“Lift up your heads, O gates...that the king of glory may come in” (Psalm 24 verse 7 NRSV)
Dear Friends,
The instruction to “Lift up your heads” automatically gives the impression that the Psalmist is speaking to a people who are walking around with their chins on their chests; a people who are downtrodden, depressed and dismayed at what is happening in the world around them. Psalm 24 is written at a time when the people need some stirring news to encourage them in their journey of faith with God – and what a stirring event is now happening in their midst!
The setting for this Psalm is likely to be David’s bringing of the Ark of the Covenant (see 2 Samuel 6 and 1Chronicles 15 and 16) back to Jerusalem. The Ark of the Covenant was a gold plated chest which contained the stone tablets of the law, and signified the presence of God among his people.
Today, I believe one of the things God is saying to his people is “Lift up your heads” and take a good look around you. Look around at the circumstances and the needs of the people among whom you live, and I suspect like David we will see many people who are walking through life with their chins on their chest; people burdened by unemployment, family breakdown, homelessness, abuse and a whole catalogue of other difficulties.
So at the same time as we “lift up our heads” and see the needs around us, God also says “lift up your heads” and see what I am doing across the circuits of Withernsea and East Hull. “Lift up your heads” beyond the boundary of denominations and see what God is doing in the churches of our neighbourhoods and be encouraged because God’s presence is still to be found among His people. The King of Glory still wants to enter the lives of many people and by His Spirit he is touching and speaking into people’s circumstances even as I type.
Someone once said that as Christians we have a tendency to pray,” Lord bless what we are doing.” The truth is that God is already at work in the church and the world around us and what we ought to pray is “Lord, help us to do what you are blessing!”
If we are not careful, we in the churches can get bogged down into a “woe is me” mindset as we become aware not only of the needs of others, but of the needs within our congregations. At those times, we need to “Lift up our heads” and call upon the living God to fill us anew with his Spirit of hope.
You know two very small words can make a big difference on the way we view things and those two words are ... “but God.” In Ephesians 2 Saint Paul tells us,
The instruction to “Lift up your heads” automatically gives the impression that the Psalmist is speaking to a people who are walking around with their chins on their chests; a people who are downtrodden, depressed and dismayed at what is happening in the world around them. Psalm 24 is written at a time when the people need some stirring news to encourage them in their journey of faith with God – and what a stirring event is now happening in their midst!
The setting for this Psalm is likely to be David’s bringing of the Ark of the Covenant (see 2 Samuel 6 and 1Chronicles 15 and 16) back to Jerusalem. The Ark of the Covenant was a gold plated chest which contained the stone tablets of the law, and signified the presence of God among his people.
Today, I believe one of the things God is saying to his people is “Lift up your heads” and take a good look around you. Look around at the circumstances and the needs of the people among whom you live, and I suspect like David we will see many people who are walking through life with their chins on their chest; people burdened by unemployment, family breakdown, homelessness, abuse and a whole catalogue of other difficulties.
So at the same time as we “lift up our heads” and see the needs around us, God also says “lift up your heads” and see what I am doing across the circuits of Withernsea and East Hull. “Lift up your heads” beyond the boundary of denominations and see what God is doing in the churches of our neighbourhoods and be encouraged because God’s presence is still to be found among His people. The King of Glory still wants to enter the lives of many people and by His Spirit he is touching and speaking into people’s circumstances even as I type.
Someone once said that as Christians we have a tendency to pray,” Lord bless what we are doing.” The truth is that God is already at work in the church and the world around us and what we ought to pray is “Lord, help us to do what you are blessing!”
If we are not careful, we in the churches can get bogged down into a “woe is me” mindset as we become aware not only of the needs of others, but of the needs within our congregations. At those times, we need to “Lift up our heads” and call upon the living God to fill us anew with his Spirit of hope.
You know two very small words can make a big difference on the way we view things and those two words are ... “but God.” In Ephesians 2 Saint Paul tells us,
We were dead in sin BUT GOD made us alive in Christ
We were captive to Satan BUT GOD set us free through Christ
We were children of wrath BUT GOD will spend eternity showing us the immeasurable riches of his kindness in Christ.
This is the God we call upon and who we trust. This is the stirring news we have to share with the communities around us. These are the words of grace that our friends, neighbours and loved ones need to hear, that they too might lift up their heads, hearts and voices as they invite the King of Glory into their lives.
May the power of the Holy Spirit move within each one of us
May the power of the Holy Spirit move within each one of us
Rev. Peter Barnett