soul?

Now, for those of you who don't know, the here, I'm referring to is Immanuel Church in Hamilton, ON, where these devotions are scripted and recorded.

The simple question, "So, how you doin?" pre-dates COVID-19. You see, Pastor Anthony and I become co-pastors at Immanuel in the fall of 2019. Neither of us had been in such a ministry arrangement before. "So, how you doin'?" became our invitation to each other to explore how well we were living into this ministry model so that we and the church could flourish. The question was never, "we have to talk" as much as, "we haven't had a chance to talk for a while, so let's make time."

During this COVID season it has also become an invitation to explore together what ministry should look like when all normality has fled. But at its core, it remains a question about the heart. Our text puts it differently, "I have looked to you with all my heart" (verse 58). How's that going for us? And, are we helping this church to do that?

These devotions, Wilderness Wanderings, were originally designed as a means for these two co-pastors to use the Word of God to shepherd this church through the COVID shutdown. Well, several months later the shutdown continues and these devotions have grown into more. You can find them on Spotify now. In my episodes, I have invited you to journey with Abraham and to dive deep into Romans 12.

Now, I invite you come with me to the wilderness of Judea in the dying days of Samuel's ministry and find a shepherd who will become king of all Israel. His name, of course, is David. This will not be a chronological study of his life, but a random sampling of his life and poetry. The entry point will be God's description of him before we even know his name. He is described as 'a man after [God's] own heart' (NIV) or 'a man who is dear to [God's] heart' (NIRV).

That's high honour. But what does it mean? Samuel doesn't say. God doesn't say. And David doesn't say. But I think, if we consider David's life and poetry we might come up with some plausible answers. Psalm 119 will be our guide. It's not likely that David composed this psalm, but, I have always considered it to be meditation on Psalm 19, which is attributed to David. Here is the middle part of that psalm:

The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous.

And then these more famous words, immortalized in a short song:

They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb.

Some of you will know that Psalm 119 is very long, 176 stanzas long, each including a reference to God's word. What is not as well known, is that the word 'heart', also shows up regularly in this Psalm. A well-known example is, "I have hidden your word in my heart" (11). The late J.I. Packer, suggested this means that God's word is the core, the most important part, of our beings.

Our lives have changed. The world has changed. It can all be very unsettling. We may find it difficult to answer the question, "So, how you doin'?" Thus, I invite you to join me for several episodes of Wilderness Wanderings as we ask and answer that question, understanding that as Christians we do want to be people dear to God's heart. We want to be able to say with the Psalm writer "I have looked to you will all my heart" (Psalm 119:58); we want the word of God to be the core of our being.

Until next time, I invite you to consider what God meant when he said of David, "he is a person after my own heart."