Desire to Bring the Church to the World

“O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.” (Ps 63:1-2 AV)

David desires to see the presence of the LORD in the outside world as he does in the sanctuary.  He desires to see the glory of the LORD as much a part of the world as it is the focal point of the tabernacle.  David wishes to see the glory and purity of the LORD no matter where he may wander.  The reason is stated in verse one.  He lives in a spiritually dry and thirsty land.  Where there is little spiritual refreshment.  The only place he can go to get his cup filled is in the sanctuary.  The very presence of God is the only place to find refreshment.  And he regrets this reality.

The first few years of my Christian walk were very fruitful and full.  These initial years set a tone that has lasted me for my entire lifetime.  Being a first-generation Christian, I had never grown up around gospel preaching and hymn singing people.  Then it happened.  Jesus Christ gave to me eternal life in March of my senior year of high school. The whole world changed.  The sun seemed brighter.  The world seemed filled with more wonder.  Over the years, the LORD would grant to me the blessing of hearing some of the best preaching a person could hear.  Our church was a large one.  Membership hovering around 1,700 at the time.  When people sang, they all sang.  There was a full orchestra and a choir of about 120 voices.  What an experience.  I remember our annual Bible conference the first full week of August.  We had church from 9am to noon, then again at 7pm until 10pm.  There were several preachers who preached each day.  I couldn’t go to it all because of work.  That was the hardest.  When work interfered, I was miserable.  People couldn’t understand why.  God was not at work like He was at church.  Work was a dry and thirsty place.

Now, entertainment and not true spiritual refreshment has replaced the presence of God.  We have come to the place where the church is no longer infiltrating the world, but the other way around.  Our churches are becoming the dry and thirsty place with the misguided practice of emotionalism over spiritualism.  Our world and our churches are a dry and thirsty place because God has been replaced.  True brokenhearted conviction and transformation is no longer the norm.  Shallow words and platitudes designed to make us feel like the center of church life is.  The Psalmist deeply desires the presence of God in a dry and thirsty world as His is in a spiritually refreshing and glory filled sanctuary.  Oh, come LORD Jesus!