Psalm 48
GREAT is the LORD, and highly to be praised in the city of our God, even upon his holy hill. ….
The hill of Sion is a fair place, and the joy of the whole earth ….
We wait for thy loving-kindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple. …
Let the mount Sion rejoice, and the daughters of Judah be glad, because of thy judgments.
Walk about Sion, and go round about her; and tell the towers thereof.
Mark well her bulwarks, consider her palaces, that ye may tell them that come after.
For this God is our God for ever and ever: he shall be our guide unto death.
Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised … the hill of Sion is a fair place and the joy of the whole earth. … In Hebrews 12 we read of the Church, especially in worship: 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant. ... In worship we come to Zion, the joy of the whole earth.
The heavenly Mt. Zion… the joy of the whole earth. That joy is experienced - for me at least - every Sunday on that small part of the earth known as St John’s in Chelsea, Alabama. The joy of God’s presence, the joy of worship, the joy of forgiveness, the joy of our union and communion with Jesus Christ, the joy of our salvation, the joy of God’s lovingkindness, the joy of our assembling together … it is a joy quite remarkable. In a time of trial and testing we have entered into joy of the Lord.
None of us saw these trials coming or knew precisely the right course to take. It was, however, a summons to faithfulness. For the Church it is a time of unveiling, of those trials which reveal who we really are and what life is really in us. We are to be a prophetic people who do not merely react to the season of testing we are in, but live as those already experiencing the season of restoration that is at work in the faithful through Jesus Christ our Lord. Faithfulness and resilient joy in the saving power of the Gospel is our testimony in the midst of trial. St John’s has responded with faithfulness, courage and grace. I rejoice in the Lord that He has planted us in a tradition strong enough to be a bulwark in times of trial. Mark well Ziion’s bulwarks, set your affections on them … God’s saving presence to us in Jesus Christ our Lord; God’s innumerable promises to us; God’s watchful providence over us; God’s covenant with us … for this God is our God for ever and ever.
Our worship in Zion engages us as human beings, in both body and soul. Our spiritual formation takes place in worship in what say and do, through our inward disposition and through our outward demeanor. In heavenly worship God awakens in us the truth of our life and the joy of our salvation, so that we learn them “by heart,” that is, with one's whole being: with the body in what we say and do, with the memory which fixes and holds these truths, with our understanding which more and more fully comprehends them, with our will which puts these truths into practice. Heavenly worship is entirely oriented toward the fullness life and joy in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Indeed, GREAT is the LORD, and highly to be praised in the city of our God, even upon his holy hill. …. The hill of Sion is a fair place, and the joy of the whole earth!
JSH+