Chapter 8 retells an incredible day, the day of the dedication of the
What a day, week, 2-weeks, it must have been!
More than the pageantry and the prayers, it was the final sentence that captured the attention of my heart and mind as I read this account. Verse 66 They blessed the king and then went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the good things the LORD had done for … his people
The lasting memory, the lasting thought of all the people was of the Lord God. Joy and gladness filled them as they marveled at all the Lord had done for
It struck me that this was worship… people fully engaged in the wonders of the Lord. Their last thoughts were not of what they offered or of the terrific work of the Levites and Priests (consider all the work they had to do to sacrifice all those animals). Oh, they blessed the King for arranging the worship but their thoughts and meditations were on the Lord. Not any people or performances or this or that, no, they were joyful and glad in heart for all the good things the LORD had done.
And it wasn’t even that God manifested His presence in miracles and signs and wonders… aside from filling the holy of holies. It was that the manifest presence of God touched them with reminders of His faithfulness throughout the generations. God had done what God had promised (!) and that filled their worship and brought forth joy and gladness in their hearts.
It occurred to me that as the people of God, we, at least in principle, should find this same joy and gladness of heart each week when we gather for worship remembering what Jesus Christ- the Lord of lords and King of kings- did for us and all humanity in His death and resurrection!
May our worship be so God-focused that the work of any person be forgotten as the glories of the Lord are remembered, rehearsed, and relived worship after worship, until we meet our Lord in glory face to face.
O, God, my only prayer is … may it be so Lord, may it be so…!
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