Emmanuel Day 13

Emmanuel, God with us in the Place of Praise

“As for me, my feet had almost stumbled… For I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked… their strength is firm… they are not in trouble… nor are they plagued… always at ease… increase in riches… When I thought of how to understand this, it was too painful for me- Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end.”

Psalm 73

If you read the whole chapter of Psalm 73, maybe you’ll find our sweet psalmist stuck in the same place that our hearts can be stuck in sometimes as well. He was confused by what he saw in the seeming lack of cause-and-effect in the lives of those around him. He couldn’t understand why some people just seem to have it good, regardless of the way they lived, and why life can sometimes be difficult for those who try to live for God. He was stuck in the horizontal views of life, and that thinking caused him to “almost stumble” and “nearly slip.”

Have you ever found yourself in a day, season, or lifetime of that type of how-come thinking? In my experience, it never leads to a joyful mood, peaceful mind, or a contented life. Whether Psalm 73 was written with thoughts from a day or a while, the wise author finally finds his joy once more as he brings himself into the place of praise. Our peace will never be found in wrestling with the “why’s” of life. Joy and contentment are only found as we intentionally run into the place of Emmanuel, choosing to remind ourselves that God is with us. Only that sight can set us thinking with the proper perspective once more. Like the Psalmist, when the fog of horizontal thinking clears, and we see God in His sanctuary, we too can feel that we have been a bit like “a beast” before Him. When the sight of God is found by our thoughts once more, we remember that we’re headed for heaven, and truly have all we need. But friend, horizontal thoughts won’t disappear on their own, and they can torment our souls until we choose intentionally to look for the presence of God with us.

The problems come because we can sometimes identify so well with the discontented and confused thoughts of the Psalmist, right? Life does often seem to be confusing and troubling, and if we let our minds dwell only on what we see, those constant thoughts can drive us a bit mad. We know that Second Corinthians tells us that those who compare themselves are unwise and foolish, but our fleshly hearts sometimes can’t help looking around a little and thinking, “But I know them, and I know what they’re doing, so I wonder why…” or, “Why can’t I…” or, “How come they…” This pattern of thinking leaves us anxious, wondering why God seems to be with them rather than with us.

There’s this astounding scene at the end of Revelation 5. The Lamb has just been found worthy to open the scroll that John was weeping and worried about. Suddenly, in the midst of his sorrow, John hears millions of angels, Living Beings, and Elders surrounding the throne of God and singing a song of the worth, power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and blessing of Jesus. He then hears everyone in heaven and on earth join in the exclamation of God’s worthiness upon the throne.

“Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!”

Revelation 5:11-12

John, like the Psalmist went from a place of sorrow to a place of praise by being brought into the presence of our God upon the throne. This is the place we need to run to often. God is Emmanuel, God with us, and sometimes it takes a little diligence to “be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10) We’ve read the stories where Emmanuel comes sweetly to those in need, but we have to remember that He’s not simply a sweet God with us in the lowly moments, but that He is also a mighty God upon the throne of our lives and the world. Twice in Revelation 5 John writes about looking and seeing the Lamb of God. In the middle of his sorrow, he directs his gaze toward the Lamb of God rather than the worries of circumstances, and the sight of God on the throne changes his whole perspective.

Friend, is there a sanctuary that you can run into today? Looking around at what is going on, not going on, who or what you have or don’t have will never bring the peace, joy, or contentment that your heart is desperate to find. The wisest moment of our Psalmist in Psalm 73 was when he went into the sanctuary of God. Stop looking around and look for God instead. Emmanuel, the Lamb, God with us, is in your midst, on His throne.  Whether in an actual church sanctuary or in a moment of worship you create silently in your heart or out loud with your mouth, find a place to seek God on the throne today.

Maybe as you read this you’re thinking, I have tried to sit in His Presence. I have tried to look toward Him. I know the discouragement that can set in when we continue to struggle with the same worry over and over. 1st Peter tells us to cast our cares upon Him for He cares for you, and the idea in the Greek is to keep casting. Every time you feel the weariness of worry, care, confusion, and concern, cast it to God, and when you feel it again, cast it to Him once more. KEEP CASTING, knowing that if you run into the sanctuary of God every time you’re stuck in the first half of Psalm 73, the second half will come again.

We’ve heard it time and time again. Our happiness won’t be found in anything under the tree, in any earthly place, or in any earthly person. I don’t know about you, but I often accidentally wait for joy to come, thinking it won’t arrive until my circumstances change. But joy will always be found as we seek Emmanuel in the place of praise. Every year by the time Christmas is over I’m ready for a season of clean eating. Junk food takes a toll on our body and we’re often ready for a change by the time the new year comes around. In much of the same way, junk-thinking will take a toll on our minds. We can be pretty hard on ourselves and others in this season; desperately trying to create the picturesque moments that we’ve seen in books, movies, or social media. Horizontal thoughts of unmet expectations can kill our Christmas peace, love, and joy, and feeding on those junk-thoughts will only lead to sorrow. The Christmas movie you imagine yourself to be living in most likely won’t wrap up with changed circumstances and a happy ending within an hour and a half. But we don’t have to stay in the place of sorrow and disillusionment until our circumstances change. There is plenty of room around the throne. Right this very minute we can find Emmanuel, God with us in that place of praise. He is here with us, ready to help us lift our eyes.

Choose something today that will lift your perspective to the throne of God. Sing a worship song out loud. Pick someone to pray for. Memorize a verse. In the sorrow, keep singing, keep praying, keep reading His word, and keep seeking Emmanuel, God with us. Keep running into His sanctuary and keep looking toward His throne. Contentment and joy won’t be found in those people, that house, that thing, those decorations, or in any appearance. Neither will they be found in our circumstances changing. Contentment and joy are only truly found in the place of praising Emmanuel, God with us, and the good news about that truth is that He is always on the throne, ready to bless us with His presence.

Emmanuel; with us IS GOD