Psalm 27: 4 One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.
Verse 4 is just a teaser. Read the whole Psalm and then the blog post and hopefully you can follow my random thoughts. Note the present tenses of the Psalm. The writer is not seeking deliverance for the here after, but for deliverance and seeing in the midst of what is happening around him now.
Father, this is what I seek, to see my life as You see it, to see my circumstances as You see them. To know Your presence and power in the midst of life. As much as I talk about the compartmentalizing of life, I know that I am guilty of doing the same, especially when it comes to the doing. I may see and at some level even believe in the integration of all things, but when it comes to doing life I revert to what I know and am comfortable with, doing things in my own strength and resources. I believe in the mysteries of life, but I am very poor at living them.
Open my eyes to the mystery, and even more show me how to live in it.
It is not a coincidence that one of the key principles in sales is that people buy with their emotions (Wonder) and justify with their logic (Understanding). It is evidence about how we are made and how we are being shaped.
Ps 115 says that we become like what we gaze at. (Worship). The power, the things that shaped who we are and are becoming have to do with worship, gazing, more than logic or understanding.
Wonder, worship is by nature an invitation to presence. Understanding is not the prerequisite or the reality; it is what comes once one is immersed. (John 14:21). Wonder paves the way to understanding, it is not the precursor to worship, it is the result.
The past two Sundays we have sung this song, and I have been gripped by the words. If what I believe to be true is true, that we are made to drawn and not pushed, then the key to relationships is wonder, not wondering. It is worship, not understanding.
Love this song by Indelible Grace;
Hast Thou Heard Him, Seen Him, Know Him
Hast thou heard Him, seen Him, known Him?
Is not thine a captured heart?
Chief among ten thousand own Him
Joyful choose the better part
[Chorus]
Captivated by His beauty
Worthy tribute haste to bring
Let His peerless worth constrain thee
Crown Him now unrivaled King
[Verse 2]
What can strip the seeming beauty
From the idols of the earth?
Not a sense of right or duty
But the sight of peerless worth
[Chorus]
Captivated by His beauty
Worthy tribute haste to bring
Let His peerless worth constrain thee
Crown Him now unrivaled King
[Verse 3]
'Tis that look that melted Peter
'Tis that face that Stephen saw
'Tis that heart that wept with Mary
Can alone from idols draw
[Chorus]
Captivated by His beauty
Worthy tribute haste to bring
Let His peerless worth constrain thee
Crown Him now unrivaled King
[Outro]
Captivated by His beauty
Worthy tribute haste to bring
Let His peerless worth constrain thee
Crown Him now unrivaled King
Crown Him now unrivaled King
Crown Him now unrivaled King
The beginning of my inquiry of God and life/reality inevitably moves from questions about why to questions about who. (Wonder before wondering.) If I begin here, dwelling in the house of the Lord, immersed in wonder, the whys begin to become irrelevant or suddenly clear. I begin to move from Huh?...to aah. And I am drawn deeper into more wonder and mystery.
Father, how do I live in wonder? What is my first inclination, What drives my thoughts and desires? Am I consumed with wonder, Or wondering’s questions?
Wonder and Wondering
Wondering asks, Why, or, Who do You think You are?
Wonder says, Wow! You are all that?
Wondering holds at arms length,
Wonder says hold me in Your arms.
Wondering seeks to understand You before trusting,
Wonder trusts and understanding comes.
Wondering starts with me,
Wonder starts with You.
Wondering begins with logic and is an external linear process,
Wonder begins in mystery and I become the process.
Wondering requires proof,
Wonder offers presence.
Wondering seeks power,
Wonder invites powerlessness.
Wondering stands at the door,
Wonder dwells in in the house.
Wondering requires skepticism,
Wonder invites trust.
Wondering is to hold back,
Wonder is letting go.
Wondering is a studied eye,
Wonder is a lingering gaze.
“We learn to praise God not by paying compliments, but by paying attention.”
Amen, LHM/CHM*
*Lord have mercy/Christ have mercy.
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